Metacritic Games

Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)

Mario Kart 64 races eight familiar faces, including Mario, Bowser and Yoshi, on four progressively tougher four-track circuits. Wide curves and gentle banks mark the Mushroom Cup tracks. Your commute gets notably tougher on the Flower Cup, though. You'll have to dodge semis rumbling on Toad's Turnpike and bounding boulders on fogbound Choco Mountain! Star Cup tracks range from the icy surfaces of Sherbet Land to the lava lakes of Bowser's Castle. The true test of karting competence, though, comes on the four tracks in Special Cup. Zip through the dark caves and green hillsides of Donkey Kong's Jungle Parkway, cling to the sheer cliffs of Yoshi Valley and hustle over haunted Banshee Boardwalk before tackling the longest track in the game: neon-lit Rainbow Road. [Nintendo]

Nintendo
Racing, Driving
Players: 4
E (Everyone)
Developer: Nintendo
Released February 1, 1997

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

83 / 100

Critic Reviews

100	GamePro If you’ve experienced Super Mario Kart on the SNES, this game will feel like a grand homecoming. New players of all skill levels will instantly pick up on the fun.
93	Electronic Gaming Monthly And on the eighth day, God created Mario Kart. He saw it, and it was good. [Jan 2004, p.189]
90	TotalGames.net Mario Kart 64 is much more of an arcade combat game than before but its lastability, like the 16bit original, will be measured in years not months.
90	Computer and Video Games It may be lacking the coins of the original, and the courses aren't as inspired, but it plays like a demon, and that's the important part, right?
90	Electric Playground A few new weapons, a 3D take and cleaner visuals can't hide the fact that this is essentially five year old game play that Nintendo could have done in its sleep. Although I found Mario Kart 64 to be eminently playable, I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was a knock off of the first game.
90	Nintendojo Although it doesn't break any new grounds in originality (like Mario 64), Mario Kart 64 is a great addition to the N64 line-up. The solid graphics, good sound, and addictive gameplay--coupled with features like being able to race yourself (from a former race) in a special ghost mode--make you want to play it forever.
90	GamerWeb Nintendo An improved version of the SNES game. It takes the same gameplay, the same controls, and the same modes and puts them into the 3D worlds made possible by the Nintendo 64.
88	Gaming Age A weak one player game, Mario Kart 64 excels in the multiplayer arena, and that alone is worth the cost of admission. Few titles can come close to this one in terms of party games.
81	IGN Single-player mode gets old pretty fast, but the game's multiplayer mode is forever brilliant.
80	Nintendorks It's the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen! An incredible game for racing and Mario fans that is the best of both catagories (that's right, better than Mario 64)!
80	Hot Games It's one of those simple games that you know you'll be coming back to long after the latest racers have run out of gas.
80	All Game Guide Despite the fact that Mario Kart 64 doesn't quite compare to the original, it's nevertheless one of the best racing games for the system. The good still far outweighs the bad.
70	Games Domain This game is fun without a doubt. But, it relies too much on multi-player action.
67	Game Revolution Mario Kart 64 is really just a souped up version of the SNES game with added graphical power. No new ground is broken, or even scraped.
64	GameSpot I'm off to Mario Kart on my SNES to reminisce about the good old days, and dream of what this cartridge could have been.

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