SUPER MARIO KART
Alright, now, with all the RPGs behind us, let us head on into the next section we'll be covering: the sports games, starting with the most well-known branch, the Mario Kart games. This section with covered all main eight games in the Kart series, so not including the Arcade games, Tour, or Home Circuit (not yet, at least). It will also only cover the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8, as deluxe versions and re-releases will be covered at a later date.
Super Mario Kart was released in 1992 for the SNES. I call it the awkward first attempt before the series really nailed down what it was with Mario Kart 64. Obviously, for its time, it has somewhat awkward 2D graphics and filled with a number of elements most familiar with Mario Kart games would find a bit strange to say the least. That said, its still a fun game and an obviously important part of history to remember.
Now, we have talked a bit before about how I'll be largely putting character sheet revisions aside from here on out, and this is why. The Mario Kart games, and most games from here on out, are not really about what the individual characters can do. It's about a fun-filled experience using a specific mechanic and style of gameplay, with the character's faces slapped on mainly so we're not playing as a bunch of faceless generic blobs. I will make mention here and there if there is something specific to any character to make note of, like special moves and such, but most of those are based on things we've already seen as it is. So, really, we're not going to be making movesets for the characters this time. We will instead (as most of you probably figured from my Diddy Kong Racing post) be making a moveset for a Mario Kart character, the gimmick rep if you will.
So, anyway, our playable racers for this game are Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong Jr., Toad, and Koopa. You may notice that this differs a bit from what is considered the standard "Main Eight" of Mario Kart, but considering Wario's first appearance did not happen until two months later, and the Donkey Kong as we now know him did not really exist until two years later (being really just a big dumb boss monkey before and never even playable), Koopa and Donkey Kong Jr. are understandable alternatives here. All play largely the same, with the exception of different weight classes, so there's not much need to focus on the individuals.
The Kart mechanic on its own, however, has a number of abilities. Obviously it would move around like a car, but with various jumps and turns one can pull off, and the fact that the driver's arms are typically free, I see no reason one couldn't form a reasonable frame of movement from that, if maybe a little faster than many are comfortable with. As for moves, the items a driver can pick up in the game offer up much we can work with. This game in particular gives us Banana Peels to use basically as oil slicks, Green Shells as projectiles, Red Shells as heat-seeking projectiles, Feathers that let you pull off even higher jumps, Mushrooms that give you a boost, Stars that make you invulnerable to damage, Ghosts that turn you intangible and steal items for you, Coins, Lightning that shrinks the user's opponents, and Eggs, Fireballs, and Poison Mushrooms that can only be used by Yoshi, Bowser, Peach, and Toad if controlled by CPUs.
A few other characters appear, such as Lakitus, Monty Moles, Bullet Bills, Thwomps, Piranha Plants, and Cheep Cheeps, but most of them only act as stage hazards, while Lakitu acts as the referee who starts the race and the rescue squad if you fall into a hazard.
As for stages, rather than the expected Mario Kart setup of sixteen unique tracks spread out in four groups of four as cups, this game instead has five tracks per cup and most are different tracks with eight general biomes familiar to Mario fans at the time. These include Mario Circuit, a generic Mario-style track similar to what most expect as the first track of every game; Donut Plains, a more wild area with dirt tracks and grassy sides; Ghost Valley, a boardwalk haunted by Boos; Bowser's Castle, a lava-filled stage with castle cobblestones for track; Choco Island, a tasty-looking desert track with lots of dust; Koopa Beach, a beach track surrounded by water; Vanilla Lake, an icy snowland; and Rainbow Road, the rainbow-paved track set in space widely accepted as the standard final track of every game.
Here's what we've got so far:
Characters:
Mario Kart: drive, brake, jump, turn, skid, etc., Banana Peel, Green Shell, Red Shell, Feather, Mushroom, Star, Ghost, Coin, Lightning, Egg, Fireball, Poison Mushroom
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Yoshi
Bowser
Donkey Kong Jr.
Toad
Koopa
Lakitu
Boo
Piranha Plant
Cheep Cheep
Monty Mole
Thwomp
Stages:
Mario Circuit
Donut Plains
Ghost Valley
Bowser's Castle
Choco Island
Koopa Beach
Vanilla Lake
Rainbow Road
Thanks for reading! Next up, we tackle Mario Kart 64.
