Super Circuit sits in a strange place in my Mario Kart history in that I played it at launch (ish) and played it a fair amount, but its difficulty curve and me not really being a big handheld guy meant I didn’t really get into it the same way as other entries in the series (beyond 3DS and Tour, which I just haven’t played at all) Going back to it now has only made the challenge even more, well, challenging, despite having a full screen and comfortable controller in my hand. Much like when I played Super Mario Kart for this blog the old style controls are just so… counter intuitive after so many years of the newer style back-to-back. Oh well, it’s another Booster Pass course drop today, so let’s look at another Mario Kart game!
Background:
Forgot to mention the turn indicators in the main review: They’re more annoying than handy though I understand their addition given the lack of a backlight on the original GBAs…
Unlike the previous entry the release dates for Super Circuit are actually close together, with Japan getting it on July 21st 2001, followed by the US August 27th 2001 and then PAL territories September 14th 2001. As per usual the game has seen a digital re-release on Nintendo e-shops, specifically the 3DS and Wii U ones.
Super Circuit’s cast is the same as MK64, featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi (with four colour types for multi-player), Donkey Kong, Wario and Bowser. As for courses it has a lot of familiar themes, generic kart tracks named after Mario, a Peach’s Castle-themed course (which is actually the first one), spooky haunted house one full of Boos, a beach/island course, a snowy level, a deserty level or two, four Bowser Castle levels (!) and of course a Rainbow Road to finish. It does have some either unique or debut level themes though, being the first game to have a clouds/sky level and has the unique distinction of being the only game to feature a new (as in non-retro) course based on a “Cheese Land”. Surprisingly it doesn’t feature a course based on the Donkey Kong franchise, but there you go. Makes it match the original even more! Speaking of which it also has the entire set of tracks from Super Mario Kart as an unlockable extra, which is I guess the debut of the “retro cups” concept that debuted in MK DS.
Gameplay:
It’s Cheese Land! The course so delicious it made its way into Mario Kart 8… Eventually.
The gameplay is far closer to Super Mario Kart than Mario Kart 64 due to the game being entirely 2D rather than 2D sprites on a 3D course. So you can accelerate, brake/reverse, do a little hop and power slide, plus use items with another button, but the courses are all entirely flat. The items are actually closer to 64, featuring all but three of the items found there and introducing no new ones, the only mainline game to not add a new weapon to the line-up. Mushrooms give you a speed boost, Bananas are dropped on the track and spin your opponents out, Green shells can be fired forward in a straight line or dropped backwards, Red Shells that home in on whoever is in front of you, Blue shells home in on whoever is first place (but can only be picked up by people at the back of the race, who therefore don’t benefit from it *grumble-grumble*…), Boos that take an item from a random player, Lightning that shrinks every racer in front of you, and the Star which turns you invincible and allows you to hit people as you drive by. So plenty of ways to cause chaos!
The modes on offer are pretty straightforward as well. Grand Prix is obviously the main one, where you choose a cup (Mushroom, Flower, Thunder, Star or Special, plus “Extra” versions of each cup that contain the original Mario Kart tracks) and race the four courses to try and get first place, with the SMK rules of if you place under fourth you have to do the course again and fail three times and its over. There are the three difficulties / speed levels again in 50cc, 100cc and 150cc and its available as a two-player mode as well, with only one racer having to place in the top four to move on to the next course. Then you have Time Trial (race one course and try and beat your time!); Quick Run, which is where you can just pick a course, difficulty and speed and, well, go on a quick run; VS, which is the previously mentioned mode but available for up to four players via a link cable; and of course Battle Mode, where up to four players fight each other in special arenas with three balloons representing their health.
So despite being on the GBA there is a lot of content here, both single player and multi-player. It has to be mentioned as well that you can play with just one copy of the game, it’s just there are fewer track options in VS and in both VS and Battle Mode you’d only be able to choose between different coloured Yoshis. Still though, a lot more likely to be able to get some friends round to play it if all you need is the link cable.
Graphics and Sound:
Look at all those different layers of background! … Plus an extremely confusing “turn” indicator…?
The graphics are fine, it looks like a next level update of the SNES original, with more colourful courses and more varied backgrounds bobbing up and down, plus more detailed sprites.
Sound is good too, as you’d imagine with a Mario game, I will admit that none of the music sticks in my head like some of the other games, though that might be just because I didn’t play this one half as much.
Thoughts Then:
It’s Peach’s Castle! .. and some weird grey shapes that I’ve only just noticed now when it’s too late to get new pictures! Hooray!
At the time I started off really impressed seeing a full Mario Kart game running on the GBA, but I just never got into it. A combination of hard difficulty curve, still playing on MK64 if I wanted to play Mario Kart with friends and just a general lack of drive when if came to handheld games meant it never really got its fair shake.
Thoughts Now:
The Super Circuit Rainbow Road… perhaps the least remembered of them all? As of today its one of the only Rainbow Roads to not appear in MK8, anyway!
Mario Kart Super Circuit is still fun and I really love some of the bright courses and backgrounds but at the end of the day I still can’t quite get the hang of it. Could I put more hours into it and get there? Sure, but… I don’t want to. I’m happy with MK8 whenever I want to play Mario Kart, so sadly Super Circuit remains the least played Mario Kart game I own…
Hogan Reviews 