Super Circuit is the final game in this Mario Kart marathon that I had not played prior (sorry Double Dash). My friend Wheatie really loves this one but sad to say, I thought this was a big downgrade from 64 and is more comparable to Super in a lot of ways.
I know this is the first portable game in the series so I'd like to cut it some slack but honestly it's just plain unfun to play. Your movement, like Super, is just god awfully slippery. Maybe even moreso than Super at times. And again, the courses are flat and similar to Super in regards to its turns so the drift just sends you flying usually. I barely used it in this one and even still, on 50cc I had to take my finger off the gas a lot just cuz of the stage design and slipperiness.
Even though the courses are still boring design-wise like Super, I will say they definitely have a bit more visual flair than Super's even with it being a portable title. That and stage themes don't get reused as much (besides Bowsers Castle which gets reused a whopping 4 times) makes it better than Super in that regard. The AI was also better this time around in terms of cheating though I also only played on 50cc cuz I didn't even want to deal with the game's physics on 150. I played Peach Circuit on 150 and I just wouldn't be able to handle every cup on that lol. I did come in 1st on every cup on 50cc though which is more than I could say with Super.
I also didn't touch the battle mode at all so I don't know how that fares but I have a feeling it's not very good just cuz of the games controls. Also didn't unlock any of the Super stages cuz it felt pointless to play through those since I just did.
I also did find it interesting how this was a combination of both Super and 64. Super with the controls and stage design while most of the voice clips and character designs are from 64. Kinda makes it feel like it doesn't have much identity outside of some of the original course themes.
In the end, this is probably just slightly better than Super. But, even though this is the series first portable title, this game came out almost 10 years after Super so I'd expect it to be way better. Ah well, next on the Mario Kart marathon is DS and that one I actually did play as a kid and have fond memories of. So, I'm definitely looking forward to that one!
I know this is the first portable game in the series so I'd like to cut it some slack but honestly it's just plain unfun to play. Your movement, like Super, is just god awfully slippery. Maybe even moreso than Super at times. And again, the courses are flat and similar to Super in regards to its turns so the drift just sends you flying usually. I barely used it in this one and even still, on 50cc I had to take my finger off the gas a lot just cuz of the stage design and slipperiness.
Even though the courses are still boring design-wise like Super, I will say they definitely have a bit more visual flair than Super's even with it being a portable title. That and stage themes don't get reused as much (besides Bowsers Castle which gets reused a whopping 4 times) makes it better than Super in that regard. The AI was also better this time around in terms of cheating though I also only played on 50cc cuz I didn't even want to deal with the game's physics on 150. I played Peach Circuit on 150 and I just wouldn't be able to handle every cup on that lol. I did come in 1st on every cup on 50cc though which is more than I could say with Super.
I also didn't touch the battle mode at all so I don't know how that fares but I have a feeling it's not very good just cuz of the games controls. Also didn't unlock any of the Super stages cuz it felt pointless to play through those since I just did.
I also did find it interesting how this was a combination of both Super and 64. Super with the controls and stage design while most of the voice clips and character designs are from 64. Kinda makes it feel like it doesn't have much identity outside of some of the original course themes.
In the end, this is probably just slightly better than Super. But, even though this is the series first portable title, this game came out almost 10 years after Super so I'd expect it to be way better. Ah well, next on the Mario Kart marathon is DS and that one I actually did play as a kid and have fond memories of. So, I'm definitely looking forward to that one!
There’s no way Bowser needs this many castles.
This is a pretty rough game. The controls are not nearly as precise as other entries in the series, which is enough to ruin a racing game. Visually it's not bad for the GBA, but it's frustrating to play.
Some days I just feel totally braindead, and too tired to dive into a 70 hour JRPG with complex mechanics and more text than, uh... Anna Karenina. Those are the days I pop up Mario Kart.
Now, I will admit, my Mario Kart experience is pretty much limited to Mario Kart 8, 7, and DS; also having experienced some of the Wii game at parties and such, however.
