Mario Kart Super Circuit features five cups, each with four tracks. All of these are brand new to the series and are some of the best yet. The design that went into many of them is simply genius. Nearly every track harbors secret shortcuts that can be taken advantage of by players savvy enough to find them. Classic scenarios like the haunted house track and Bowser’s castle make a return with all new challenges. Plenty of new tracks present exciting and refreshing hazards. Probably my favorite new track is Sky Garden. This track takes place on clouds and vines straight out of Jack & the Beanstalk. Not only is the track a blast to play, but also the music is wonderfully done. Each track features characters from the Mario universe, more so than any other Mario Kart game before. In Cheese Land you’ll come across Mousers (complete with sunglasses) that will chase after you. In Sunset Wilds you’ll see teepees littered about the track. If you accidentally run into one you’ll have a Shy Guy on your back stealing your coins and slowing you down. On Shy Guy Beach not only do you have to try and avoid those annoying crabs (which, by the way, are much smarter this time around), but you also have to watch out for cannonballs being launched out of a Shy Guy pirate ship in the distance. And in Ribbon Road, which looks like a level taken straight out of the Candy Land board game (it’s pink…very pink), you’ll come across a bunch of jumps and speed boosters to make this track the fastest and possibly the most fun track of the bunch. Environmental effects, such as rain and puddles in Luigi’s Circuit, allow for each course to provide differing challenges. Each track is alive with little details that truly make it a joy to play. Just wait until you play Rainbow Road this time around!

Like the SNES version, coins are scattered about each track. Collecting the coins will increase your kart’s top speed. Every time you collide with another racer or fall off the track or into some deep water you will lose some coins. If your coin stash reaches zero and you run into another player you will spin out. New to the series, the coins also contribute to your ranking. At the end of the GP cup you will receive a grade that reflects your ability to find and finish with as many coins as possible. Your highest ranking is automatically saved to the game pak. This feature adds greatly to the replay value since players will want to keep on exploring each track for all the coins. What happens once you obtain the highest ranking possible in a GP cup? That’s for you to find out, but let’s just say it’s really cool.

This wouldn’t be a Mario Kart game without the classic weapons. Nintendo decided to keep most of the N64 weapons, and that includes green and red shells (along with triple rotating shells), the star, the mushroom (the “infinite” mushroom is gone), lightning, Boo, the banana (only one this time), and the spiny shell. There are a couple of changes to keep things fresh. Red shells can now be fired backward (which usually results in them just laying there in the road, similar to a banana). The Boo power-up still steals an opponent’s item and makes you invisible. If you’re in 2nd place or lower, Boo will also wreak havoc on the 1st place driver by slowing him or her down and stealing some coins. Perhaps this is why the spiny shell is so rare in this game. I’ve only seen the spiny shell a couple of times while playing and have never once gotten it myself. My guess is that Nintendo tried to balance the game out a bit more by not allowing the spiny shell to make an appearance as often. Mysteriously absent are the fake question mark power-up boxes from the N64 version. Apparently they weren’t a favorite among the game’s designers.

The game can be played with up to 4 players. If only one person has the game pak, the experience is limited to four courses and everyone must play as Yoshi. While this can be fun, in order to obtain the full experience each person needs to own a copy of the game. The multiplayer modes are identical to those found in the N64 version. 1 or 2 players can play the GP Cup mode. This is my favorite mode to play since all of the competing drivers are present (for a total of 8) and the driving is often more intense. Even so, nothing compares with human competition, and that’s why it’s still a blast to play with 4 players. Whenever 3 or 4 people are playing it’s just those players racing. No computer-controlled racers are included, which is still a grief with me. Given the power of the GBA, and the fact that each player has a copy of the cartridge, I have to believe that it would be technically possible to allow 4 players to compete in the GP Cup alongside 4 computer controlled karts. I have yet to see any racing game do this and I’ll continue to hope that Mario Kart on GameCube will allow for this feature. Alas, I have gotten off track (no pun intended).

The 4-player racing mode provides for hours of excitement and offers up new challenges never before seen in a Mario Kart game. For the first time ever, your opponents cannot see your screen. They don’t know what item you’re carrying. And unless they’re constantly looking at the map, they probably don’t know where you are all of the time either. This provides for a more visceral experience, one that before was only possible when playing a game on a PC over the Internet. An element of surprise has been thrown into the mix making the game even more enjoyable than it was before. Luckily the game still gives racers a second or two of warning if the red shell of death is on its way up their exhaust pipe by showing a red blinking shell on their screen. This gives the player just enough time to whip out a banana or a shell to block the incoming projectile.

