The only battle mode course that matters: Block Fort. There’s not just multiplayer racing in Mario Kart 64, after all. Their chief focus was a development that would keep Mario Kart around for years and years: four players.īreaking the screen into four blocks, Miyamoto described the mode like “playing on 4 separate little TVs,” crediting the N64’s CPU with the ability to run four perspectives simultaneously. With the basic elements of the series set, the development team focused on under the hood developments that could innovate on what was already there. There are a few special moves, like figuring out how to send shells and bananas in different directions or performing a little hop to drift around corners, but the game remains mostly similar for players on their 100th race or on their first.

All a player really needs is a button for gas, break, and attack. There aren’t really any explanations given because not many are needed. That same mindset is present in Mario Kart 64. Is there any image in all of gaming that conjures more nostalgia than this? Nintendo Speaking in a Japanese language strategy guide that has since been translated into English, Miyamoto said that the underlying philosophy beneath Mario Kart was one “where anyone, from age 3 to 100, could jump in and start competing right away.”

For Shigeru Miyamoto, producer of both the original Mario Kart and the Nintendo 64’s 3D sequel, simplicity was always essential. It was a novel yet wildly successful model for a racing game, one that Nintendo would later replicate with the Super Smash Bros. The idea behind Super Mario Kart was a simple one: Take characters from the era-defining Mario franchise, put them in go-karts, and give them special attacks just like Mario might get in Super Mario Bros. The move was a relative no-brainer considering that its predecessor, Super Mario Kart for the SNES, is the best-selling SNES game of all time in Japan and the fourth best-selling SNES game globally.

Videos showcasing its colorful three dimensions were shown as early as 1995. Mario Kart 64 was one of the first games the company ever planned to bring to the N64. Here’s an overview of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion pack that includes Mario Kart 64.

Mario kart 64 2 player