Super Mario Kart (SNES) Review: Fun and Challenging

By Christopher Shilts
published on .
Super Mario Kart SNES Title Screen.
Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!

Super Mario Kart deserves a place in gaming history for starting a franchise that has been loved by millions. The series progenitor is a good game; however, its difficulty leaves many players behind.

This is very much a skill-based game. Unlike its successors, there are few catch-up mechanics. Once you find yourself in last place, it will be very difficult to rank in a race. Expect to lose a lot of races until you have mastered the courses. I recommend practicing in Time Trial mode before trying Grand Prix.

Bowser Jumps the Gap in the Ghost Valley 2 race track.
With luck and mad skills, you too can jump the gap in Ghost Valley 2.

Computer players cheat, spamming items to attack you. By contrast, you have to pick items up from the track, but at least you don't have to compete with CPU racers to acquire them.

To unlock the special cup (and its 5 courses), you'll need to beat the mushroom, flower, and star cups on 100cc (medium difficulty). Sadly, we can't play the special cup at 50cc, which is a shame because I found higher difficulties are often frantic and stressful.

Luigi racing the Rainbow Road track.
Rainbow Road might be the closest thing I've seen to an acid trip on the SNES.

Although there are 20 courses in this game, all of them are variations of 8 locations. This means you'll hear the same 8 course music tracks and see the same art, packaged into progressively longer or more challenging courses. And although sparse, the music is good. Some appear to be original, while others are variations on other Mario games.

Princess Peach racing in Bowser Castle 3.
Who can forget the constricted and twisting Bowser Castle 3 course?

Playing with a friend greatly improves enjoyment. You can team up in Grand Prix mode to win trophies, or face off in battle mode, which sports 4 arenas.

This game has its own feel and charm, sporting 8 racers to choose from.

Choosing from 8 Nintendo characters to play as.
The driver selection reminds me of an automat.

If you like racing games and are up for a challenge, I wholeheartedly recommend giving Super Mario Kart a try.