I do know what I love about Mario Kart though, and that is the interactive environments (all the different shortcuts, things that pop up on stage, and the like), and in general just a ton of possibilities and learnable skills that make getting better at the game fun. Hell, even the times I lose in Mario Kart (which have been frequent recently, since I'm pretty rusty), I still have a lot of fun. The adrenaline rush of all the shells being thrown, all the karts being bumped, and the acceleration to the finish line all add up to one of the best competitive/multiplayer game series. When I was younger, my sibling said that "there was always a way back in Mario Kart" (or something like that). Meaning that even if you get into 7th place on lap 2, anything could happen and you could very likely get into 1st place in lap three. This ability for comebacks is really what makes these games shine, in my opinion.
I think the problem with Super Circuit is that it foregoes a lot of the aforementioned things - yet, I can't find a reason to blame it for doing so. Mario Kart on the GBA seems like a tough enough thing to attain. Still, a lot of sacrifices were made for this goal.
The tracks are kind of boring, is my first critique. To explain: I think while the idea of having a static backdrop and a pseudo 3D track is kind of what most GBA kart racers opt for, I also think it kind of takes away a real sense of exploration of these tracks. A sense of landmarks. Luckily, there are environmental obstacles and little graphics scattered about in a lot of the stages, such as Snow Land with all it's penguins. However, it never really breaks up the monotony of the stages.
Of course, I can't imagine any way they wouldn't have static backdrops and integrated some kind of pseudo 3D onto the GBA (kind of like some games did). This would likely not turn out well.
Yet, the theming of the levels was kind of bland - in other games we get stuff such as theme parks, cruise ships, and generally atmospheric areas to explore. I think the problem is this game opted more for "enviroments": swamp, sky, etc. which are kind of basic and not as fun to explore - since they are environments without landmarks or places to go.
Drifting is also kind of miserable, though I can't blame this game in particular, since the F-zero GBA games also control miserably in this way. Maybe (probably) I'm bad at the game, but it is a complete bump-fest and boy is there no sense of sticking to the ground or generally of being able to drift around corners smoothly. In fact, I found my strategy was always to slow my kart when going around corners. This was probably the basic Mario Kart strat before drifting came into play, but still, I don' like it :( (it's probably a me issue).
Super Circuit was a game that I found had kind of a blandness, even a loneliness to it. It definitely doesn't pop out at you, and while a lot of this can be attributed to the inherent difficulties of trying to put a Mario Kart game on the GBA, I think the game can take some responsibility for what seems like a rushed game without much intrigue as far as level theming, fun mechanics and the like go. It is fun, don't get me wrong. I do not want to be too hard on it, but it's just not my first pick for Mario Kart, although I can see myself playing it to wind down.
Now, I will admit, my Mario Kart experience is pretty much limited to Mario Kart 8, 7, and DS; also having experienced some of the Wii game at parties and such, however.
I do know what I love about Mario Kart though, and that is the interactive environments (all the different shortcuts, things that pop up on stage, and the like), and in general just a ton of possibilities and learnable skills that make getting better at the game fun. Hell, even the times I lose in Mario Kart (which have been frequent recently, since I'm pretty rusty), I still have a lot of fun. The adrenaline rush of all the shells being thrown, all the karts being bumped, and the acceleration to the finish line all add up to one of the best competitive/multiplayer game series. When I was younger, my sibling said that "there was always a way back in Mario Kart" (or something like that). Meaning that even if you get into 7th place on lap 2, anything could happen and you could very likely get into 1st place in lap three. This ability for comebacks is really what makes these games shine, in my opinion.
I think the problem with Super Circuit is that it foregoes a lot of the aforementioned things - yet, I can't find a reason to blame it for doing so. Mario Kart on the GBA seems like a tough enough thing to attain. Still, a lot of sacrifices were made for this goal.
The tracks are kind of boring, is my first critique. To explain: I think while the idea of having a static backdrop and a pseudo 3D track is kind of what most GBA kart racers opt for, I also think it kind of takes away a real sense of exploration of these tracks. A sense of landmarks. Luckily, there are environmental obstacles and little graphics scattered about in a lot of the stages, such as Snow Land with all it's penguins. However, it never really breaks up the monotony of the stages.
