Everybody knows Mario Kart.
Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii...even to this day with the current version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with all the tracks for the Wii U version along with a set of tracks from the Booster Pass.
The games outside of those mentioned tend to be overlooked though - Mario Kart 7 was one of my favorites but has sit in the shadow of the more well known Mario Kart Wii and the latest MK8D [although CTGP-7 has given it some needed love these days, which is great] while Mario Kart Double Dash was sandwiched between 64 and DS with an unique drift style...that may still throw off some players expecting a more standard MK drift to this day.
...And then there's Super Mario Kart. And Mario Kart Super Circuit.
I have to talk about SC one day with how I already had completed it twice before and is like an expansion + refinement of what was introduced in SMK while playing somewhat like it.
Keyword being "somewhat".
While Super Mario Kart had its glowing reviews in its release and no doubt is VERY important history wise as the first entry of the now well known franchise, nowadays it is...often derided for the way it is. It's not inherently bad at all [in my opinion], but it doesn't play like you'd expect from Mario Kart.
That last sentence is what I'd say is the main reason why Super Mario Kart is so divisive in modern audiences. After all, it is hard to not have expectations for a prequel of a game or games you know like the palm of your hand doesn't play as similar as those do.
Even in in the case of say, Tekken 1 and 2, while the movement is stiff and moves are limited in T1, there are some crumbs of gameplay and moves [Mishima's WGFs, Paul's Death Fist] that were there from the start before Tekken 3 gave it a facelift and new pair of pants to make it THE first Tekken to take the world by storm, while SMK has the items and drifting, but both the physics, way you drift, the items you can get and even how the AI uses them against you are so different it is no way the same as playing the games after it.
But okay, by this point I have already done a lot of background talk around the game before even talking about the game, so let's get to that.
Commiting to driving and drifting
So...the handling. Elephant in the room. Note that so far I've only played this recently with Luigi so things may vary if you play someone else - whether the handling is harder with the big guys, or on the flipside, you use Toad or Koopa for better handling.
Trying to hold the turn with medium/heavyweights for too long will make you lose grip quickly, meaning that you'll slide off into the offroad of walls. And when this game both has the AI hound behind you most of the time as well as the bouncy walls, that is something you want to avoid.
The simplest way to work around the handling...is to be cautious with the accelerator. If you let go of the accel while trying to do sharp turns, then you can steer more cleanly. Clean steering, clean turns. Clean turns, clean race. As long as the AI doesn't do a trick on you, but we'll get to that later.
You can even do a little trick by tapping the accelerator repeatedly for those turns to increase the grip while not letting to entirely of the accel to keep speed. It reminds me of Blast Turning in SNES F-Zero, except that while in that game it is specifically to have sharper turns with the steering, here it is to avoid overshooting turns with the usual speed.
Now, that is a way to tackle turns safely, which can work okay if you are getting started at 50cc or already jumped into 100cc.
But what if you want to have MORE speed while clearing the turns? Optimizing your Time Attack times? Or simply wanting to look cool by doing big drifts like you could in any Mario Kart game?
Well, you CAN drift. But hear me out.
While drifts in Mario Kart games since N64 [except SC] can be held and wiggled left and right to adjust yourself when going over a turn, in Super Mario Kart, if you start a drift and hold it to either left or right, trying to go the other direction will end the drift. No adjusting your angle mid-drift.
This is the most advanced intended technique in the game, and requires you to already have practiced the tracks to know exactly when and where you want to hit the drifts.
Hit a drift in the wrong time and you may undershoot into the inside wall of a turn or overshoot into the offroad - a very costly mistake that you probably won't be able to afford in 100cc and definitely not in 150cc [but I'll also get to that later].
But if you get to hit a good drift in at least one turn, you'll notice how strong it actually is. The sharp turning from the drift paired with the fact you keep full throttle speed when you do one means that it is hands down the fastest way to cut through turns whenever you have the space and practice to use it for those.
