Mario Kart: Super Circuit

"Mario Kart Advance" redirects here. For the playing cards, see Mario Kart Advance (playing cards).

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	Game Boy Advance, LodgeNet, Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS, Wii U), Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics
Release dates	Game Boy Advance: July 21, 2001 August 27, 2001 September 7, 2001[?] September 14, 2001 Player's Choice: October 2, 2006 Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS) (Ambassador Program): December 15, 2011[?] December 16, 2011[?] December 16, 2011[?] December 16, 2011[?] Virtual Console (Wii U): November 13, 2014[?] April 23, 2015 April 24, 2015[?] July 22, 2015[?] Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics: February 8, 2023[?] February 9, 2023[?] February 9, 2023[?] February 9, 2023[?] February 9, 2023[?] February 9, 2023[?]
Languages	English Japanese
Genre	Racing
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] ELSPA: - Three years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] ClassInd: - General audience[?] ACB: - General[?]
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download Game Boy Advance: Game Pak Nintendo 3DS: Digital download
Input	Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Joy-Con (horizontal) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Game Boy Advance: Gamepad Nintendo 3DS: Gamepad
Serial codes	AGB-AMKJ-JPN AGB-AMKE-USA AGB-AMKP-EUR AGB-AMKC-CHN

Mario Kart: Super Circuit is a racing game for the Game Boy Advance, published by Nintendo and developed by Intelligent Systems. It is the third entry in the Mario Kart series and the first one to be released for a handheld, as well as the second Super Mario franchise game and third overall Nintendo-published game released for the system. The game was released in 2001, on July 21 in Japan, August 27 in North America, and September 7 and 14 in Australia and Europe, respectively. Mario Kart: Super Circuit combines the elements from its Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64 predecessors, with the key feature of the Mario Kart series being the usage of items obtained from Item Boxes for the operator to gain an advantage over the opponents being retained; additionally, it contains every course from Super Mario Kart. Mario Kart: Super Circuit allows up to four players to play the game through the Game Link Cable, including a more restricted multiplayer mode that only requires one Game Pak.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit was eventually re-released on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console exclusively through the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program first in Oceania on December 15, 2011, then in other countries on December 16, 2011. The game was re-released again on the Wii U's Virtual Console in North America first on November 13, 2014, then in the rest of the world in 2015, and for Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics as one of its launch titles on February 8, 2023. Mario Kart: Super Circuit is the first Mario Kart title to have its development outsourced to another company, as well as the last Mario Kart game where the drivers are sprites rather than models. It is also one of the last entries in the Super Mario franchise to use the Nintendo 64-era art direction (which had been in place since Super Mario 64 in 1996), as Nintendo started to update the 3D art direction after 2001, starting with Luigi's Mansion.

Gameplay

The character selection screen

The objective in this game is to place first in the races, as with most racing games. Each race has eight drivers. As in other Mario Kart games, players can drive through Item Boxes which contain items, which can aid the players. On the course, coins are collected to increase the kart's top speed. Like with Super Mario Kart, if the player has no coins, they spin out if they collide with another racer. The player starts a race with 2 to 5 coins depending on the starting position, and 50 coins are found on each course. Therefore, the player can hold up to 55 coins at once.

This game has five cups, and each has four new race courses. These cups are the Mushroom Cup, the Flower Cup, the all new Lightning Cup (referred to as the Thunder Cup in manuals), the Star Cup, and the Special Cup. If players collect 100 coins in each cups after winning Special Cup for the engine class, they unlock the Extra Cup version. These cups contain all of the courses from Super Mario Kart. If the player manages to collect a gold trophy on all of the Super Circuit cups, the background for the title screen changes to a sunset. If the player manages to obtain a triple star ranking for all Super Circuit cups, the title screen's background changes to a night time setting. In addition to the aesthetic changes, the intro's theme also changes.

Controls

The Wii U and Nintendo Switch versions' controls can be customized; their respective columns display the default mappings.

Menu controls

Action(s)	Game Boy Advance	Nintendo 3DS	Wii U GamePad Wii U Pro Controller Wii Classic Controller	Wii Remote	Dual Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller	Single Joy-Con
Select		/	/		/
Confirm
Cancel
Access options for certain modes						+

Game controls

Action(s)	Game Boy Advance	Nintendo 3DS	Wii U GamePad Wii U Pro Controller Wii Classic Controller	Wii Remote	Dual Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller	Single Joy-Con
Steer left or right		/	/		/	left/right
Accelerate / Rocket Start (Start of race)
Brake
Hop and Power Slide
Use Items, stop Item Roulette
Go in reverse	+	+	+ /	+	+ /	+
Shoot Item in certain direction	+	+	+	+	+	+ up/down
Quick sharp turn left or right	+ +	+ +	+ +	+ +	+ +	+ + left/right
Pause game						+
Horn						+

• On the character selection screen, if the player presses the button, the character the player is on fires a green shell. If the player presses the button, the character hops. If the player presses the button, the characters honk their horn. However, the horn does not work if Random is selected.

