To allow
Shigeru Miyamoto to escape this node with at least a shred of
dignity, here are some rebuttals. And some additions. Personally I think that they got the
balance just about right in the
GBA version, but dissenters at least have the choice of at least two other decent racers on the machine.
SNES Mariokart
Player can't use an item that just stopped spinning: This is fair enough surely? And because it affects all human players, surely the
handicap cancels out?
No key binding editor: This is basically an issue of house style and (possibly) memory constraints. Remember that the Big Deal of Mariokart is that the SNES can handle it at all, presentational bells and whistles were not high on the agenda.
No mirror matches: You expect me to believe that there is more than one Mario, Bowser or Donkey Kong? This is really a historical trait: few games at the time (not even Street Fighter II) had mirror modes.
Turning on some controllers' slow motion (rapid fire on Start button) feature will disable music in two-player games: And would such a controller bear the Nintendo Seal of Approval? Yeah, OK in some cases it might. But it's still cheating.
Interestingly yerricde doesn't mention that the PAL conversion of Mario Kart is so sloppy that:
- there are massive borders (as usual);
- because the game runs more slowly, your lap times will actually be worse!
Just one of the reasons why European gamers are bitter towards
Nintendo.
There is probably no first-person mode in SNES Mario Kart for some or all of the following reasons:
- Time and effort required to implement it was deemed uneconomical.
- It was held back for inclusion in a speculative sequel.
- The viewing angle (unlike that in Konami Krazy Racers) is fixed at all times - inclusion of a first-person cam would likely require the ability to switch between the views mid-race.
- The foreshortened horizon inherent to the Mode 7 effect used would be too obvious.
N64 Mariokart
I've only played this game a little, as even cursory
inspection reveals it to be a
travesty of the original. In
multiplayer mode (and again this may be the European version) is dips below 10fps with alarming regularity. Of
yerricde's specific complaints my only
rebuttal would be that the game doesn't really
need any more characters, although
mirror mode should have been available as a secret option at the very least.
More characters: Again, not so much of a
problem. The extra
memory is instead guzzled by the flashy front-end, obligatory
stereotypical speech samples and multi-layered
parallax backgrounds.
Everyone having to use Yoshi in 1-cart mode sucks royally though.
Mobile GB mode has been removed: so European and US gamers are paying a higher price for a smaller, less functional cartridge. Thanks Nintendo!
Game is not compatible with MarioKart Advance (Japanese version): Let's not beat about the bush here: Fuck you, Nintendo! You're the reformed alcoholic wifebeater of the games industry - you keep coming back promising that this time it'll be different. Why do we listen to you? Why? Motherfucker...
Ahem.
Mario Kart 128
Who cares? The
Nintendo GameCube can handle
real racing games. (
Just kidding... sort of.)