Of course, I can't imagine any way they wouldn't have static backdrops and integrated some kind of pseudo 3D onto the GBA (kind of like some games did). This would likely not turn out well.
Yet, the theming of the levels was kind of bland - in other games we get stuff such as theme parks, cruise ships, and generally atmospheric areas to explore. I think the problem is this game opted more for "enviroments": swamp, sky, etc. which are kind of basic and not as fun to explore - since they are environments without landmarks or places to go.
Drifting is also kind of miserable, though I can't blame this game in particular, since the F-zero GBA games also control miserably in this way. Maybe (probably) I'm bad at the game, but it is a complete bump-fest and boy is there no sense of sticking to the ground or generally of being able to drift around corners smoothly. In fact, I found my strategy was always to slow my kart when going around corners. This was probably the basic Mario Kart strat before drifting came into play, but still, I don' like it :( (it's probably a me issue).
Super Circuit was a game that I found had kind of a blandness, even a loneliness to it. It definitely doesn't pop out at you, and while a lot of this can be attributed to the inherent difficulties of trying to put a Mario Kart game on the GBA, I think the game can take some responsibility for what seems like a rushed game without much intrigue as far as level theming, fun mechanics and the like go. It is fun, don't get me wrong. I do not want to be too hard on it, but it's just not my first pick for Mario Kart, although I can see myself playing it to wind down.
super mario kart but better with wario
Would be 3.5/5 but I'm giving an extra half a star for nostalgia bias. This was the first Mario Kart I ever played, and I remembered absolutely loving it, poor GBA lighting or not.
The sprites and music are fantastic, I was surprised to find out I remembered so much of it, even if it's only a few songs.
Even outside of the nostalgia factor, the game is still very fun, tracks have cool designs and atmospheres with some level design I pretty fairly enjoyed.
A smaller thing to note, every track in this game has its own little pixel art associated with it, and I think they are all very neat.
8/10, possibly second favorite Mario Kart, it's nice lol
The sprites and music are fantastic, I was surprised to find out I remembered so much of it, even if it's only a few songs.
Even outside of the nostalgia factor, the game is still very fun, tracks have cool designs and atmospheres with some level design I pretty fairly enjoyed.
A smaller thing to note, every track in this game has its own little pixel art associated with it, and I think they are all very neat.
8/10, possibly second favorite Mario Kart, it's nice lol
This is a game of high highs and low lows.
The high highs are 150cc Rainbow Road Time Trials.
The low lows are the everything else.
The high highs are 150cc Rainbow Road Time Trials.
The low lows are the everything else.
Eyes hurt as much as my ass.
Got the Orange Title Screen and called it a day.
This game is pretty mid
This game is pretty mid
A very solid Mario Kart entry considering it was only the third game and first portable game in the series. It's interesting how Nintendo mixes components of the previous two games for the SNES and N64 and applies them to this game.
The gameplay physics and mechanics resemble that of Super Mario Kart but there are features borrowed from Mario Kart 64 such as being able to recover from minor crashes, blue shells, etc.
Levels are more based on the SNES game with variations.
The gameplay physics and mechanics resemble that of Super Mario Kart but there are features borrowed from Mario Kart 64 such as being able to recover from minor crashes, blue shells, etc.
Levels are more based on the SNES game with variations.
It's okay
Not that good but not bad. It looks and sounds great considering it's a gba game. The track selection is good in my opinion and as a whole it's better than super mario kart.
The worst part of this game is the turning. It feels bad and drifting feels even worse. It takes a while to get used to it, but once you do it can be fun to tackle tracks like this game's rainbow road, the hardest one of the franchise.
Not that good but not bad. It looks and sounds great considering it's a gba game. The track selection is good in my opinion and as a whole it's better than super mario kart.
The worst part of this game is the turning. It feels bad and drifting feels even worse. It takes a while to get used to it, but once you do it can be fun to tackle tracks like this game's rainbow road, the hardest one of the franchise.
That Scott guy from Ohio just doesn’t get it
Now, remember this. When the horizon's at the bottom, it's interesting. When the horizon's at the top, it's interesting. When the horizon's in the middle, it's boring as shit.