Game modes

Mario Kart: Super Circuit has five different game modes: Grand Prix, Time Trial, Quick Run, VS, and Battle Mode. All are accessed by the single player except VS and battle modes. Up to four players can participate using the Game Boy Advance Link cable with even a single game cartridge. However, all players using single cartridge mode are limited to selecting Extra Mushroom Cup using only Yoshi and different colors of him.

Grand Prix

Players participating in a race at Peach Circuit.

In this mode, one or two players race against the CPU. The player chooses a cup and plays the four courses it contains. The player earns points by placing within the first four positions. When finished in fifth place or lower, the player must restart the race. The player is able to restart a race three times, with three race flags representing the lives. When the flags run out, the player can no longer restart any race in the cup, and must start from the first race if they fail to reach 4th or higher. When playing with two players, only one player has to finish in the top four in order to move on to the next race. At the end of the cup, the player with the most points wins. If the player is ranked 4th or lower at the end of a Grand Prix, their character drives in front of the three winning drivers and gets crushed by the podium. There are three different speeds to choose from, each with varying difficulty.

• 50cc - This engine size is the smallest engine size. Karts go at a slower pace than other engine sizes. Computers rarely use items against the player. This engine size is best suited for beginners.
• 100cc - A slightly larger engine size. Karts go slightly faster than 50cc, but not as fast as 150cc. Computers use items more often against the player. This engine size is better suited for intermediate players.
• 150cc - The largest engine size. Karts go at their fastest. The computer regularly uses items against the player, such as frequently throwing Red Shells, using Boos, or even tossing a Spiny Shell. This engine size is best suited for expert players.

Ranking

The final Grand Prix result screen.

At the end of each race in Grand Prix mode, the top four players are awarded points based on their placement. The player in first place receives nine points, second place receives six points, third place three points, and fourth place one point. The bottom four players do not receive points.

The following letter ranks are achievable solely based on how many points the player has at the end of the four races of a Grand Prix:

• A: The player has collected all 36 points.
• B: The player has collected at least 30 points.
• C: The player has collected at least 25 points.
• D: The player has collected at least 20 points.
• E: The player has collected less than 20 points.

Additionaly, during each race, the game tracks several statistics to calculate a hidden value known as skill points at the end of each race. Note that an unmodified copy of Mario Kart: Super Circuit runs at 60 frames per second.

A graph showcasing the various factors that can increase (in red) or decrease (in blue) the skill point value. From top to bottom: Enemy uses lightning, rocket boost, passing through an item box while already holding an item, Mini-Turbo, coin (per piece), using Lightning, using Triple Red Shells, collision with a tree or another player, spinning out, driving offroad (per second), releasing gas (per second), collision with walls and blocks, falling, using a Star, braking (per second), retrying.

Action	Skill points gained/lost
Getting hit by Lightning	+40 per hit
Performing a Rocket Start, either at the start of the race or after being picked up by Lakitu	+25 per Rocket Start
Performing a Mini-Turbo	+15 per Mini-Turbo
Driving through an Item Box with an item already in the item slot	+15 per box
Number of coins the player has at the end of the race	+4 per coin
Using Triple Red Shells	-5 per use
Using Lightning	-5 per use
Going off-road	-15 per second (-0.25 per frame) spent off-road
Not holding down the accelerate button	-15 per second (-0.25 per frame) spent not accelerating
Colliding with another driver or obstacle	-15 per collision
Spinning out, whether from an item or other obstacle	-15 each
Colliding with a wall on other courses	-20 per collision
On certain courses, such as the Bowser Castle tracks, Mario Circuit 2, and Choco Island 2, colliding with a wall	-20.25 per collision
Being picked up by Lakitu	-30 per fall
Using a Super Star	-30 per use
Holding the brake button	-120 per second (-2 per frame) spent braking
Using an extra life	-120 per life used
Completing a race as Bowser	+45
Completing a race as Donkey Kong or Wario	+40
Completing a race as Mario or Luigi	+30
Completing a race as Peach or Toad	+10
Completing a race as Yoshi	+0

After each race, a varying number of points will be added based on the equation ((ccWeight * TrackValue) - RaceTime) / 8, with RaceTime being the time the player completed the course in centiseconds (1/100th of a second), and TrackValue determined by the course selected and ccWeight depending on the engine class chosen (167 for 50cc, 157 for 100cc, and 147 for 150cc)

The player's placement for the race is then measured relative to the difference in points between the player and highest scoring CPU opponent. The below table shows the number of skill points added depending on the player's and CPU's placement points.

