Due to being on the GBA, Mario Kart: Super Circuit returns to 2D. It's also the only mainline MK title to not be made by Nintendo directly but instead Intelligent Systems and I have to say they did a great job with limitations.
This game has 20 nitro tracks, among which my favourites are Cheese Land, Rainbow Road, Sky Garden, Sunset Wilds and the legendary Lakeside Park which honestly competes with some modern tracks. Additionally you can unlock all 20 SNES courses. The way you unlock them is not great as you have to beat the cup once then beat it again while collecting 100 total coins to unlock that version of the Extra Cup. To be honest the SNES tracks are kind of worse here than they were in Super Mario Kart due to missing obstacles and feeling more cramped, but it's still cool they were included anyway. I mean it gives this game 40 fucking tracks, which, for a game this old, on a portable console is insane. The music in this game is also great, easily the best in the series so far.
Just like Super, it takes time to learn this game's controls but my god once you do they feel so snappy and satisfying. This is further amped by the plethora of insane yet intended shortcuts you can preform on several of the tracks in this game, many of which require a lot of skill. The developers really knew what they were doing.
The character roster is the same as 64 which is a bit disappointing but at least we got Random, right guys?
Overall, this is a pretty good Mario Kart, especially considering the limitations.
Also, can we all agree that the render of Mario on the box art is one of the coldest images this series has ever dropped.
This game has 20 nitro tracks, among which my favourites are Cheese Land, Rainbow Road, Sky Garden, Sunset Wilds and the legendary Lakeside Park which honestly competes with some modern tracks. Additionally you can unlock all 20 SNES courses. The way you unlock them is not great as you have to beat the cup once then beat it again while collecting 100 total coins to unlock that version of the Extra Cup. To be honest the SNES tracks are kind of worse here than they were in Super Mario Kart due to missing obstacles and feeling more cramped, but it's still cool they were included anyway. I mean it gives this game 40 fucking tracks, which, for a game this old, on a portable console is insane. The music in this game is also great, easily the best in the series so far.
Just like Super, it takes time to learn this game's controls but my god once you do they feel so snappy and satisfying. This is further amped by the plethora of insane yet intended shortcuts you can preform on several of the tracks in this game, many of which require a lot of skill. The developers really knew what they were doing.
The character roster is the same as 64 which is a bit disappointing but at least we got Random, right guys?
Overall, this is a pretty good Mario Kart, especially considering the limitations.
Also, can we all agree that the render of Mario on the box art is one of the coldest images this series has ever dropped.
Slowly starting to realize all the Mario Kart games before DS were garbage. Horrible drift mechanic and the game basically plays itself.
An upgrade over Super Mario Kart, still not brilliant but some of the graphics do look nice
Underrated
Who thought this was a good idea?
nostalgico
It's Super Mario Kart but a bit better. The issue is Super Mario Kart sucked and this didn't do enough to fix that.
Unoriginal, Unplayable, Asset-Ripping Piece of Shit of a Mario Kart game. Just call this Super Mario Kart 64 already.
Nah. I won’t let my love for “Nintendo Products” try to control me into playing this bad game. I didn’t have fun and I don’t think you will either. Just try any of the other games.
I like it a lot! It's really fun!
I'm still yet to play quite a few but as of now it's my 2nd favourite Mario Kart game. With all the 3D games it can feel like they all just replace the last but Super Circuit stands as the absolute best of 2D Mario Kart! The game is gorgeous, the tracks are great fun with some of my favourites being Rainbow Road, Ribbon Road, Cheese Land, Sunset Wilds, and Bowsers Castle 3, and 40 total tracks is out of this world!
I really like the coin mechanic where everytime you bump into a player you loose a coin and you drift out if you get hit with no coins, it adds a lot of strategy to weither you go for the coins or the tight turns. I also really like the controls and how quick the turns are, it's really satisfying. But, if theres only one reason that I love this game so much it's how fast it is. A single round takes about a minute and a half! It's so easy to just pick it up and play a quick round and coming off of 64 this is a godsend!
I'm still yet to play quite a few but as of now it's my 2nd favourite Mario Kart game. With all the 3D games it can feel like they all just replace the last but Super Circuit stands as the absolute best of 2D Mario Kart! The game is gorgeous, the tracks are great fun with some of my favourites being Rainbow Road, Ribbon Road, Cheese Land, Sunset Wilds, and Bowsers Castle 3, and 40 total tracks is out of this world!
I really like the coin mechanic where everytime you bump into a player you loose a coin and you drift out if you get hit with no coins, it adds a lot of strategy to weither you go for the coins or the tight turns. I also really like the controls and how quick the turns are, it's really satisfying. But, if theres only one reason that I love this game so much it's how fast it is. A single round takes about a minute and a half! It's so easy to just pick it up and play a quick round and coming off of 64 this is a godsend!
This has been a blind spot in my Mario Kart experiences for a long time (alongside MKDS & MK7), so I’m glad I finally got around to trying it. That said, I can’t say I had much fun. I’m sure it was a big deal back in the day to have Mario Kart in your pocket, but the control just isn’t there, you get almost no traction when you attempt to drift & there were times where boosts didn’t even help me cross certain gaps correctly. The admittedly halfway-decent GBA pixel art can only carry it so far.
This game is not fun and feels jank. Also impossible to play on the GBA because the screen sucks so much ass. Unless you are 1 inch from the surface of the sun it is pitch black.
This one passed me by for awhile, and I never really gave it a try later until it got added to the Switch. I played it off and on using the SNES controller and it was a fun time. It felt like the middle point between SNES and N64 Mario Kart and I enjoyed it. It also has a lot of unique courses.
made before they made the controls not awful
- Played on NSO -
I thought I’d dislike this entry since the older mario karts really control weirdly, especially when it comes to the drifting, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a bit finicky, but certainly serviceable and the drifts felt oddly satisfying to pull off! I’ll stick with the later entries, but this one ain’t half bad.
I thought I’d dislike this entry since the older mario karts really control weirdly, especially when it comes to the drifting, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a bit finicky, but certainly serviceable and the drifts felt oddly satisfying to pull off! I’ll stick with the later entries, but this one ain’t half bad.
This is undoubtedly the worst Mario Kart. The tracks are repetitive, with paths that constantly intersect and have far too many curves. The only exceptions are Rainbow Road and Bowser's Castles. Additionally, it feels like the kart wheels are coated in soap, making it very difficult to keep the car on the track at 150cc. Unfortunately, this game seems like a worse version of the SNES Mario Kart.
Without the nostalgia shades, the game is really not that good as I remember, but it has the honor of being the first Mario kart portable experience