MarioKart 64

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Game Information
Name: MarioKart 64
Genre: Racing
Release Date: December 14, 1996
Developers: Nintendo EAD
Publishers: Nintendo
Modes: Single-player, Split-screen
Console(s): Nintendo 64

Gameplay
MarioKart 64 is a racing game which consists of a variety of different game modes. There is Grand Prix mode of four different cups and sixteen different racing courses. Each cup consists of four different tracks of three laps each where the player must race against eight different opponents from other Mario related games such as Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Bowser, Luigi, Toad and of course, Mario. During races, players bump into floating boxes which give the players power-ups to use to their advantage or to the disadvantage of the other racers such as slippery bananas, speed boosts and exploding turtle shells. To win the grand-prix, the player must finish in the top four positions to earn enough points overall to earn a cup at the end of the races. There is also a battle mode where the player must attack all of the other players in an arena and relieve them of all three of their lives, and the last player standing wins the game. In split-screen mode, players can choose to play either Grand-Prix mode or battle mode against friends using another controller on the same console. Finally the game offers a time trial mode where the player can run through a track of his/her choice and try to set a new time record or beat a previously set record.

Graphics
The graphics on this game were fairly impressive compared to most other Nintendo 64 games. When the game was released the graphics were considered to be quite smooth and clean in comparison to most other games available at the time. Nowadays the graphics would definitely be of a low standard and not thought of as clean or smooth, however the game is still easily play-able and the graphics should not be thought of as a setback, nor as an obstacle.


Controls
The controls are very, very simple in this game and are much alike most other racing games on the Nintendo 64. The game only really consists of accelerating and using power ups which can all be achieved by using only a minimal amount of controls available on the controller. These controls are very easy to pick up and can be perfected even by people who are new to gamers. The only issue is that the controls may not offer enough of a challenge and could possibly get a bit boring in time.

Ratings (Personal)
Game play: 8/10
Graphics: 6/10
Controls: 6/10
Overall: 7/10