Besides the standard 4-player racing, gamers can take part in the battle mode as well. Really, this is the only mode that falls flat and kept the game from obtaining a higher score. Ripped straight out of the SNES version, there are 4 battle arenas to choose from. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with this mode, but suffice to say it’s just plain difficult to play. The lack of any 3D environments, such as hills, makes it frustrating to drive around the tracks. Many times I found myself banging up against the walls with my kart simply because it was too difficult to navigate around the barriers. Everyone else that I’ve played with has had similar complaints. The only cool addition to the battle mode is that when 4 players are participating the first 2 to lose all 3 balloons become Bob-ombs and can run around trying to blow up the remaining players. The Bob-ombs will continue to reappear even if they blow up and can even use mushroom power-ups. This gives the players that died early on in the game something to do. After all the fun I had playing the N64 battle arenas, this mode is a disappointment. Luckily I’m not a big fan of the battle mode so it doesn’t sway my score too much, but if that mode was your favorite in the previous games, then be warned that this game will not live up to expectations.

The graphics in Mario Kart Super Circuit are bright and colorful, thus making the courses easy to see and navigate. The game features many layers of parallax scrolling in the backgrounds to give the game a 3D feel. All of the tracks are flat like the SNES version and feature the patented “Mode-7” scaling and rotation. As I mentioned earlier, each track has stunning details that really help bring them to life. One level features rain, another has debris falling from an erupting volcano in the distance, and yet another changes from day to night as you race the laps. Nintendo has thought up of even the simplest effects that do wonders for the game. A good example is when you play the Bowser tracks. Throughout each of his tracks are metal grates that form bridges that you will drive over to avoid the lava below. As you race across them the entire screen will shake in tandem with the sound effects of driving across the metal. This effect is so well done that I didn’t even notice it the first few times I played, but it truly does add to the graphical brilliance of the game. Also, as you’re racing about the track your driver will look at the other karts when you get close enough. This is actually helpful if someone is about to pass you since your driver will look over his or her shoulder, thus warning you that someone is approaching.

The sound and music is spot-on for this game. It’s filled to the brim with the usual tunes found in the Mario games. As has been said in many reviews, you simply must listen to the game via headphones to truly appreciate the audio. This game in particular makes great use of stereo separation. Many of the musical scores use drumbeats and other instruments that will bounce back and forth between each ear to create an immersive experience. Borrowing from the N64 version, Mario Kart Super Circuit features voice clips for each character. It’s great to hear the other racers scream when you’ve successfully hit them with a weapon. Even if they aren’t on the screen you will often know which unlucky sap hit your banana peel since you’ll hear the victim’s faint scream. All in all, you really can’t ask for more from the GBA’s audio.

The control in Mario Kart is great as well. It will take a bit of getting used to though since many gamers have probably become accustomed to the analog stick on the N64. The top “R” button will allow your kart to jump and power-slide. The top “L” button activates your item. “A” and “B” are gas and brake respectively. The “Select” button will honk your horn (and yes, each kart has its own unique horn). While I don’t have any specific problems with the control scheme, the overall design of the GBA makes it a bit difficult to hold an item behind the kart for extended periods of time. Many times I accidentally fired a shell when all I wanted to do was hold it behind my kart to shield myself from incoming projectiles. I believe this is due to the top “L” and “R” buttons and the way they are designed. Those buttons just don’t press in as much as the other buttons, and it’s very easy to depress the button without trying to do so. Also, the power-sliding technique in the game is a bit different and may cause some people to just not use it anymore. I’ve found that I’m more apt to go off the road when attempting to power-slide so I’ve adapted my playing style. I no longer use the “R” button as much and instead tap the gas button around corners (similar to F-Zero) to keep my kart on the road. The more I play the game the more I am becoming accustomed to the loose power-slides, but many players will no doubt want to avoid the “R” button until they’ve logged in some playtime.

When it comes right down to it, this is the best reason for you and three friends to play a game together. The GBA has lacked a definitive 4-player experience on the system until now. Sure, F-Zero is fun to play for a while, but nothing on the GBA compares to the excitement and sheer vindictiveness you’ll get when playing Mario Kart Super Circuit. Krazy Racers is also available for the GBA and is a kart racing game from Konami. If you already have that game, the obvious question you probably have is whether or not you should buy this one. In my opinion, nothing beats Mario Kart. It’s the best kart racing game out there and although Krazy Racers is fun and features unique characters with different weapons, I feel that Mario Kart edges it out in the replay department and features more innovative track designs. This is the killer app for the GBA (at least when it comes to multiplayer gaming) and shouldn’t be missed by anyone. Fans of the series and new players alike will eat this game up. The only things that I am slightly disappointed with are the battle arenas and the lack of new characters & weapons. I’d love it if Nintendo would feature some hidden characters and some new weapons to keep the game fresh. Even with those minor drawbacks, Mario Kart Super Circuit is by far my favorite GBA game and will probably eat up more batteries than any other game I’ve owned thus far. Definitely give this game a try. Whether you’re looking for a great 1-player excursion or an awesome 4-player racing game, this is the one to buy.

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