Mario Kart 64 (styled as MARIOKART 64 abbreviated to MK64) is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in 1996 in Japan and 1997 for the rest of the world. It is the sequel to Super Mario Kart and features a move to 3D computer graphics and the inclusion of four-player support. Players take control of characters from the Mario universe, who race around a variety of tracks with items that can either harm an opponent or aid the user. The move to three-dimensional graphics allowed for track features not possible with the original game's Mode 7 graphics, such as changes in elevation, bridges, walls, and pits. However, the characters and items remained 2D pre-rendered sprites. The introduction music for Mario Kart 64 is loosely based on the original Super Mario Kart theme tune. The game is compatible with the N64 Controller Pak, but only to save track ghosts in the Time Trial mode. All other data is stored in-cartridge. This was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console, but it cannot be played with the Wii Remote. This is the second Mario Kart game in the series. This game is also the most broken Mario Kart game in the series.
Gameplay
The title screen.
Gameplay
On a track, various actions can be performed to change the flow of a race. Items can be acquired by hitting an item box, a rainbow-colored box with a spinning question mark. The items' uses include acting as projectiles to impede the opponent, speed up the user, or stop opponents through other means. One can earn a small turbo boost by drifting, which one can perform by hopping and tilting the control stick back and forth three times. However, AI-controlled racers do not use any kind of shell.
There are various modes of play such as the Mario Grand Prix where one or two human players compete with computer players in a group of eight around a series of four courses per cup - Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and Special Cup respectively. A player selects one of the four cups at the beginning of the game as well as a difficulty level, measured by engine size (50cc, 100cc, or 150cc). After a gold trophy has been acquired for each cup on the 150cc level, the Extra difficulty level is playable, where the tracks are mirrored. The player can also race on a track alone while recording a time (Time Trial mode), and trying to beat this time on subsequent races. There are two modes where players can face each other. The VS. mode allows you to race with each other, and Bob-ombs are thrown in each track. The Battle Mode allows players to compete in one of four special arenas filled with item boxes; each player has three balloons attached to their kart which are lost if any damage is done to the kart, with the winner being the last remaining player. If three or four players are participating, then the first one or two players without balloons transform into bombs on wheels that can crash into the remaining karts.
One of the major flaws of the gameplay revolves around the computer "cheating". When hit with weapons, the computer characters can stop for half a second and then continue at full speed. This is possible in Mario Kart Wii when you are a player. This is at odds with a player-controlled character being thrown into the air and coming to a complete stop. Also, the computer can seem to catch up with the player-controlled character, regardless of the lead the player has developed (especially when said player is not drifting).
Racers
Mario Kart 64 has eight drivers from which the players can choose. Koopa Troopa and Donkey Kong Junior, both of whom appeared in Super Mario Kart, did not return for Mario Kart 64 and were replaced by Donkey Kong and Wario. In pre-release screenshots, a Magikoopa was playable, but before the game's final release the Magikoopa was replaced by Donkey Kong and Wario was kept.
The racers from the lightest to the heaviest are Toad, Yoshi, Peach, Luigi, Mario, Wario, Bowser, and Donkey Kong. Unlike the other Mario Kart games, the racers of a lighter weight class have higher top speeds just like their acceleration. However, lighter weight racers are more prone to spinning out in a collision with heavier weight racers and can lose a balloon in Battle Mode from that collision.