For example, this one hairpin at the end of Donut Plains 2 won't make you any favors at 150cc if you are behind the pack and still try to tiptoe around it...but hitting a drift just right on the inside can help you get some proper leverage in that specific section.
If you see anyone playing Super Mario Kart and plowing through tracks with a lot of drifting, ESPECIALLY if they are playing at 150cc, then you know that not only you're watching at a true expert, but you'll also easily notice how FAST they look by doing so.
Shao Kahn wants his money back
Now here's one of the things that Super Mario Kart is well known for: The AI plays by their own rules.
While you have the usual set of items at your disposal, each AI character will have a special specific item dedicated to them. Most of the characters throw the equivalent of stationary bananas but some act differently [Peach and Toad throw mushrooms that shrink you on contact, while Bowser throws fireballs that MOVE around where they are].
Those can already be bad enough if they try to snipe you with them, but Mario and Luigi instead can activate the Starman whenever thy want. So the risk of being destroyed by either character [or if both somehow are the rivals behind you, both] because they got too close to you and decided to activate the Star is an actual danger.
You'd think that your items are completely reliable against them though, but in 100cc, they can often decide to jump at will over bananas and any AI-placed items, and sometimes in 150cc they can even try to jump over Red Shells if you aren't close enough to hit them point-blank.
Seriously, even if you are quite close to an AI, if you arent at literal point blank, they can still decide to jump over it at a whim.
100cc is doable with a few attempts and applying your acceleration control if needed, more so if you allow yourself to get a few second or third places [although you should avoid letting the rival racer get away with too many high positions as otherwise it may beat you in points at the end], but when this game goes from a cool kart racer that you have to approach differently into a ride only for the most patient and dedicated, its when you cross into 150cc, which happens to be unlockable in this game only after you beat all cups in 100cc.
That is when even Mushroom Cup can take some attempts for you to not screw up [mainly so if you want to go for an all 1st completion of it, which is what I did], let alone the other cups - I have got to finish at least two or three times in the first four tracks with a 1st Place in Flower Cup...but Mario Circuit 3 has kept filtering me out for a flawless run every single time so far.
And then Star Cup and Special Cup are STEEP challenges to overcome at all, because the AI speed overdrive will play you a big one if you aren't willing to practice and master the tracks to counter those, all due to how more complex and cheeky they get [the Bowser Castle track in Star Cup has a line of Thwomps on one straight that could wall you out entirely if you are extremely unlucky].
If you want to try getting ahead without struggling as much with the physics, you should try the lightweights Koopa and Toad, as they have good acceleration and handling - biggest risk though being that they are the most pushed around by other racers...so watch out for that.
Conclusion
It is a pretty unique diversion to learn how to beat in 100cc from working your way around the physics, if not learning how to be bold and drift through everything like a madman, but 150cc is a challenge not for those low of patience - a challenge as hard as nails as other games of the time could be.
But if you struggle with 100cc, then you can at least take it slow and play in 50cc to prepare yourself properly - even though the Special Cup will be locked if you play there...so whenever you make the jump from 50cc to 100cc, you'll have to take that one head first at the faster speed.
I don't have much recent tales of SMK because of how I had been here and there after October ended, so I actually haven't done any new attempts since October 28th which is when I did 150cc Mushroom with all first place finishes [and failed to do the same for Flower Cup], but if you are curious to see how I fared in the 100cc marathon and the one 150cc cup I have managed to master, then you can watch those on the playlist below.
Thanks for reading!
Spanish translation with DeepL. All screenshots were captured by myself.
Español
Todo el mundo conoce Mario Kart.
Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii... incluso a día de hoy con la versión actual de Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, con todas las pistas de la versión de Wii U junto con un conjunto de pistas del Booster Pass.
Mario Kart 7 era uno de mis favoritos, pero ha quedado a la sombra del más conocido Mario Kart Wii y del último MK8D [aunque CTGP-7 le ha dado un poco de amor necesario estos días, lo cual es genial], mientras que Mario Kart Double Dash se situó entre 64 y DS con un estilo de derrape único... que todavía hoy puede despistar a algunos jugadores que esperan un derrape MK más estándar.
