Mario Kart 64 (Japanese: マリオカート64 Mariokāto 64) (マリオカー 64 Mario Kāto Rokujūyon) often abbreviated as MK64, is the second installment in the Mario Kart series, being the first in the series to use 3D graphics. It was released in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, then in 2007 for the Wii's Virtual Console, and in 2016 for the Wii U Virtual Console. It was also made available on Nintendo Switch Online in 2021.
Mario Kart 64 features many changes from the previous game, such as new characters and items.
Gameplay[]
To drive, the player must steer with the joy stick, holding the 
to accelerate. The 
is used for breaking, and can also be used to drive in reverse. Item use is controlled by the Z button. The R button is used to jump, which can allow the kart to turn tight corners. If the player turns too much or too quickly, of if they turn side to side, it will result in the player sliding and spinning out of control, which makes the kart stop for a few seconds.
Instead of five laps like in Super Mario Kart, the races are now three laps, due to longer courses. As well as shortened races, the terrain of the race track is no longer flat, but features different types of terrain. Carried over from Super Mario Kart are the Item Boxes. Spinning in a style similar to a game of roulette.
There are four cups to race in, the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and Special Cup. The cups are then divided into three engine classes which the player picks from when choosing the mode. The Engine Classes are 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. There is an unlockable mode called Mirror Mode, which allows the player to race on mirrored versions of the courses increasing the level's difficulty. In order to unlock Mirror Mode, the player must complete all of the cups in the engine class 150cc. The player will know when they have an extra mode when the titled screen changes. There is also a Time Trials mode and a Battle Mode, which allows the player to race in different scenarios that don't require racing.
In the Time Trial mode, the player races against their own past times, which are represented by a ghost of themselves.
In Battle mode, the players start with three balloons, which represent life. When a player gets hit by an item, or a heavy weight character runs into them, they lose a balloon. When one player has lost all of their balloons, they turn into a bomb, when all players but one turn into a bomb, the remaining player wins.
Characters[]
.gif "Mario Artwork (Mario Kart 64).gif (13 KB)")
Courses[]
Battle Arenas[]
 Big Donut |
 Block Fort |
 Double Deck |
 Skyscraper |
Items[]
Like in the previous game, Item Boxes appear on the racetracks, in which driving through them will give racers one of the items that can be used to either take out their opponents or assist themselves.
- Green Shell: A shell that can be thrown in a straight line at another kart. If it hits, that kart flips multiple times.
- Triple Green Shells: Summons three Green Shells that surround the user. They can be fired or used as a shield against opposing items.
- Mushroom: Gives the player's kart a speed boost.
- Triple Mushrooms: Spawns three Mushrooms, granting the player three speed boosts.
- Spiny Shell: A blue Spiny Shell that chases after the kart that is in the lead and sends it into a tumbling crash. It can also hit other racers that are in its way. Should it hit a wall, it gets destroyed.
- Red Shell: A red shell that homes in on the nearest kart and flips it over. If it hits a wall, it gets destroyed.
- Triple Red Shells: Summons three Red Shells that surround the user. They can be fired or used as a shield against opposing items.
- Golden Dash Mushroom: Grants the player numerous speed boosts for a period of time.
- Banana: Drops a banana peel, causing a kart to spin out when it is run over. If a Banana is hit while a racer is driving straight, they skid for a while before spinning out.
- Banana Bunch: Spawns five Bananas behind the player's kart.
- Starman: Provides the player temporary invincibility and increased speed, thus protecting them from all items, obstacles and other racers.
- Boo: Summons Boo who not only makes the player invisible for a short time, but also steals an opponent's item.
- Lighting: Summons a powerful lighting bolt on everyone except the user, causing them to get shrunk and slowing them down for a short time. Racers that are shrunk cannot use items and can be easily run over.
- Fake Item Box: An item that looks like a Item Box, causing whoever runs into it will be launched into the air.
Gallery[]
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To view Mario Kart 64's image gallery, click here.
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Trivia[]
- This is the first Mario Kart game to feature Donkey Kong (referred as D.K.) and Wario as playable characters.
- This was the first entry in the Mario Kart series to not have "Super" in the title.
- This game was originally going to be called "Super Mario Kart R", but got changed to "Mario Kart 64", because of Sonic R on the Sega Saturn.
- Some of the voices that Donkey Kong makes in his game (such as the sound he makes whenever he hits another racer with an item or slips on a banana peel) are reused on the Yoshi's Island course in Mario Golf.
- Kamek was originally going to be in the game, but was replaced by Donkey Kong. There exists screenshots where Kamek is in the Character Selection screen in the beta development.
- Donkey Kong Jr. & Koopa Troopa were the only characters to not return from Super Mario Kart.
- Toad and Donkey Kong are the only drivers to have their karts' engine sounds not shared with the other drivers. Mario's is shared with Luigi's, Peach's is shared with Yoshi's, and Wario's is shared with Bowser's.
- This is the only game in the Mario Kart series where all the included characters have their signature courses (Royal Raceway is Princess Peach's race course because the word "royal" means relating to a sovereign, which describes Princess Peach, and it's Japanese name is "Peach Circuit"). In other games, only selected characters have their signature courses.
- Oddly, if more than two players are playing in VS. Mode, the background music will not play on any course. This is due to the limitations at the time. Additionally, while the music does play for the two players, the music for the courses are lowered in volume.
- Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Wario's voice clips in the Japanese version were later reused for the first two Mario Party games and in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
- The original split-screen for Mario Kart 64 is vertical, not horizontal.
- Mario Kart 64 was the 2nd Best-Selling game for the Nintendo 64, right behind Super Mario 64.
- This is the first game that Mario and Donkey Kong have appeared togther since Donkey Kong 94
External links[]
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[Edit] 
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|---|---|---|
| Main Games | ||
| Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES) · Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64) · Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001, GBA) · Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003, GameCube) · Mario Kart DS (2005, DS) · Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) · Mario Kart 7 (2011, 3DS) · Mario Kart 8 (2014, Wii U) · Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017, Switch) | ||
| Arcade Games | ||
| Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005, Arcade) · Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007, Arcade) · Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013, Arcade) · Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017, Arcade) | ||
| Mobile Games | ||
| Mario Kart Tour (2019, iOS/Android) | ||
| Toys | ||
| K'NEX · Hot Wheels · Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020, Nintendo Switch) | ||
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|---|---|---|
| Dr. Mario 64 (2001) • Mario Golf (1999) • Mario Kart 64 (1996) • Mario Party (1998) • Mario Party 2 (1999) • Mario Party 3 (2000) • Mario Tennis (2000) • Paper Mario (2000) • Super Mario 64 (1996) • Super Smash Bros. (1999) • Yoshi's Story (1997) | ||