Mario Kart Super Circuit

Summary

Genre: Racing
Number of players: 1-4

Review

This title is the third in the Mario Kart series of games, though the first for the Gameboy Advance. The SNES version, Super Mario Kart, was an excellent and timeless racing game, combining deep racing with some crazy weaponry. The N64 version, Mario Kart 64, was a fair update, with four-player support, though it was hurt by a too-big bias against leaders and some rather poor computer AI. Has this newest game fixed these problems - and is it a necessary buy for those who already have the other games?


Gameplay: The first thing that strikes you about Super Circuit is that it's a sort of hybrid of both previous games. The graphical style and basic gameplay is obviously very similar to Super Mario Kart, while the roster of characters and the powerups come from Mario Kart 64. This is a positive thing overall - the SNES version was arguably the better of the two previous titles, so a gameplay style like it isn't bad, while given the necessary limitations of the portable hardware, the graphics can't exactly be the same as on the N64. The N64 powerups were more 'tasty' than the SNES ones though, so having most of them isn't bad either. In fact, many of the powerups have been made even stronger than in MK64: single red shells can now be dropped and will chase after the next player to pass them by, while the ghost powerup will steal an item, make you invisible and now also attack the player in first place.

Now that the comparisons are over, let's get on to examining the gameplay in more detail. You can choose from one of three single-player modes: Grand Prix, Time Trial and Quick Run. Grand Prix pits you against seven computer opponents over the course of a four-race championship; Time Trial sets you against the clock to get the best race time on a course of your choice, with only a triple mushroom for a powerup; and Quick Run is a single race against seven opponents on a track of your choice.

The same old Mario Kart play style is present: you drive around the course, making use of the occasional jump and zipper, while fending off the opposition by blasting them with one of the powerups that are collected from regenerating item boxes strewn around the track. Unlike the SNES original, there are several places around the track where you can collect these boxes, so combat is a bit more frequent than in SMK. This is just as well, in that the courses are a lot bigger than the originals were. A lot more features can be found on the tracks, too, from rain puddles that make you skid, to thunderclouds which zap areas of the track, to crazy rats that roam around and spin you out if they touch you. Coins make a return, and collecting these from the track will speed up your kart, as well as protect you from collisions with other racers.

All of the tracks are very well-designed, and combat is great fun. Even better is the fact that the bias against leaders has finally been got right: with the new dropped-red-shell trick, even leaders can attack those behind them, and although lower-placed racers do get better items, it's not such a huge discrepancy as before. The race leaders get at least decent powerups such as red shells and mushrooms which can keep them in the lead if used correctly. It's a fair system now, and certainly better than the occasional farce in MK64 where two players approaching the final stretch of race would brake before the final batch of items, waiting for the other one to go first and get the useless items before grabbing a triple red shell and destroying them.

All-up, the game plays really, really well, as much so for Mario Kart experts as for newcomers to the franchise.


Challenge: The computer players appear to cheat less and race tougher this time around, which is a good thing. Winning a race does seem more down to skill than luck, again a good thing, although often a single item can spell the difference between first and fifth place towards the end. There are five championships with four tracks each to unlock and race on, and each can be attempted on 50cc, 100cc or 150cc difficulty, which makes a real difference to the challenge on each course. In addition, there are another five championships to unlock by beating the existing championships with enough total coins - these 'extra' courses being all 20 of the SNES tracks given a graphical makeover. Top stuff. Suffice to say that getting the gold trophy on each track, on each skill level, will take quite a while.


Graphics: The graphics are really quite good. A significant improvement has been made over the SNES graphics, and there is a lot more detail on both the courses, characters and backgrounds alike. True, it's nothing up to MK64's standards, but for a handheld game Super Circuit really does look good.


Sounds: The music is alright, in places catchy and in others atmospheric, though nothing that really stands out as amazing. The character voices are reasonable true, though of quite poor quality, to be frank. Engine noises and other sound effects are good, though, and the overall feel of the sounds is solid enough. Nothing bad, nothing exceptional.


Multiplayer: Super Circuit supports up to four players, either with a single game pak or if each player has a MKSC cart in their GBA. The single-pak link is alright, and good fun for several players: it allows racing on four tracks, though they are all from the original SNES version, and all players must race as Yoshi. Multiple-pak mode is far better, allowing all 40 tracks, plus a Battle mode on one of four special arenas, together with a two-player Grand Prix mode. However, since this requires a game pak for each player, it's obviously tougher to round up enough friends with GBAs and the game. Still, multiplayer mode is a great addition, and the single-pak mode is appreciated even if limited.


Summing up: This is arguably the finest Mario Kart game around, and anyone who's played the SNES version will know this is praise indeed. A solid addition to a GBA library, especially if you have friends with a copy.


Gamesmark: 88%


Reviewer: Maverik