The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Man, I suck at racing games.
One need only look at my pitiful Gran Turismo 3 Savegame to see that I deserve to be ridiculed and scoffed for eternity when it comes to racing skills.
It's a good thing therefore that some companies also produce considerably less serious racing games, that focus on fun and surrealism, and usually some kind of weaponry to turn the tables to your advantage as well.

Super Mario Kart on SNES was one such racing game, and it proved a huge hit, and rightly so. It spawned several sequels, the first of which was Mario Kart 64, which was 'meh', the third one was Mario Kart Double Dash on Gamecube, which pretty much threw everything that was fun about the series overboard and replaced it with Dung on Wheels, and then there's the second sequel, Mario Kart Super Circuit, which I am reviewing today.

Fortunately, this game stays a LOT closer to it's founding father on SNES, than the 3D outings, both of which just lacked the great fun feeling of the original.
It is obvious that the GBA cannot handly complex 3D circuits, so Mode 7 (or God Mode as I like to call it) is taken off the dusty shelf again to perform its amazing tricks. Mario Kart 64 influences are apparent in the design and selection of drivers and items, but that's where all comparisons end, because this game mostly plays like the SNES original, with some differences in handling.
I like this style of gameplay a lot better than the 3D Mario Karts which seem to put a ridiculous emphasis on Drifting and Boosting. Success in the old style games depends on how well you actually DRIVE, driving without fault makes you go faster and you are rewarded for you skill. This opposed to, say, Double Dash, where your success solely depends on your ability to get blue sparks out of your engine at EVERY single turn you take, thus emphasizing a repetitive playing style and joystick waggling over carefully negotiated curves and accurate driving.

The game supports 4 player gameplay, with only one cartridge needed (!) which seriously helps its lasting appeal, but the meat of the game lies in the normal 1 Player Mode. You get the standard GP and Time Challenge modes, and you get to choose between 50cc, 100cc and 150cc, same as usual. Difficulty is rather low though, and even NOOBs like me will be able to play through without too much trouble.
There's a good incentive to keep improving on yourself by a Rank you get at the end of each cup. Score enough high ranks and new shit will be unlocked, amongst which are ALL the tracks of the SNES original!
This is a great addition to an already great game, even though the old tracks are not recreated completely faithfully, and fans will absolute love it.

In fact, any racing game fan is likely to enjoy this, provided you can handly the cutesyness and cartoon-style of the game. Don't try this if you're a Gran Turismo buff only, but then, you should shut up if you are anyway.
Retains the fun gameplay of the original, but is really rather too easy. It still deserves a 9.3 as probably the best racing game on GBA.

posted by Ingen! @ 7:45 PM