...Y luego está Super Mario Kart. Y Mario Kart Super Circuit.
Tengo que hablar de SC un día, porque ya lo había completado dos veces y es como una expansión + perfeccionamiento de lo que se introdujo en SMK, aunque en cierto modo se parece.
La frase clave es «en cierto modo».
Mientras que Super Mario Kart tuvo sus críticas elogiosas en su lanzamiento y sin duda es MUY importante históricamente como la primera entrada de la ahora bien conocida franquicia, hoy en día es... a menudo ridiculizado por su forma de ser. No es intrínsecamente malo en absoluto [en mi opinión], pero no se juega como cabría esperar de Mario Kart.
Yo diría que esta última frase es la razón principal por la que Super Mario Kart divide tanto al público moderno. Al fin y al cabo, es difícil no tener expectativas para una precuela de un juego o juegos que conoces como la palma de tu mano no se juegue como aquellos.
Incluso en el caso de, digamos, Tekken 1 y 2, aunque el movimiento es rígido y los movimientos son limitados en T1, hay algunas migajas de jugabilidad y movimientos [los WGF de Mishima, el Puño de la Muerte de Paul] que estaban ahí desde el principio antes de que Tekken 3 le diera un lavado de cara y un nuevo par de pantalones para convertirlo en EL primer Tekken que arrasó en todo el mundo, mientras que SMK tiene los objetos y el derrape, pero tanto la física, la forma en que derrapas, los objetos que puedes conseguir e incluso cómo la IA los usa contra ti son tan diferentes que no es en absoluto lo mismo que jugar a los juegos posteriores.
Pero bueno, en este punto ya he hecho un montón de hablar de fondo en torno al juego antes incluso de hablar sobre el juego, así que vamos a llegar a eso.
Comprometerse con la conducción y el derrape
Así que... el manejo. El elefante en la habitación. Tenga en cuenta que hasta ahora sólo he jugado esto recientemente con Luigi por lo que las cosas pueden variar si juegas con otra persona - si el manejo es más difícil con los grandes, o por el contrario, utiliza Toad o Koopa para un mejor manejo.
Intentar mantener el giro con los pesos medios/pesados durante demasiado tiempo te hará perder agarre rápidamente, lo que significa que te deslizarás hacia el fuera de pista de las paredes. Y cuando este juego tiene tanto al sabueso de la IA detrás de ti la mayor parte del tiempo como a las paredes rebotonas, eso es algo que quieres evitar.
La forma más sencilla de evitar el manejo... es tener cuidado con el acelerador. Si sueltas el acelerador mientras intentas hacer giros cerrados, entonces puedes dirigir más limpiamente. Dirección limpia, curvas limpias. Giros limpios, carrera limpia. Siempre y cuando la IA no te haga un truco, pero llegaremos a eso más tarde.
Incluso puedes hacer un pequeño truco tocando el acelerador repetidamente en esos giros para aumentar el agarre sin dejar de acelerar del todo para mantener la velocidad. Me recuerda al Blast Turning de F-Zero de SNES, salvo que mientras en ese juego es específicamente para tener giros más bruscos con la dirección, aquí es para evitar pasarse de vueltas con la velocidad habitual.
Ahora bien, esa es una forma de abordar los giros con seguridad, que puede funcionar bien si te estás iniciando en los 50cc o ya has saltado a los 100cc.
*¿Pero qué pasa si quieres tener MÁS velocidad mientras despejas las curvas? ¿Optimizar tus tiempos en Time Attack? ¿O simplemente quieres lucirte haciendo grandes derrapes como en cualquier juego de Mario Kart?
Bueno, PUEDES derrapar. Pero escúchame.
Uno pensaría que tus objetos son completamente fiables contra ellos, pero en 100cc, a menudo pueden decidir saltar a voluntad sobre los plátanos y cualquier objeto colocado por la IA, y a veces en 150cc pueden incluso intentar saltar sobre las Conchas Rojas si no estás lo suficientemente cerca para golpearles a bocajarro.