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| Mario Medium | Luigi Medium | Peach Light | Toad Light |
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| Yoshi Light | Bowser Heavy | Donkey Kong Heavy | Wario Heavy |
Tracks
| Mushroom Cup | Flower Cup | Star Cup | Special Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luigi Raceway also in Mario Kart 7 | Toad's Turnpike also in Mario Kart 8 | Wario Stadium | DK's Jungle Parkway also in Mario Kart Wii |
| Moo Moo Farm also in Mario Kart DS | Frappe Snowland also in Mario Kart DS | Sherbet Land also in Mario Kart Wii | Yoshi Valley also in Mario Kart 8 |
| Koopa Troopa Beach also in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour | Choco Mountain also in Mario Kart DS | Royal Raceway also in Mario Kart 8 | Banshee Boardwalk also in Mario Kart DS |
| Kalimari Desert also in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour | Mario Raceway also in Mario Kart Wii | Bowser's Castle also in Mario Kart Wii | Rainbow Road also in Mario Kart 8 |
Battle courses
 Big Donut also in Mario Kart 7 |  Block Fort also in Mario Kart DS |  Double Deck |  Skyscraper also in Mario Kart Wii |
Items
| Item Pictures | Item Names | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mushroom | This item can be used to generate a speed boost for a limited time. |
| This item is the same as the Mushroom, but instead of one, the player has three. | |
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Golden Mushroom (new) | This item is the same as the mushroom, but it has unlimited uses for as long as the item is in the player's possession. The item's countdown timer begins as soon as it is first used. |
| An unguided shell that can be launched into racers. If a racer or other suitable object is not hit, the shell will bounce around the course. It can also be fired backward. | |
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Triple Green Shell (new) | A belt of 3 green shells that circle your racer. They can be fired one at a time or used as protection. If a shell comes into contact with either a racer or an item, it will break a shell but knock out the racer or item, depending on the item. They cannot be fired backward. |
| A guided shell that when launched will seek the nearest racer to the front of the racer. If you are in the first place, the Red Shell will continuously cruise the entire circuit until it hits any racer that collides with its course. | |
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Triple Red Shell (new) | A belt of 3 red shells that circle your racer. They can be fired one at a time or used as protection. It is recommended to wait until the target recovers from their tumble before using another shell or the shell will break and not cause any additional damage. It can be also used to cruise the entire circuit until it collides with any racer if you are in the first place. |
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Spiny Shell (new) | The be-all-end-all weapon. The Spiny Shell (or Blue Shell) will seek out the person in first place by tearing across the middle of the track. Anyone in the direct path of the shell will be knocked out of the way. This shell cannot be stopped except by a Star or if you are invisible. his shell can be destroyed if it hits a wall. This shell can also correct itself if it flies off of the course and it can do so, such as on Banshee Boardwalk. |
| The Thunderbolt will shrink anyone who isn't under the effect of a Boo or Star. This will slow down everyone affected and make them crushable. | |
| The Banana Peel will cause any racer who runs it over to spin out. This item can either be thrown forward or set behind the racer. It can also be dragged along to absorb an item hit or to spin out a racer who is riding on your tail. | |
| Banana Bunch | This item releases and drags a row of 5 bananas behind the racer. They can absorb incoming items or spin out racers. If an item hits it, one banana is destroyed. If a racer collides with the bunch, it breaks off all of the bananas and scatters them everywhere. They can be thrown forward or dropped behind. |
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Fake Item Box (new) | The troll box. This item box is hard to see at a distance, but as you come closer the color shifts and the ? in the box is upside down. Since CPU racers don't know which is which, they won't steer toward or away from it. If trying to hit a CPU player, place it in the middle of the track. If trying to hit a player, the best option is to throw it around an immediate corner or place it in a line of item boxes, possibly on top of a legit one. |
| Boo | This item will steal an item from another player and make you invisible. This is one of the few ways to avoid a Spiny Shell. |
| This item will increase your speed, acceleration and make you invincible. Any player you hit will spin out. This is one of the few ways to avoid a Spiny Shell. |
Item Probabilities
Grand Prix
| Grand Prix races, drivers controlled by players | |||||||||||||
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| Item | Rank | ||||||||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | ||||||