The most overly hated on mariokart game. this game is super polished and looks better than mariokart 64 does most of the time. it feels like mariokart 64 when playing it and is great for the game boy advance.
God DAYUM this game is solid for a GBA game, and it has such a sweet theme tune!
In It Might Get Loud, Jack White explains his approach to choosing instruments. He says he prefers "guitars that are a little bit bent and out of tune. I want to battle it, I want it to be a struggle." That sounds rad when you're talking about Rock music. But it's probably not what I should be thinking about the whole time I'm playing a kart racer.
When I first played Super Circuit on my Ambassador 3DS in 2012, I thought "Wow! This is dumb and bad!" and I quit pretty quickly. But now that it's available on Switch, I decided that I was going to actually finish it this time so I could have a more informed opinion. It turns out that my previous impression was only mostly right.
I don't think it's controversial to say that this is the worst Mario Kart game. The tracks are fine while staying completely flat/level, and the game looks pretty good for the GBA, but a racing game lives or dies by its controls. I tried a handful of characters and eventually did get the hang of Wario at 150cc (enough to get gold on all 5 cups, though not enough to get 1st place every single race), but it felt like I was fighting against my kart the entire time. Every track feels like it's iced over, causing constant slipping and sliding. I'm sure there's a technique to be learned here, but I just ended up braking a LOT to counter the lack of traction. Like, more than I ever have while playing MK8 on 200cc.
When every other Mario Kart is approachable and intuitive, this sticks out as the worst of the bunch. Not as awful as I initially thought, but I'd be lying if I called it "fun".
When I first played Super Circuit on my Ambassador 3DS in 2012, I thought "Wow! This is dumb and bad!" and I quit pretty quickly. But now that it's available on Switch, I decided that I was going to actually finish it this time so I could have a more informed opinion. It turns out that my previous impression was only mostly right.
I don't think it's controversial to say that this is the worst Mario Kart game. The tracks are fine while staying completely flat/level, and the game looks pretty good for the GBA, but a racing game lives or dies by its controls. I tried a handful of characters and eventually did get the hang of Wario at 150cc (enough to get gold on all 5 cups, though not enough to get 1st place every single race), but it felt like I was fighting against my kart the entire time. Every track feels like it's iced over, causing constant slipping and sliding. I'm sure there's a technique to be learned here, but I just ended up braking a LOT to counter the lack of traction. Like, more than I ever have while playing MK8 on 200cc.
When every other Mario Kart is approachable and intuitive, this sticks out as the worst of the bunch. Not as awful as I initially thought, but I'd be lying if I called it "fun".
How do I unlock Tony Soprano
It must be weird to go back to Super Circuit coming from an all 3D era of Mario Kart for the kids. I had a hard time reckoning what it could be like for my 12 year old nephew when he felt lost facing the original Mario Kart on SNES Mini a few years back or a 21 year old a few weeks ago, when we changed from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the original on the Switch.
To me, the whole story is entirely different. I grew up playing racing games looking way worse than Mario Kart, so when F-Zero and the plumber's grand prix were released on the SNES, those games were a revolutionary blast. Looking back, I understand graphics appear a little mushy maybe, but that's what made the games so incredibly fast.
Especially the original Mario Kart with its competitive features was our go to racer for years and what Mario Kart 64 had to offer just wasn't as perfect. It didn't look as good, the N64 controllers were crap and the gameplay itself... well, we still played the shite out of it at a friend's place, but it was no adequate substitute.
Introducing Mario Kart: Super Circuit I bought the GBA for, actually. That was promising. Back from those weird inferior 3D experiments to a style we knew and loved on SNES, except graphics looked a little more polished. It supported link cable, even with just one cartridge in use, just that the opponent could only choose Joshi. Real friends owned their private copy anyway.
I still feel, that Super Circuits, despite the new tracks we rarely used after unlocking the old ones, just feels almost as pure and perfect as the original Mario Kart on SNES, though it has a place in my heart ever since. Any Mario Kart I tried after Super Circuit couldn't capture what I liked about a game that requires skill instead of helping you slingshot after you messed up. Actually, I still have been playing almost daily on my trusty GBA until the SNES Mini came out and I kind of changed back to the emulated original for a while.