En serio, aunque estés bastante cerca de una IA, si no estás literalmente a quemarropa, pueden decidir saltar sobre ella a su antojo.
100cc es factible con unos cuantos intentos y aplicando tu control de aceleración si es necesario, más aún si te permites conseguir unos cuantos segundos o terceros puestos [aunque deberías evitar dejar que el corredor rival se salga con la suya con demasiadas posiciones altas ya que de lo contrario podría ganarte en puntos al final], pero cuando este juego pasa de ser un genial corredor de karts al que tienes que acercarte de forma diferente a un paseo sólo para los más pacientes y dedicados, es cuando cruzas a 150cc, que resulta ser desbloqueable en este juego sólo después de que superes todas las copas en 100cc.
Es entonces cuando incluso la Copa Champiñón puede requerir algunos intentos para que no la cagues [sobre todo si quieres completarla en 1er lugar, que es lo que yo hice], por no hablar de las otras copas: he llegado a terminar al menos dos o tres veces en las cuatro primeras pistas con un 1er puesto en la Copa Flor... pero Mario Circuit 3 me ha seguido filtrando una carrera impecable cada vez hasta ahora.
Y luego, la Copa Estrella y la Copa Especial son retos MUY DIFÍCILES de superar, porque el exceso de velocidad de la IA te jugará una mala pasada si no estás dispuesto a practicar y dominar las pistas para contrarrestarlas, todo debido a lo complejas y descaradas que se vuelven [la pista del Castillo de Bowser en la Copa Estrella tiene una línea de Thwomps en una recta que podría dejarte fuera por completo si tienes muy mala suerte].
Si quieres intentar avanzar sin tener que luchar tanto con la física, deberías probar con los pesos ligeros Koopa y Toad, ya que tienen una buena aceleración y maniobrabilidad, aunque el mayor riesgo es que son los más empujados por otros corredores... así que ten cuidado con eso.
Conclusión
Es una diversión bastante única aprender a vencer en 100cc a base de trabajar la física, si no aprender a ser atrevido y derrapar por todo como un loco, pero 150cc es un reto no apto para los bajos de paciencia - un reto tan duro como las uñas como podrían serlo otros juegos de la época.
Pero si tienes problemas con 100cc, al menos puedes tomártelo con calma y jugar en 50cc para prepararte como es debido, aunque la Copa Especial se bloqueará si juegas ahí... así que cuando des el salto de 50cc a 100cc, tendrás que tomártelo de cabeza a mayor velocidad.
No tengo muchas historias recientes de SMK debido a que he estado aquí y allá después de que terminara octubre, así que en realidad no he hecho ningún nuevo intento desde el 28 de octubre, que fue cuando hice 150cc Champiñón con todos los primeros puestos [y no pude hacer lo mismo para la Copa Flor], pero si tienes curiosidad por ver cómo me fue en el maratón de 100cc y la única copa de 150cc que he logrado dominar, entonces puedes verlas en la lista de reproducción a continuación.
¡Gracias por leer!
Traducción al español hecha con DeepL. Todas las fotos capturadas por mí.
This was one of the popular games I had to miss the first entry in back in the day due to stores being sold out of it all the time. I was too impatient to mail a money order into a company from a magazine ad then wait probably two to three months to get my game either.
I got into Mario Kart with the N64 release. A friend had a copy and we played it every weekend, his parents would play too. It was fun playing four player. I had an N64 controller LONG before I had a Nintendo 64 console because of this.
I have tried going back to the first to see what the hype was about but as you mentioned, this one's reception is very different depending on when you started playing the franchise.
For me, I just cannot get into the Super Nintendo Mario Kart. I have tried many times but it just doesn't click with me. It is odd because I prefer the SNES version of F-Zero over the later releases so it is not just a graphics bias with me. The gameplay is fundamentally different with Mario Kart.
That's why I never play Tekken 1 and 2 but Tekken 3 was so popular here in India when I was growing up. Now, it makes more sense.