mario kart 64

align=center colspan=2\|*Mario Kart 64*
align=center colspan=2\|
style=width:80px\|Developer:	Nintendo
a href="/encyclopedia/Video-game-publisher" title="Video game publisher">Publisher:	Nintendo
elease date:	February 10, 1997
a href="/encyclopedia/Computer-and-video-game-genres" title="Computer and video game genres">Genre:	Racing game
ame modes:	Single player, multiplayer
a href="/encyclopedia/ESRB" title="ESRB">ESRB rating:	Everyone (E)
latform:	Nintendo 64

Mario Kart 64 is a racing video game for the Nintendo 64 game system for up to four players. It is the sequel to Super Mario Kart for the SNES. Players take control of characters from the Super Mario Bros. video game series and race around a variety of tracks while using several weapons including items that make the racers speed increase, turtle-shell projectiles and slippery banana peels. The game was developed and published by Nintendo and released on February 10, 1997. Music for the game was composed by Koji Kondo, who has also composed scores for many Nintendo games.

Notable differences between Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario Kart

The graphics have been significantly upgraded.
Each track now requires 3 laps instead of 5 (but the tracks are much longer).
Tracks are now in complete 3D, with hills, slopes, bumps and jumps.
Two characters, Koopa Troopa and Donkey Kong Junior, have been replaced with Wario and Donkey Kong.
The Jump Feather has been replaced with a button allowing infinite jumps
Coins have been removed.
Several weapons were added including: a banana bunch, triple mushroom, golden mushroom, triple green shells, triple red shells, fake item bomb, spiked blue shell.
In the opinion of some players, the difficulty is slightly greater.

Modes of gameplay

Mario Grand Prix (GP)

In the one or two player mode, players race in a group of eight (one or two human players and six or seven computer players) around a series of four courses per cup. A player selects one of the four cups at the beginning of the game as well as a difficulty level.

Time Trials

A single-player mode. A player may play any course in any cup. In time trial, the player is given a triple mushroom item, and the kart has a 100cc engine. The top five best course times and the best lap time are recorded on the cartridge, and the aim is for the player to beat their own records. Completing a race often results in a ghost appearing on the player's next attempt - the ghost is the route taken for the best time that the player has completed in their current session, and can be saved on a controller pak for later use. There are several online communities dedicated to keeping track of time trial records, and some are still as active as ever, many years after the game's release.

Versus Mode

In this game for two, three or four players, players can race head-to-head against their friends without computer players. Players need not play an entire cup, but select individual courses to play. Players also select the difficulty level.

Battle Mode

In this game for two, three or four players, players compete in one of four arenas filled with items. Players have three balloons attached to their go-carts and lose them when they are spun-out by either being hit by a player in a higher weight class or spun out with an item. In three and four player modes, players that have lost all of their balloons come back once as a bomb that can move around to crash with another player and thus remove one balloon. The winner is the last one with balloons left.

Battle Arenas

Big Donut - a very large annular track, with lava in the center and four walls serving as temporary cover. Shells work best in this level, so long as the opponent is not across the lava gap.
Block Fort - a square court with four square three-story towers. Towers are uniquely colored, and there are slopes leading up to the highest tiers, and bridges leading to neighboring towers. Bananas and fake item boxes are useful here, as the bridges and slopes are very narrow. Shells work best on the bottom floor.
Double Deck - a four-story maze with plenty of walls and many places to hide from shells.
Skyscraper - a small round course atop a skyscraper, with many treacherous gaps. Games in this level are usually short, because it is both easy to fall off, and there is nowhere to hide. Since players always respawn in a fixed location after falling off, camping is a common practice - the opponent can wait at the set-down point with shells in tow, and quickly dispose of the final two balloons for victory.

Difficulty

In Mario GP, players can choose between four difficulty levels of game play. These levels include:

50cc - Easy (fairly slow-paced)
100cc - Intermediate (medium speed)
150cc - Difficult (fast-paced, and occasionally the AI cheats by letting computer characters drive far faster than you can)
Extra - Same as 100cc, but all courses are mirror images of themselves. All left turns become right turns and vice versa. You can unlock Extra mode by winning 1st place (a gold cup) on all four cups in 150cc mode.

