Mario Kart 64

aka: Mario Kart R
Moby ID: 3535
Nintendo 64 Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/27 9:17 PM )

Description official descriptions

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. The player will 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.

The game offers two camera angles and three engine sizes: 50cc, 100cc and 150cc. You can gain even more speed by mastering the power slide technique or grabbing Super Star power-ups. Each kart has distinctive handling, acceleration and top speed capabilities. Light karts like Princess's smoothly steer through tight corners, but run the constant risk of getting flattened by heavy karts, like Donkey Kong's. Shells that you fire at rival racers, Bananas that make them skid out and Lightning Bolts that make them small and very slow are just a few of the game's unique power-ups.

Spellings

  • マリオカート64 - Japanese spelling
  • 马里奥卡丁车64 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Nintendo 64 version)

54 People (43 developers, 11 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 85% (based on 56 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 169 ratings with 8 reviews)

Great multiplayer game but a bit of a bore while playing by yourself.

The Good
It's a great multiplayer game. The courses are wonderfully designed and they have cool special items. The battle mode is also fun with 4 people. You can't go wrong with Mario and Bowser racing each other.

The Bad
The single player game becomes boring after a short while. If you play with 3 or 4 players there aren't any computer opponents. I think it would be a huge plus to have computer opponents in the 4 player mode.

The Bottom Line
Don't get this game if you don't plan to play it with your friends.

Nintendo 64 · by Attila (553) · 2001

Still my favorite Mario Kart game out there

The Good
The controls are just as fluent as I remember them to be, there is no awkward turns or stiffness at all. Most if not all other racing games I have on the Nintendo 64 have a few control-related flaws, but I can't complain here. One thing that annoys me though (I think it has something to do with my cartridge) is that my character is sometimes hit by an invisible obstacle, costing me precious time.

There are not a lot of stages, but the ones we have are very detailed and polished. It is really cool if you know where to find all the secret shortcuts and how to avoid dangerous areas. Each stage also feels different and has it's own music, compare this to Waverace 64 or Diddy Kong Racing where every stage has the same feel to it, isn't this much better.

Fighting each other in the four versus stages is pretty cool and is still one of the most amazing memories I have from my childhood. Even to this day, even though we are now much older, we still like to get together and throw turtle shells at each other for a few good hours. Matches can take very long and the level design is quite amazing for it's time. This proves the saying: Quality over quantity, there are only four stages, but they are perfect.

The Bad
Making minor adjustments to your direction slows you down a little and the NPC's use this to catch up with you. This wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't suffer from perfectionism and could just ride with the karts normally. Sadly I always feel urged to ride perfectly straight, which is not as easy as it sounds.

Obstacles only show up when they are right in front of you and it's already too late to dodge them. A friend of mine left a banana-peel on a ramp which I had to jump over, I saw it too late and fell down, this instantly caused me to drop from second to last place. I did end up third, but I could have been first if it wasn't for the annoying pop-up.

The characters didn't look impressive than and twelve years hasn't changed that. Rather than having animated characters it looks like the characters from Mortal Kombat. The graphics just stand-out way too much against the very colorful and light level design. I also love the ceremony at the end of a race where the camera moves a little, but the characters always look straight at it and their cars also turn to the camera.

The Bottom Line
I already said at the start of this review that Mario Kart 64 is the best installment in this franchise. The level design is great and we still play this game after like twelve years. It takes quality over quantity which makes it stand-out as a racing game, especially on the Nintendo 64. Try it out if you haven't done so already before, this game is very unlikely to disappoint you.

Nintendo 64 · by Asinine (957) · 2011

A Mario Kart game to remember

The Good
This game is such an improvement of the first for the SNES back in 1992. The control stick provided smoother controls. The Multiplayer was fun when four people are playing. Most of the tracks were easier for kids and the Computer A.I was better.

The Bad
There could have been hidden characters but you can unlock mirror mode.

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is... If your looking for a great N64 game for your collection then this is a must for every N64 owner and other games. I'm sure your friends will have fun with you too. If you want it. Your going to buy the cartridge for a cheap price, download the ROM or buy on the Wii Virtual Console.

Nintendo 64 · by Mario Duenaz (19) · 2009

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The N64 version of Mario Kart 64 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by EDGE magazine's then General Editor Tony Mott.

Bonus courses

If you complete all the tracks in the 150cc class, the game opens up new tracks. The new tracks are actually reverse images of the original set.

Japanese version

In Mario Kart 64 in the Japanese version lots of the signs are take offs of brands, the only one apparent in the western version is the Koopa Air (Nike Air), but one interesting one is a sign that says MarioBro which was changed to Mario Bros. This of course was originally a takeoff of Marlboro cigarettes.

MagiKoopa

Originally, MagiKoopa (an enemy from Super Mario World) was intended to be one of the racers. However, he was later replaced by Donkey Kong before the game was released. You can still see MagiKoopa in some of the earliest screenshots of the game (back when it was still called Mario Kart R)

Title change

The game was originally going to be called Mario Kart R but was changed because Nintendo felt it was to similar to Sega's upcoming racing game Sonic R.

Virtual console version

For the Wii Virtual Console version of Mario Kart 64, the Ghost Trial Data, (which allowed players to race against a ghost kart of their best times), has been disabled.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • March 1997 (Issue #92) - Game of the Month*
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #49 (Best 100 Games of All Time)
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #5 (Readers' Top 10 Games of All Time)
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Multiplayer Game of the Year Runner-Up
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Racing Game of the Year Top Write-In (Readers' Choice)
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - Multiplayer Game of the Year Runner-Up (Readers' Choice)
  • Retro Gamer
    • September 2004 (Issue #8) – #80 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Chris Martin, Guy Chapman, MegaMegaMan and Warlock

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Mario Kart DS
Released 2005 on Nintendo DS, 2015 on Wii U
Super Mario 64
Released 1996 on Nintendo 64, 2006 on Wii, 2015 on Wii U
Mario Kart 7
Released 2011 on Nintendo 3DS
Mario Golf
Released 1999 on Nintendo 64, 2008 on Wii, 2022 on Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
Released 2020 on Nintendo Switch
Paper Mario
Released 2000 on Nintendo 64, 2007 on Wii, 2015 on Wii U
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit - Mario Set
Released 2021 on Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Released 2017 on Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Released 2001 on Game Boy Advance, 2011 on Nintendo 3DS, 2014 on Wii U

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 3535
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Chris Martin.

Wii added by Corn Popper. Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77.

Additional contributors: Warlock, Unicorn Lynx, Attila, Alaka, Deleted, Eric Smith, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, gingerbeardman, Alsy, FatherJack.

Game added March 29, 2001. Last modified March 27, 2024.