Even though I learned to love my Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I still think it's too much of item overkill and the way it rewards skill is too much based on, well, cheating, like the extensive use of shortcuts, to be truthfully honest. But Mario Kart 8 manages to balance between skilled driving and arcade mechanics enough to be fun. You can accidentally win sometimes and you loose way to often to crappy driver's just because they get spoiled with items, but in the end, you can dominate if you did your homework.
Still, Mario Kart: Super Circuit to me is the better balanced game between an already perfect original and modernity. I might have to be called purist, after rambling subjectively so much at the least, without even getting into detail about the program itself. But hey, it's Mario Kart, what do you expect? Everybody knows Mario Kart.
What I want to say is, there's some special charme about those two titles, the SNES and GBA version, that just can't be challenged and I'm a bit worried this is getting lost within later generations. But just as I had the patience to keep up with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, maybe it's possible for others to give those old games a chance like the above mentioned young folks did. After some getting used to and hard learning we actually had fun together. And after all, it's the history all your other favourite Mario Karts are based on.
Probably I'd recommend starting with the SNES game to understand what Mario Kart: Super Circuit was offering me after a disappointment with Mario Kart 64. The major flaw of Super Circuit could actually be, that we did not play it amongst friends as much as we did the SNES game. Maybe, had it not been requiring to link up consoles and had the screens been lit from the start, Super Circuit with its new additional tracks would have been completely on par with the SNES version.
I really was hungry for a true sequel and you can't believe how much I would appreciate a new one returning to what I feel was the main emphasis of Mario Kart. Just with modernized 2,5D graphics and some new tracks of course plus the online functions I enjoy so much in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Until then, I might wheel out the GBA every other month and see if I can beat myself in time trial anymore.
To me, the whole story is entirely different. I grew up playing racing games looking way worse than Mario Kart, so when F-Zero and the plumber's grand prix were released on the SNES, those games were a revolutionary blast. Looking back, I understand graphics appear a little mushy maybe, but that's what made the games so incredibly fast.
Especially the original Mario Kart with its competitive features was our go to racer for years and what Mario Kart 64 had to offer just wasn't as perfect. It didn't look as good, the N64 controllers were crap and the gameplay itself... well, we still played the shite out of it at a friend's place, but it was no adequate substitute.
Introducing Mario Kart: Super Circuit I bought the GBA for, actually. That was promising. Back from those weird inferior 3D experiments to a style we knew and loved on SNES, except graphics looked a little more polished. It supported link cable, even with just one cartridge in use, just that the opponent could only choose Joshi. Real friends owned their private copy anyway.
I still feel, that Super Circuits, despite the new tracks we rarely used after unlocking the old ones, just feels almost as pure and perfect as the original Mario Kart on SNES, though it has a place in my heart ever since. Any Mario Kart I tried after Super Circuit couldn't capture what I liked about a game that requires skill instead of helping you slingshot after you messed up. Actually, I still have been playing almost daily on my trusty GBA until the SNES Mini came out and I kind of changed back to the emulated original for a while.
Even though I learned to love my Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I still think it's too much of item overkill and the way it rewards skill is too much based on, well, cheating, like the extensive use of shortcuts, to be truthfully honest. But Mario Kart 8 manages to balance between skilled driving and arcade mechanics enough to be fun. You can accidentally win sometimes and you loose way to often to crappy driver's just because they get spoiled with items, but in the end, you can dominate if you did your homework.
Still, Mario Kart: Super Circuit to me is the better balanced game between an already perfect original and modernity. I might have to be called purist, after rambling subjectively so much at the least, without even getting into detail about the program itself. But hey, it's Mario Kart, what do you expect? Everybody knows Mario Kart.
What I want to say is, there's some special charme about those two titles, the SNES and GBA version, that just can't be challenged and I'm a bit worried this is getting lost within later generations. But just as I had the patience to keep up with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, maybe it's possible for others to give those old games a chance like the above mentioned young folks did. After some getting used to and hard learning we actually had fun together. And after all, it's the history all your other favourite Mario Karts are based on.