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| 30% | ||||||||||||
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| 30% | 5% | |||||||||||
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| 5% | 5% | |||||||||||
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| 5% | 10% | 10% | ||||||||||
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| 5% | 15% | 20% | 15% | 10% | ||||||||
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| 10% | 5% | |||||||||||
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| 5% | 5% | |||||||||||
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| 10% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | ||||||||
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| 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | ||||||
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| 5% | 5% | 10% | 10% | 15% | 20% | 20% | ||||||
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| 5% | 10% | 15% | 15% | 20% | 30% | 30% | ||||||
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| 15% | 20% | 20% | 25% | 25% | 10% | 5% | ||||||
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| 5% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | ||||||
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| 5% | 5% | 10% | 10% | 15% | ||||||||
| Item | No. Positions Obtainable | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1 | 30 | 30% |
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| 2 | 35 | 17.5% |
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| 2 | 10 | 5% |
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| 3 | 25 | 8.33333333% |
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| 5 | 65 | 13% |
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| 2 | 15 | 7.5% |
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| 2 | 10 | 5% |
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| 5 | 30 | 6% |
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| 7 | 140 | 20% |
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| 7 | 85 | 12.1428571% |
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| 7 | 125 | 17.8571429% |
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| 7 | 120 | 17.1428571% |
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| 7 | 65 | 9.28571429% |
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| 5 | 45 | 9% |
Production Credits
- Executive Producer - Hiroshi Yamauchi
- Producer - Shigeru Miyamoto
- Director - Hideki Konno
- Assistant Director - Yasuyuki Oyagi
- Programmers - Masato Kimura, Kenji Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Kawaguchi, Yuzuru Ogawa, Masahiro Kawano, Hirohito Yoshimoto
- Demo Sequence Programmer - Hajime Yajima, Takumi Kawagoe
- Visual Director - Tadashi Sugiyama
- CG Character Designers - Tomoaki Kuroume, Hiroaki Takenaka, Tokihiko Toyoda, Shigefumi Hino, Masanao Arimoto, Hisashi Nogami
- CG Map Designers - Makoto Miyanaga, Naoki Mori, Hiroyasu Kuwabara
- Music Composer - Kenta Nagata
- Sound Programmers - Taro Bando, Yoji Inagaki
- Japanese Sampling Voices - Asako Kozuki, Tomoko Maruno, Charles Martinet,Julien Bardakoff, Thomas Spindler, John Hulaton
- English Sampling Voices - Charles Martinet, Leslie Swan, Isaac Marshall
- Technical Support - Takao Sawano, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, Hirohito Yada
- Progress Management - Kimiyoshi Fukui, Keizo Kato
- Special Thanks to - Yasuhito Sakai, Yoshitaka Nishikawa, Hideki Fujii, Yusuke Nakano, Wataru Yamaguchi, Phil Sandhop, Super Mario Club
- Donkey Kong 3-D Model provided by Rare U.K.
Trivia
- Oddly, the word "Circuit" was switched with "Raceway". For example, Mario Circuit is the name of Mario's track in the Japanese version, and in the American version, it's switched to Mario Raceway.
- This is the first appearance of Donkey Kong and Wario as playable characters in the series.
- Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Wario have different voices in the Japanese version. Their voice clips would later be reused in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Party, and Mario Party 2.
- In production, its original name was Super Mario Kart R, but was changed, likely because it was too similar to Sonic R's name (a Sonic racing game).
- This Mario Kart game has fewer unlockables than any other game in the entire series; its only unlockable content are "Extra" Mode (Mirror Mode) and an alternate title screen change of Yoshi, Peach, Luigi, Donkey Kong (holding a Green Shell), and Mario on Kalimari Desert (both unlocked by beating all cups with 1st).
- Kamek was originally going to be a playable character in the game, however, he was scrapped in favor of Donkey Kong.
- This is the only Mario Kart game where Yoshi uses his sound effects from Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
- This is the first game where you can play with 4 players.
- Every track in this game has made a reappearance in another as a retro track except for Wario Stadium.
- This game is known due to large skips on lots of courses in the game, pretty similar to Mario Kart Wii.
- This is the first game where every character has a course named after them.
| 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) | |||
