GBA Preview: Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Review by: Hairball (hairball@sm128c.com)

Previewed on: June 23, 2001

After years and years, a Mario Kart game is finally arriving on the Game Boy. Since Super Mario Kart's release on the Super NES in 1992, fans across the world have been craving for a portable version of this classic game. Nearly 9 years, but finally in 2001, we'll finally get it, in the form of Mario Kart: Super Circuit, for the new Game Boy Advance.

What's even better is that Mario Kart: Super Circuit isn't a port of Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart 64, it is more of a brand-new game. But afterall it's still a racing so the "style" of the game should remain the same. It is more like a crossover between the 16-bit SNES, and the 64-bit N64, to the 32-bit Game Boy Advance.

The good ol' Mario Kart crew is back including:

- Mario - Luigi - Peach - Toad - Wario - Yoshi - Donkey Kong - Bowser

Though, these 8 characters are already quite popular, but all of them appeared in Mario Kart 64. More characters such as Baby Mario, Waluigi, Koopa Troopa (we need him back!), Boo, and others will greatly improve the game, it would be fun if they are hidden characters? Who knows, there are a lot of open possiblities.

The graphics in Mario Kart: Super Circuit are just splendid. Mainly thanks to the amazing Game Boy Advance technology that allows such a masterpiece to be shown. You can see the highly detailed backgrounds, characters, items, and tracks, in those screenshots. Mind you, this is only a first-generation GBA game, in the future, we'll see a lot more.

Also, Mario Kart: Super Circuit will utilize the Game Boy Advance Link Cable, which could allow up to 4 simutaneous players to race. The game will also be supporting what Nintendo calls the "Single-Pak Mode", where you only need 1 game to play on 4 GBAs with the linkage. There will be limits on this mode, to have full access to all the courses, you'll need a Game Pak in each linked system, which is called the "Multi-Pak Mode".

Mario Kart: Super Circuit features 20 brand new courses to play in Grand Prix and Time Trial modes. The Grand Prix mode comes in 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc and there are five cups to play for, which means that each cup has 4 courses. It won't be a surprise if the game features backwards or mirrored tracks after you beat 150cc.

Oh yes, and the ever-so-popular battle mode is in the game too. It'll be so much more fun, since there is no split screen action, which means no one can cheat by looking on your screen!

A game like Mario Kart: Super Circuit is pretty much self-explanatory, if you've played the previous Mario Kart games, you won't be disappointed. It's simple to get going, and lots of addicting racing, this is one game you don't want to miss.

-- Hairball (hairball@sm128c.com)

Bottom Line: After many years, Mario Kart finally zooms itself onto the Game Boy.