Probably I'd recommend starting with the SNES game to understand what Mario Kart: Super Circuit was offering me after a disappointment with Mario Kart 64. The major flaw of Super Circuit could actually be, that we did not play it amongst friends as much as we did the SNES game. Maybe, had it not been requiring to link up consoles and had the screens been lit from the start, Super Circuit with its new additional tracks would have been completely on par with the SNES version.
I really was hungry for a true sequel and you can't believe how much I would appreciate a new one returning to what I feel was the main emphasis of Mario Kart. Just with modernized 2,5D graphics and some new tracks of course plus the online functions I enjoy so much in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Until then, I might wheel out the GBA every other month and see if I can beat myself in time trial anymore.
Mario Kart for Game Boy Advance. It's been a simple game, but too much fun at the same time, I'd say it's unfairly hated by everyone today because it doesn't play as well as all the Mario Kart games that came after Double Dash, not to mention it can be very archaic for some people because it's pseudo-3D. Still, I was able to enjoy it quite a bit, having grown up with Mario Kart for Super Nintendo, this game is quite familiar to me to play, plus I love GBA games, so I had to give it a chance someday and I'm glad I did now.
Mario Kart Super Circuit was developed by Inteligent Systems and is the first portable Mario Kart game, this one takes as main base Super Mario Kart for SNES, but also takes in passing elements of the N64 release as the designs and voices, although with the detail that they are from the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64 instead of the updated voices of the international version; so it will be strange at first, mainly because of Luigi and his strange voice, but eventually you end up getting used to it. The graphics of the characters are pre-rendered being pretty much the same as MK64, but the other graphics like the stages of the tracks, menus and everything else have the traditional pixel art style, and it looks good especially on a GBA screen. I liked the tracks, there was a variety of them and they were accompanied by music that is also good in my opinion, or at least it is if you like the sound of the songs in GBA games.
You have the same roster of characters from Mario Kart 64, but with the difference that now each character has stats that make controlling each character feel different. The first thing you may notice when playing is that the karts feel too "slippery", I don't know how to explain that feeling, but that's the way it is. After a while trying to adapt to the gameplay I tried almost all the characters, with the heavy characters I wasn't able to be good at playing, so my choice this time was Peach, I feel she is the character that controls the best, or at least, the one that best fits my playing style. Although this brought its disadvantages, because once I got used to using Peach, it was impossible for me to get used to the other characters, so I spent all the cups using the same character no matter how difficult that was in some tracks where it was better to use heavy characters.
It was really difficult, I'm not lying, but this I emphasize because I went for the highest challenge, which is to obtain a 3 star ranking in all the cups, which to get you must meet more or less the following requirements:
-To be in first place in all the circuits.
-Do not use objects
-Take a lot of coins.
It can be a bit hard, but in my case I was able to get it after many hours of practice and in the end it felt really good, the tracks are good and once you master them driving around them is quite nice, I think that mastering the gameplay of this title was what made me appreciate it. It helped a lot that this game relies more on your skill and not so much on randomness.
Additionally, if after finishing the Special Cup, if you collect 100 coins in each cup, you can unlock cups from the original Mario Kart for SNES. I thought it was a pretty cool detail that all the tracks from the first game are adapted and frankly it made me smile, although I don't plan to play them, because this game makes a lot of use of the R button, and I think if I keep using it so intensely here I'll end up ruining it, not to mention that I'd rather play them on a SNES as they should be played.
Conclusion
It's probably not the best Mario Kart, nor the most revolutionary, but it's really very good, it managed to get me quite addicted and it's great that winning requires skill and not so much luck. It complies very well with what is to be expected from a game of this style for the system.
I do not recommend this game. I liked it a lot, but I think it might not really be worth playing nowadays, so this review is more about talking a bit about the game and my experience.
