After saving Princess Toadstool, Mario and Co. decided to take a break from the usual rescue mission and try on go-karts. This gave rise to the ancestor of cartoon-based racing: Super Mario Kart.

Graphics: 9/10

For such an early game (1992) this game has very good graphics. Each racer is very-well detailed and you can see them 360 degrees, both when racing (you can see them in your rear mirror and when the race beings/ends) and in the split screen below. On that screen, some characters have distinctive moves (Yoshi pulls his tongue, Donkey Kong rises his arms in triumph, Bowser opens his mouth, etc.) Each character, when they are racing against you, have a special skill to try and slow you down/make you spin out of control: the Mario bros get invincible, DK shoots banana peels, Koopa Troopa shoots green shells, Bowser shoots fire balls and the Princess and Toad shoot poisonous mushrooms that shrink you (and you DO get smaller). Should someone roll over you, you get splattered and can't drive for a few seconds.

The race tracks are very-well designed too and reasonably increase in difficulty as you move to more advance cups. Mario Circuit is the typical concrete track where it's fairly easy to drive, also pipes and oil leaks may appear. The Donut Plain is on dirt so traction is a little harder. Turns are sharper that MC and there's water that can block your way; moles can appear and bother you later one. Ghost Valley doesn't have obstacles as such (no ghosts to bother you). However, there are holes everywhere and hitting the ledge of the track can create holes too; falling in them will cost you two coins of towing by Lakitu. Bowser Castle is made of stone and the corridors can get very narrow, making turning hard. It's full of boiling lave and Thwomp that can smash you like a pancake.

More advance tracks include Chocolate Island, where puddles of chocolate and piranha plants will slow you down; Vanilla Lake where frigid waters and ice cubes will slow down your progress (I was disappointed the ice wasn't more slippery as it was in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World); and Koopa Beach where you have to avoid deep waters. Finally, there is the dreaded Rainbow Road, which has nothing to hold you from falling AND flashing Thwomps that will hurt you if you merely touch them.

In addition, your weapon arsenal is good enough for the time. You can have green (goes around at random unless you just drop them) and red (teleguided) turtle shells, banana peels, ghosts (that let you steal your opponent's item), mushrooms (that give you a burst of speed), feathers (that make you jump; practical for shortcuts) lightning bolts (that shrink your opponents) and the usual invincibility star. Note that the two last ones usually appear when you lag behind. Also, race tracks have many coins around; be sure to get some so you can boost your speed and not spin out of control every time you get hit.

Finally, there are four different tracks (vaguely based on existing tracks) for those who prefer playing against another player. On water, concrete, ice or sand you need to pop your adversary's balloons before he pops yours.

Music: 8/10

For me, good music usually equals good gameplay and Mario Kart is no exception.

Although there aren't that many track (one for every different track, the 2-player mode, the characters' very short victory jingle and the intro/victory screen) I thought they were pretty good. My favorite one is Koopa Beach, which has a nice exotic feel to it, better than Chocolate Island. Ghost Valley does sound haunted the Ghost Houses in Mario World (but with a more dramatic beat) and Bowser Castle has a rockier theme than the MW castles. The Rainbow Road sounds “awfully” cheerful for such a difficult track, but I love it anyway. A feature I liked was the accelerated music during the last lap; it shows that you must hurry if you're in fifth place or worse.

Sound effects are also pretty good. There are four distinctive engine sounds, one for each pair: The Big Guys (DK and Bowser), the Small Guys (Toad and KT), the Marios (Mario and Luigi) and the others (Princess Toadstool and Yoshi). When one gets miniaturized from poisonous mushroom, the sound of the engine reflects the size. I also thought that the splattering effect (before you recover) was appropriate and that your weapons/powerups sounded appropriate too.

Addictiveness: 9/10

Even though Mario Kart is not my kind of game, it really got me hooked up.

Of course, there is the regular game, where you try to win the gold cup in order to access the Special Cup and the 150cc runs. Although I got frustrated more than once in the 150cc class (see difficulty), I still found it enjoyable.

But the best part for me were the time trials. You get to try and run every single track (at 100cc) as fast as possible; you sometimes even have your “ghost” of your best try to show you how you previously performed.

For my cousin who owned the game in the 1990s, his favorite part was the one-on-one mode where you had to pop the other's balloons. It never really cared for it as the tracks pose no challenge; they are very small and get repetitive quickly. Plus, especially for the one with water, you can use a feather and jump away from your opponent until HE gets a feather too.

Depth: 8/10

I'm not too sure how “depth” can be used for such a game.

If it's a matter of how much the game has to offer, that I guess Mario Kart is deep. There is a total of 19 tracks (plus four one-on-one) divided in four cups – you can only access the Special Cup after winning the golden trophy for the Mushroom, Flower and Star Cups in 50cc and 100cc class. The time trials will give you plenty of practice to master the tracks beforehand.

Difficulty: 7/10

The difficulty in this game increases progressively with the size of the engine. Fifty cc is so easy that you can get a full lap ahead of everyone on some tracks. Also, 50cc tracks are awfully constant; whoever finished in second, third, fourth, etc., after the first race will ALWAYS catch up, which makes the race boring. For example, if you put a banana peel right before the jump on Mario Circuit 2, the second place racer will have time to catch up with everyone should he/she slip on the first lap.

However, 100cc (and especially 150cc) are pretty hard at first. Everyone goes much quicker and they elbow their way by both rolling quicker and using their tricks more often – siding a Mario brother can be pretty frustrating. Also the tracks get much, much harder. Ghost Valley tracks have many more holes, Bowser Castle have dead ends leading to lava and separate tracks that can slow you, Donut Plains have moles and broken bridges and, of course, the Rainbow Road will test your patience with its track without protection.

Nevertheless, Super Mario Kart is a must-try game. Its graphics were very good for the time, the music made the game enjoyable and there was plenty to keep you busy for days. Also, the progressively increasing difficulty will renew the challenge as you progress through the game.