Mario Kart Super Circuit is the first game in the Mario Kart series. This one is on the SNES, and was released in 1992. As you probably know, here’s how Mario Kart is played. You and seven other racers will race around the track, for 5 laps, and whoever’s in first at the end wins, like every other racing game. However, in Mario Kart, they also add items. These items will cause havoc to the other racers on the track. It ranges from banana peels that you can slip on, to the deadly red shell, to the mini mushroom. All of these items give you some type of advantage in the race.




      There are a few game modes you can play also. There are two modes for single player and two extra ones if you are playing with a friend. The modes are grand prix, vs, battle, and time trials. Versus and battle are for 2 players only, while time trials is only for single player.




      Grand prix is where you will race on five tracks all in a row, and try to get the most points by the end of the races. Versus is a mode for two players only. Here, you will be racing with just you and your friend on the same tracks as grand prix. Next is time trial mode. In this mode, you will be alone on the track, and try to get a good record, along with your three mushrooms. This one is fun especially if you like getting records. And the last one is battle mode. Here, you and your friend start with three balloons, representing lives. Your goal is to destroy them, by shooting items at them. You will battle in four special arenas for this mode.




      Gameplay: 9 /10 – The gameplay is great. The combination of items, skill while maneuvering through the track, and using your drifting powers, come together to make a great game to play with a friend of alone. When you drift, you have less control, but can make the tighter turns easier without having to slow down. If you can master it, it will be really helpful for shaving off a few extra seconds on a time trial run. There are also multiple types of off-road, and track. The muddy road of Choco Island is slippery, and the off-road will slow you down much more than the grass. Also, there are some areas on Doughnut Plains that will give you less control. This also exists in the Bowser’s Castle.




      Graphics: 8 – The graphics look pretty good. If you were to look ahead near the horizon, it will look like there are dismembered pixels. This looks the worst in rainbow road. Speaking of which, rainbow road kind of looks like a bunch of crazy colors spread out everywhere. It doesn't look clean. But all of the other tracks look really nice. Doughnut plains have some nice effects, with the background looking really cool. All the sprites have some good animations, besides Yoshi, who looks like he wants to eat everybody all the time. They did a really nice job of making a 2d game work in a 3d environment.




      Sound: 8.5 – I really liked the sound in this game, from the music, to the sounds. In most cases, like Mario Circuit, Vanilla Plains, and Bowser’s Castle, the music is really good. But I feel that Ghost Valley was to repetitive. I also kind of felt that there could have been more songs in it, although it would be a little strange if two different tracks with the same look had different music. Yes, not a big deal, but if you are at a part that you are constantly going on the bouncing platforms, or hitting speed ups, you will notice that.



   
      Story: N/A – Well, there isn’t really a story to it. There is absolutely no explanation as to why you are racing, or why you would ever let Bowser join. But anyways, it’s just a racing game. It doesn’t need a story.





      Addictiveness: 7.5/depth: 9.5 – With more tracks than both Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Double Dash, there are a good amount of tracks to race on. You will also find yourself coming back to play it time and time again, whether it is to beat your best record on time trials, competing with your friends, or just to do another round of grand prix. You will spend plenty of time on this game, like the Mario Kart series how now been known to do.




      Difficulty: 8 – Depending on the difficulty you go on, this game can either be somewhat easy, to challenging, to extremely difficult. If you were to compare it to today’s Mario Kart games, Mario Kart Wii (minus the blue shell) on 150cc is going to be about the level of 100cc in this one. It is very challenging which could either keep you wanting to keep at it, or could make you rage quit. But I feel this is just the right amount of challenge, without being a game that “cheats”.





      The controls for this game are done really nicely also. With all of the characters controlling differently, it’s fun to master all of them. You will find that some of them will be harder to control. For example, Yoshi has a tighter turn radius, making it harder to master, but once you do master it, you will find it much easier. The only problem with the controls, which isn't really as much of the controls as the game’s 2d field, the fact that you can jump over the coins and item boxes will make it more challenging to get your drifts started at the right time.





      Overall: 8.9 – Super Mario Kart is a great game. With a great mix of a racing game and a karting game, it makes a great game to play solo or with a friend. With good graphics, good music, and fun tracks and items, this is the best racer that I've played on the SNES. If you are a fan of racing games, you should try this one out.

patar4097 : Fantastic review man. The only thing I don't agree with is the game play, as a kid I found the controls to be pretty awkward, and same thing on vizzed.

ender44 : Yeah, the controls are pretty weird at first, but I found them kind of easy to adjust to on Vizzed. To me, it feels about the same as controlling Mario Kart Super Circuit. But I see where you are coming from. And I guess I don't know what the controls were like on an actual SNES, so I can't really say anything about how it compares to the actual game.

Wow, this is one of the better reviews I've seen lately. Also I couldn't help but laugh at " besides Yoshi, who looks like he wants to eat everybody all the time." and " There is absolutely no explanation as to why you are racing, or why you would ever let Bowser join.".
Good work here. Definitely a 5/5.