Mario Kart Super Circuit was developed by Inteligent Systems and is the first portable Mario Kart game, this one takes as main base Super Mario Kart for SNES, but also takes in passing elements of the N64 release as the designs and voices, although with the detail that they are from the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64 instead of the updated voices of the international version; so it will be strange at first, mainly because of Luigi and his strange voice, but eventually you end up getting used to it. The graphics of the characters are pre-rendered being pretty much the same as MK64, but the other graphics like the stages of the tracks, menus and everything else have the traditional pixel art style, and it looks good especially on a GBA screen. I liked the tracks, there was a variety of them and they were accompanied by music that is also good in my opinion, or at least it is if you like the sound of the songs in GBA games.
You have the same roster of characters from Mario Kart 64, but with the difference that now each character has stats that make controlling each character feel different. The first thing you may notice when playing is that the karts feel too "slippery", I don't know how to explain that feeling, but that's the way it is. After a while trying to adapt to the gameplay I tried almost all the characters, with the heavy characters I wasn't able to be good at playing, so my choice this time was Peach, I feel she is the character that controls the best, or at least, the one that best fits my playing style. Although this brought its disadvantages, because once I got used to using Peach, it was impossible for me to get used to the other characters, so I spent all the cups using the same character no matter how difficult that was in some tracks where it was better to use heavy characters.
It was really difficult, I'm not lying, but this I emphasize because I went for the highest challenge, which is to obtain a 3 star ranking in all the cups, which to get you must meet more or less the following requirements:
-To be in first place in all the circuits.
-Do not use objects
-Take a lot of coins.
It can be a bit hard, but in my case I was able to get it after many hours of practice and in the end it felt really good, the tracks are good and once you master them driving around them is quite nice, I think that mastering the gameplay of this title was what made me appreciate it. It helped a lot that this game relies more on your skill and not so much on randomness.
Additionally, if after finishing the Special Cup, if you collect 100 coins in each cup, you can unlock cups from the original Mario Kart for SNES. I thought it was a pretty cool detail that all the tracks from the first game are adapted and frankly it made me smile, although I don't plan to play them, because this game makes a lot of use of the R button, and I think if I keep using it so intensely here I'll end up ruining it, not to mention that I'd rather play them on a SNES as they should be played.
Conclusion
It's probably not the best Mario Kart, nor the most revolutionary, but it's really very good, it managed to get me quite addicted and it's great that winning requires skill and not so much luck. It complies very well with what is to be expected from a game of this style for the system.
I do not recommend this game. I liked it a lot, but I think it might not really be worth playing nowadays, so this review is more about talking a bit about the game and my experience.
Super Mario Kart, but better.
I’ve always had a soft spot for this one, but I haven’t even touched it in a decade, so I was curious to see if it held up at all. Despite being simplistic (this ain’t Mario Kart 8), I find Super Circuit more visually attractive and overall enjoyable to play than Super Mario Kart.
Gameplay and scale-wise it feels like a cross between SMK and MK64, although the drift feels wrong at first. Item balance and AI rubber-banding is fairer than both of its predecessors. Obviously they’re mode 7 style tracks so the courses can’t really be as dynamic as Mario Kart 64, but the backgrounds and environmental themes are gorgeous and relatively varied.
The new levels are also way better than SMK, but including remastered versions of every Super Mario Kart track is a huge W.
I’ve always had a soft spot for this one, but I haven’t even touched it in a decade, so I was curious to see if it held up at all. Despite being simplistic (this ain’t Mario Kart 8), I find Super Circuit more visually attractive and overall enjoyable to play than Super Mario Kart.
Gameplay and scale-wise it feels like a cross between SMK and MK64, although the drift feels wrong at first. Item balance and AI rubber-banding is fairer than both of its predecessors. Obviously they’re mode 7 style tracks so the courses can’t really be as dynamic as Mario Kart 64, but the backgrounds and environmental themes are gorgeous and relatively varied.
The new levels are also way better than SMK, but including remastered versions of every Super Mario Kart track is a huge W.
Everything's shorter! Super Circuit? More like Short Circuit! The tracks are shorter, the trophy-winning screen is shorter (thankfully much much more so than the Nintendo 64 MK), the uh, game cartridge I guess is shorter cause it's a GBA game, the graphics resolution is shorter for the same reason... Wario is a little shorter I think
Super Mario Kart but good. A slight exaggeration, but seriously, if you ever see a Mario Kart tier list and this game is below SMK, slap that person, because Super Circuit has every single course from the original Mario Kart in addition to 20 brand new ones, all without the dated, slippery controls of the SNES game.
