Sunday, March 26, 2023

Switch Funday - Super Mario Kart - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

This week i decided to try out the Super Nintendo App that's part of the Nintendo Switch Online. i had a Mega Drive growing up so i didn't get to play the SNES beyond Super Mario World that my cousins had. on the Game Boy Advance App, i have been playing Maro Kart Super Circuit for fun in my spare time so i was curious what the original game would be like.

i am familiar with the original game, in that i've seen videos of it and heard people talking about it. but i haven't sat down and played it myself before. so in a way i broadly knew what to expect. in some ways i was surprised, i played the game using Pixel Perfect mode and i was impressed as to how well the graphics hold up. certain characters look strange, Yoshi being the prime example, but the bold simple designs of the tracks and backgrounds were great.

it did take time to get used to how it played. modem Mario Kart games use a drift mechanic that also gives you boost as you charge it up. however in this game, and the GBA version, the drift isn't quite the same. the main use seems to be jumping, with a little drift and no boost. another difference is how the weapons work. you can't hold weapons behind you nor can you fire the green shell behind as it's just placed on the track. it also seems that each character has their own unique weapon(s) rather than how it is now where there are no unique weapons as each character can use all of them.