Point difference between player and CPU	Player position
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
2 or less	20	10	0	0
between 3 and 8	40	20	10	0
more than 8	60	30	20	10

At the end of the cup, the game calculates the average of the four skill point values across each race to generate a final skill level, which determines the star rank obtained:

Points	Skill level
	29 or higher	99 or higher	199 or higher	329 or higher
36	A	⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
27 or more	#	A	⭐	⭐⭐
21 or more	#	#	#	⭐

Time Trial

One player can race against the best times on each course with no CPU opponents. After beating a best time, players can save Ghost data onto each time trial course. Whenever the player races on that course again, the player's Ghost mirrors movements of the saved data. Ghost data can also be downloaded from other players using the Game Boy Link Cable. Players are given Triple Mushrooms for use during Time Trials. Players also have the option to view their Ghost data using the Records option. Players can either turn their Ghost on or off during Time Trials using the before selecting the mode.

Quick Run

Quick Run is a one player VS mode, unique to Mario Kart: Super Circuit, that enables players to race on any tracks they unlocked with no restrictions or regulations. Players can choose what engine size they want to race on, with the difficulty level alongside with the speed. Players can alter the number of laps, appearance of coins, and Item Boxes by pressing before accessing this mode. Later Mario Kart installments since Mario Kart DS (excluding Mario Kart 7) allow VS mode to be played with one player.

VS

Menu for Single Game Pak mode.

VS mode is a Quick Run mode with two to four players and cannot be accessed by single players. Players can play with multiple game cartridges (Multi-Pak mode) or just a single cartridge (Single-Pak mode) via Game Boy Link Cable. CPU racers are turned off in this mode, and players start with 10 coins. The game counts how many times the player won or lost against other players. Players can alter the number of laps, appearance of coins, having Triple Mushrooms as starting items and Item Boxes by pressing before accessing this mode, but only if it is played in Multi-Pak mode. In Single-Pak mode, players have more limited choices. Players use a different colored Yoshi where player 1 is Green, player 2 Red, player 3 Light Blue, and player 4 Yellow. Additionally, the only courses available are four SNES courses: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, and Bowser Castle 1. The character and item animations and music quality are also simplified compared to the base game to ease the amount of data that has to be transferred, and the music itself consists of arrangements of Super Mario Kart music: the course selection menu music is an arrangement of the menu music, the racing music is an arrangement of the title theme, and the result screen music is an arrangement of Mario's results theme. In both multiplayer modes, after all other racers finish a race, Lakitu drops a Thwomp on the racer in last place, ending the race.

Battle

Battle Mode

Just like VS mode, Battle mode cannot be played with only one player. The player participates with one to three other players in attempt to pop each other balloons using items. Also seen in VS mode, the game counts how many times the players won or lost. When a player loses all of their balloons, the player turns into a Bob-omb and stays like that for the rest of the game. The Bob-omb can make it more difficult for the other players by either picking up Item Boxes or blasting into their karts.

Characters

The game's playable characters.

All playable characters from Mario Kart 64 return, along with colored Yoshis appearing only in the multiplayer mode. As in all the previous games, they also race in the same go-karts, but with different sizes and colors that suit each playable character. Also, as in all the previous games, each racer is classified into three categories: lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight, each class with their own advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, in VS play with a single cartridge, all players use Yoshi, with each being a different color.

The Japanese version's stats are translated as acceleration and weight, the international release displays the acceleration stat as "speed", though the instruction booklet describes more accurate stats.

Lightweights are generally characterized by having high acceleration and low top speed. They are knocked easier by heavyweights and middleweights and skid easier. Peach and Toad share the same stats as having the highest acceleration and the least weight in the game, and Yoshi offers slightly less acceleration for slightly better weight, although his speed is lower and his handling is higher.

Middleweights are classified by their mostly all-around stats, not having any significantly low stats. The only middleweights are Mario and Luigi, and they share the same stats in most categories. However, Luigi has better braking, handling and drifting than Mario.

Heavyweights have a very high weight and top speed stat, but suffer from low acceleration. They also skid less than karts of lighter weight. Bowser offers the most weight and speed in the game, but the worst acceleration and handling, while Wario and Donkey Kong have slightly worse weight and speed in exchange for slightly higher acceleration, although Wario is tied with Bowser for the worst handling.

The character selection screen offers the option to select a random character if the Item Box icon is selected.

Driver	Class	Acceleration	Weight	Top speed	Braking	Handling	Drift	Off-road
Mario	Middleweight	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆	3 ★★★☆☆