Super Circuit is a quality title in its own right and I really appreciate it having some of the more wackier and unique course themes in the series. I also like that it still has the N64 Mario aesthetic to its characters as it was one of the last titles in franchise to feature this look. Super Circuit was the reason I originally bought my GBA and I still hold it in high regard, even if a lot of the Mario Kart games that came later have far surpassed it.
Super Circuit is a quality title in its own right and I really appreciate it having some of the more wackier and unique course themes in the series. I also like that it still has the N64 Mario aesthetic to its characters as it was one of the last titles in franchise to feature this look. Super Circuit was the reason I originally bought my GBA and I still hold it in high regard, even if a lot of the Mario Kart games that came later have far surpassed it.
Super Circuit plays very well actually. But with limited single player content and link cable only multiplayer, you dont really have any reason to actually play it
i'm sorry but this is the worst game ever made.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit is more chaotic in nature than its spiritual predecessor, Super Maio Kart, which can be good or bad, depending on how you like your Mario Kart chaos! The tracks are more flavorful and help embrace some of that chaos like border jumps that, if taken, take you to the back of the pack. But thankfully, if you have Nintendo Switch Online, you can use rewind! The true joy of Mario Kart, using a rewind feature to not embrace too much chaos that would be forced upon you. (I swear I won't do this for the rest of the series.)
The tracks are more varied compared to Super Mario Kart! Lots more areas that get to be raced through which I highly appreciated. But, the characters are still annoying mechanically through rubberbanding and all that wonderful stuff. I'm looking at you Toad mostly!
Probably like a 7.5! Good game, but not as great as the future of the series after this!
The tracks are more varied compared to Super Mario Kart! Lots more areas that get to be raced through which I highly appreciated. But, the characters are still annoying mechanically through rubberbanding and all that wonderful stuff. I'm looking at you Toad mostly!
Probably like a 7.5! Good game, but not as great as the future of the series after this!
My true childhood Mario Kart, if I don't count Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii and the Mario Kart GP Arcade games I would sometimes get to play (all of which are probably better).
I know everyone says Double Dash is the one Mario Kart that's worth going back to if you don't want to just play Mario Kart 8, but I disagree. Sure this thing is pretty old school, but it controls and looks so different than any other Mario Kart besides the original. The Super Circuit tracks are mostly really fun (fuck Snowland for them migraines tho) and getting all the Super Mario Kart tracks is a sick bonus. It's truly fun to get good at this game, as it feels so much more skill based than some of the newer titles.
I never got passed a few cups on 50cc when I was a little kid, so I'm glad I sunk like 9 hours into this to mostly complete it now. Overall it was worth it.
But man, the Choco Island tracks don't DESERVE the Sunset Wilds background and it's so SADDDD
played on NSO GBA
I know everyone says Double Dash is the one Mario Kart that's worth going back to if you don't want to just play Mario Kart 8, but I disagree. Sure this thing is pretty old school, but it controls and looks so different than any other Mario Kart besides the original. The Super Circuit tracks are mostly really fun (fuck Snowland for them migraines tho) and getting all the Super Mario Kart tracks is a sick bonus. It's truly fun to get good at this game, as it feels so much more skill based than some of the newer titles.
I never got passed a few cups on 50cc when I was a little kid, so I'm glad I sunk like 9 hours into this to mostly complete it now. Overall it was worth it.
But man, the Choco Island tracks don't DESERVE the Sunset Wilds background and it's so SADDDD
played on NSO GBA
Not my most favorite Mario Kart, but it does the job for the first portable game in the series. I wont say too much about this one other than it's just Super Mario Kart but better. 150cc is difficult and time trials are fun, but otherwise there isnt much else here.
yeah that sure is a fucking gameboy advance racing game alright
feels like complete shit on nso, yet plays just fine on the original hardware?? how do i rate this fairly
Underrated and I'm tired of people hating on it. I'm sorry you got spoiled on Mario Kart Wii as a kid, but this game actually requires SKILL against cheating AI.