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Created 4/9/98 Last updated 4/12/98

Made by Nintendo
2 Players
12 Megabytes

Graphics 8 (Best use of sprites in 3-D environment ever)
Sound 7 (Some annoying voices, especially Toads)
Music 7 (Thuroughly OK)
Gameplay 7 (Computer cheats, to based on luck, but fun)
2-Player Competition 6 (Totally unfair weapon distribution, not enough awards for skill)
Overall 7 (The Cheating opponents almost totally ruin it)

I anticipated nthis one for over 15 months. The original Mario Kart was THE ultimate test of skill. It is infinitely upsetting just how unbalanced and unfair the sequal is. The Opponents cheat to all hell. The all but teleport across the tracks. No matter how good you are, they pass you as soon as you make just one lkittle mistake. Playing against a human is just as bad, as the peson in second gets triple red shells and lightning bolts, while the poor sap in firs gets bananas. Mastering the power slide technique doesn't get you enough of an advantage either. I think they toned this one down so stupid bastard children could play almost as well as racing demi-gods as myself. It is all so indignant. The graphics are pretty good, thogh not outstanding. Lighting effects are all but non-existant, but the 2-d sprite characters are scaled, rotated, and skewed to give them a convincing sense of depth. The water effects totally suck, though, almost as bad as Playstation water effects. The sounds are decent, with plenty of speech from all characters. The tracks are all HUGE and varied, but too wide with not enough hairpin turns. The music is utterly forgetable, with the exception of the Mario Raceway theme. 2-Player games do not affect graphics or frame rate, but 4-player gets choppy. Overall, dissapointing.