If you’re at the front, you’ll receive banana peels or single green shells to use against racers encroaching on your position. Trail behind and you’ll have access to more potent power-ups such the player-shrinking lightning bolt or the infamous blue shell that hunts down the racer in first place (taking out anyone else in its path along the way). The item you get when driving through a question-mark box is influenced by your position at that point in the race. This creative selection of projectiles, hazards and special items is the game’s defining feature, and it can help you just as much as it hinders you. It’s just as well, because Mario Kart 64’s chaotic item system can cause upsets right up until the last few seconds of a race.
You may be able make up for it in later races, especially if you target the opponents who pose the greatest risk to your leaderboard position. You can perform poorly in a race, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve lost the cup (It’s certainly a lot more merciful than Diddy Kong Racing). It’s a good setup because it means you can get away with making the odd mistake or getting taken out by an opponent. Only by finishing a race in one of the top four positions (out of eight) can you earn points. In each cup, your goal is to earn as many points as possible across all races to achieve a podium finish at the end. Playing through Grand Prix at each class is essentially identical: there isn’t any variety in the gameplay, nor is there anything for you to unlock, except for an alternate title screen and mirror mode – the latter of which is hardly enticing after having essentially completed the game three times already. The higher the engine class, the more difficult it is to control your kart – the AI puts up more of a challenge too.
Grand Prix consists of four cups to complete at three different engine classes: 50cc, 100cc and 150cc. Otherwise, the main attractions here are the Versus and Battle modes, which still provide an abundance of hilarious, chaotic fun. Having instant access to everything for multiplayer is ideal, because Mario Kart 64’s single-player Grand Prix mode is a dull and repetitive slog (thankfully a second player can endure it with you). The characters fall into three different weight categories, which affects their top speed, handling and acceleration. You also can’t customise your vehicle as is the case with more recent entries in the series. It features only 16 tracks and eight playable characters – all of which are immediately available. What’s immediately apparent when booting up Mario Kart 64 is just how light it is in terms of content. Its split-screen multiplayer mode was a huge draw at the time, but is it still worth returning to today? Mario Kart 64 was one of the N64’s most popular games during its prime, and the second bestselling game on the system. Mario Kart 64 review – how does it play today?
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