Characters

There are eight characters to race with in this game divided into three weight classes.

Lightweights

Small and fast, these characters have high acceleration and high top speeds, but can suffer from being spun-out in collisions with heavier characters. They are the opposites of the heavyweights. These three characters are the undisputed favourites for Time Trials because of their speed, but neither seems to have an advantage over the other two.

Peach

Toad

Yoshi

Middleweights

These are supposedly good all-around characters, but are rarely used. They are said to have no advantages nor disadvantages. They can make lightweights spin-out in collisions, but can be spun out in a collision with a heavyweight. Some experimenting can show that their acceleration is just-as-bad as heavyweights.

Mario

Luigi

Heavyweights

Bulky and looming, these characters can be easier to handle for newer players, and possess the ability to spin-out middleweights and lightweights in collisions. They have terrible acceleration and a slightly lower top speed, so they are rarely used in Time Trials. However, they are a favourite for many Battle Mode players.

Bowser

Donkey Kong

Wario

Items

Items can be acquired by hitting an items block, a multicolored cube with a question mark in it. Items can be used by pushing Z on the controller.

Projectiles

Green Shell (Single) - A simple projectile. Travels in a straight line and bounces off of walls. Makes a person who touches it explode.
Green Shell (Three) - Three green shells orbit the driver until each of them is fired away. When fired, they act as single green shells do. While orbiting, they act as a shield that deflects any other attacks; however, each attack deflected takes away one shell.
Red Shell (Single) - An intelligent projectile. It locks onto the person one position in front of the player and attempts to crash into them.
Red Shell (Three) - Three red shells orbit the driver until each of them is fired away. When fired, they act as single red shells do. They act as a shield in the same manner as three green shells.
Spikey Blue Shell - Targets the player in first place and hits as many people along the way as it can, but only if the intervening players get in the way.

Bananas and Bombs

Banana - These can be laid on the track. They cause players to spin out.
Banana Bunch - A group of five bananas trail a player until they are released. When released they act as normal bananas do, but while in a chain behind a player then can be used to spin out a player that is following too closely.
Fake-item Bomb - These resemble item boxes, but when touched cause a driver to lose all speed and fly exploding into the air.

Mushrooms

Mushroom (Regular) - Increases the drivers speed to 80 km/h (top speed is usually 60 km/h) for a few seconds.
Mushroom (Triple) - Allows a driver to use a mushroom three times.
Mushroom (Golden) - Allows a driver to use an infinite amount of mushrooms for a short, fixed amount of time.

Misc

Star - Makes a player invincible to attacks and increases speed. If a player collides with someone with a star active it will cause them to explode into the air.
Ghost - Steals a random weapon from some other player and makes the driver invisible to other drivers for several seconds.
Lightning - Makes all other players smaller and thus slower because everyone has smaller tires. This state lasts for several seconds during which the user can flatten other drivers by colliding with their miniature form.

The Cups & Courses

Mushroom Cup

A fairly simple cup. It is not terribly difficult to win. The courses in this cup are:

Luigi Raceway
Moo Moo Farm
Koopa Troopa Beach
Kalimari Desert

Flower Cup

This is a cup of higher difficulty. It is more challenging than the Mushroom cup. The courses in this cup are:

Toad's Turnpike
Frappe Snowland
Choco Mountain
Mario Raceway

Star Cup

The star cup is even more challenging than the first two and has longer courses in most cases. The courses in this cup are:

Wario Stadium
Sherbet Land
Royal Raceway
Bowser's Castle

Special Cup

The special cup is the most challenging cup and can only be obtained once a player has won the Gold Cup (1st place) in the Mushroom, Flower and Star Cups at 150cc difficulty. The courses in this cup are:

D.K.'s Jungle Parkway
Yoshi Valley
Banshee Boardwalk
Rainbow Road

Prequels and sequels

Mario Kart 64 does not stand alone. There are several other associated games making Mario Kart 64 just one element in the greater Mario Kart series.