Mario Kart: Super Circuit (stylized as Mario Kart SUPER CIRCUIT and abbreviated to MKSC) is the third Mario Kart game, this one being released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. It's a 32-bit game. It has 40 tracks, 20 of which come from Super Mario Kart, making it have the most tracks of any Mario Kart game until the DLC packs for Mario Kart 8 which gave that game 48 total (both packs would become main content in its port along with it's own DLC).
Mario Kart: Super Circuit was the first Mario Kart game not developed by Nintendo EAD, Nintendo's largest in-house development team known for their work on the many Mario platformers and the entire Legend of Zelda series. Instead, it was developed by another Nintendo first-party developer, Intelligent Systems, who are known for their tactical RPG series such as Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and WarioWare. Along with that, Mario Kart: Super Circuit was the first to have 5 nitro cups instead of the usual 4. It is the only known Mario Kart game to own that feature.
The game is a sequel of its predecessors, Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. All of the tracks are the same altitude throughout (like Super Mario Kart), a setback in the improvements of the Mario Kart series (Mario Kart 64 had changing height, with hills, inclined planes, dips, etc). Graphics were a significant enhancement from SMK, but not on par with MK64. Unique to the series, no new Items or Characters were released for this game. The racer icons were inherited from MK64, as well as the frames of the driver, but with a great deal less. However, the 40 different available tracks gained some publicity.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit can also be played on the Nintendo DS, the handheld console for Mario Kart DS by inserting the cartridge into the GBA slot on both the original DS or DS Lite. However, it is no longer compatible with the Nintendo DSi or DSi XL, due to the GBA slot being removed, unless the player has an unofficial GBA emulator and ROM installed.
Racers[]
The stat known as かそく (Acceleration) in Japan is mistranslated as Speed internationally on the character selection screen. Contrary to this and to Mario Kart 64 stats, lightweight characters do not have the best top speeds in Super Circuit. The instruction booklet makes these corrections.
Lightweight[]
"Excellent acceleration, but low top speeds.
Not slowed much by dirt.
Easily knocked aside by heavier karts."
(Super Circuit instruction booklet)
Character | Acceleration かそく |
Weight | Description |
---|---|---|---|
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ | "Check out true lightweight racing!" | |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ | "No one has faster acceleration!" | |
★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ ★ | "Dirt is no obstacle!" |
Middleweight[]
"Balanced alternative to the Lightweight and Heavyweight karts." (Super Circuit instruction booklet)
Character | Acceleration かそく |
Weight | Description |
---|---|---|---|
★ ★ ★ | "Perfectly balanced!" | ||
★ ★ ★ | "Great steering!" |
Heavyweight[]
"Very high top speed, but acceleration and steering require careful attention.
Bumps lightweight karts out of the way.
Suffers from tremendous slowdowns off-track." (Super Circuit instruction booklet)
Character | Acceleration かそく |
Weight | Description |
---|---|---|---|
★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | "There's nobody faster!" | |
★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ | "True Heavyweight power!" | |
★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ | "Better steering than Wario!" |
Courses[]
New[]
Mushroom Cup | Flower Cup | Lightning Cup | Star Cup | Special Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|
Peach Circuit also in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Tour |
Mario Circuit also in Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe) |
Luigi Circuit also in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Tour |
Snow Land also in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour |
Lakeside Park also in Mario Kart Tour |
Shy Guy Beach also in Mario Kart Wii |
Boo Lake also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Sky Garden also in Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Tour, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Ribbon Road also in Mario Kart 8(Deluxe) |
Broken Pier |
Riverside Park also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Cheese Land also in Mario Kart 8(Deluxe) |
Cheep Cheep Island also in Mario Kart Tour |
Yoshi Desert also in Mario Kart Tour |
Bowser Castle 4 also in Mario Kart Tour |
Bowser Castle 1 also in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour |
Bowser Castle 2 also in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Tour |
Sunset Wilds also in Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Bowser Castle 3 also in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour |
Rainbow Road |
In Mario Kart 8 x Animal Crossing DLC, or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is required.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC is required.
Extra / Classic[]
This was the first Mario Kart game to "return" courses from the SNES version of Mario Kart, Super Mario Kart. (The idea was abandoned in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, but returned in Mario Kart DS and every other game afterwards.) An extra is put before the cup name, to signal as if it were a bonus.
To unlock the Extra Tracks, you had to replay the cup you beat in either the 50, 100, or 150cc engine classes and collect a total of 100 Coins across all four tracks.
Battle Stages[]
Battle Course 1 also in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour |
Battle Course 2 |
Battle Course 3 also in Mario Kart Wii |
Battle Course 4 |
Items[]
- Banana Peel
- Green Shell/Triple Green Shell
- Red Shell/Triple Red Shell
- Mushroom/Triple Mushroom
- Spiny Shell
- Thunderbolt
- Star
- Boo
Galleries[]
Item Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Trivia![]
- This game is fittingly named Mario Kart Advance in Japan.
- This is the first game in the Mario Kart series to have retro courses. All of the courses were from Super Mario Kart, having five cups and four courses where they are known as "Extra" cups.
- This is also the first Mario Kart game made for a handheld system.
- This game lacked a few items including Fake Item Boxes, Banana Bunch, and Golden Mushrooms. Aforementioned items were found unused in the files. Fake Item Boxes work as bananas and Golden Mushrooms grant infinite boosts. Banana Bunch does nothing.
- Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Wario's voices were reused from the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64.
- This is the first and only Mario Kart to feature warning signs for every turn; they include U-turns, Curves, Sharp lefts, and jumps (marked by a "!" sign).
- The Lightning Cup was first introduced in this game. It was brought back in Mario Kart DS as a retro cup which ironically had Sky Garden in it which is in the Lightning Cup in this game. The Lightning Cup has also appeared in every other Mario Kart game ever since as the last of the retro cups.
- This is the last game in the Mario Kart series until Mario Kart 7 to feature the classic go-karts and this is the last one to not have any unlockable characters.
- No game after this one would equip Coins as items that increase your kart speed, until Mario Kart 7, which came out ten years later (though some missions in Mario Kart DS and tournaments/competitions as well as Coin Runners in Mario Kart Wii used them as requiring the player to collect them,).
- This is the last Mario Kart to use the 2-second start countdown during races. Succeeding games would use the present-day "3-2-1" countdown starting from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! onward.
- This is the last Mario Kart in which the last lap themes were just sped up versions of the original track.
- This is the last handheld game to have Princess Peach wearing her hair down.
- This is also the last Mario Kart where the characters appear in their N64-era appearances.
External Links[]
Mario Kart games | |
---|---|
Main Titles | Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES) • Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64) • Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001, GBA) • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003, GameCube) • Mario Kart DS (2005, DS) • Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) • Mario Kart 7 (2011, 3DS) • Mario Kart 8 (2014, Wii U) • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017, Switch) |
Arcade Titles | Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005) • Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007) • Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013) • Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017) |
Spin-off Titles | Mario Kart Tour (2019, Mobile) • Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020, Switch) |