Mario Kart 64

This article is about the Nintendo 64 game. For other uses, see Mario Kart 64 (disambiguation).

Mario Kart 64
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	Nintendo 64, iQue Player, Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U), Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics
Release dates	Nintendo 64: December 14, 1996 February 10, 1997 February 10, 1997 June 13, 1997 June 24, 1997 July/August 1997 Player's Choice: January 26, 1998 April 30, 1998 iQue Player: December 25, 2003 Virtual Console (Wii): January 26, 2007 January 26, 2007 January 29, 2007 January 30, 2007 April 26, 2008 Virtual Console (Wii U): January 6, 2016 January 21, 2016 January 22, 2016 December 29, 2016 Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Classics: October 25, 2021 October 26, 2021 October 26, 2021 October 26, 2021 October 26, 2021 October 26, 2021
Languages	English Japanese Chinese (Simplified)
Genre	Racing
Ratings	ESRB: - Kids to Adults CERO: - All ages PEGI: - Three years and older ELSPA: - Three years and older[?] SELL: - All ages[?] USK: - All ages[?] ACB: - General
Mode	1–4 players simultaneously
Format	Nintendo 64: Game Pak iQue Player: Digital download Wii: Digital download Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download
Input	Nintendo 64: Nintendo 64 Controller iQue Player: iQue Player iQue Player Multiplayer Wii: Classic Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Wii U: Wii U GamePad Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Joy-Con (horizontal) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Nintendo 64 Controller (NSO)
Serial codes	NUS-NKTJ-JPN 52011

Mario Kart 64 is a racing game that was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996 in Japan and 1997 worldwide. It is the second entry in the Mario Kart series. Being an upgrade from its predecessor, Super Mario Kart, it features a similar base to that game in which players select cast members of the Super Mario franchise to drive in karts, employing a weapon-based system to benefit the player and hinder opponents. However, it has expanded gameplay, such as a different method of performing Mini-Turbo boosts from drifting and four-player support. It is the first game in the Super Mario franchise to allow more than two people play simultaneously. It is also the first Mario Kart game to use three-dimensional graphics for its environment design, such as the addition of elevation, advanced collision physics, expanded camera controls, real walls that can obscure views, and increased aesthetic fidelity; however, the characters, the items, and some track obstacles in-game remain as two-dimensional, pre-rendered sprites, which are rendered for game optimization. Additionally, the game contains unique track designs rather than multiple variants of the same track, and it introduces various track tropes that would later be reused in later Mario Kart installments, such as Luigi Circuit being the first track. Other elements would become series mainstays, such as its racer weight classification, the introduction of Wario and Donkey Kong as playable characters, and several new items such as the Spiny Shell, Triple Green Shells, and Triple Red Shells.

The game was commercially successful and received a Player's Choice edition, being the second-best-selling game on the Nintendo 64, beaten out only by Super Mario 64, and it was generally well-received by critics. Mario Kart 64 later became available for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007 and the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2016, and it is one of the launch titles for Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics on the Nintendo Switch. The Wii release requires 129 blocks (16.5 MB) to be installed, while the Wii U release requires 66 MB to be installed.

Gameplay

D.K. racing on D.K.'s Jungle Parkway

Mario Kart 64 plays similarly to Super Mario Kart. Players accelerate on karts by holding down the button and use the Nintendo 64 Controller's control stick to steer. The button is used to brake, and it can put the kart into reverse if the Control Stick is held down. If and are held in conjunction, players can perform a Spin-Turn, with which they can turn sharply at a standstill. The button can also be used to stop a player from spinning out when they drive into a Banana while driving straight; if the player brakes at the right time, a musical note (♪) appears over the character's head and nullifies the effect of the Banana. Similarly, in 150cc and the Extra class, steering in one direction and then immediately in the opposite results in the kart skidding and then spinning after a short time, and even in this case, braking results in the spinning being avoided with the musical note appearing.

Players can hop if they press the trigger, allowing the kart to turn around tight corners. If they hold the trigger after a hop, they perform a slide, which allows them to handle tight corners while losing less speed; the smoke generated first resembles V's and then E's. Introduced in Mario Kart 64 is the ability to perform a Mini-Turbo. While players are sliding, if they steer in the opposite direction while they are steering and back, the E's change into a yellow color, and if the action is done again, the E's turn red; releasing the slide causes a small speed boost and the character to exclaim. However, if the Control Stick is held down too long in the opposite direction while sliding, the character spins out and loses the Mini-Turbo charge.

Mario Kart 64 introduces auxiliary features that take advantage of the increased number of buttons on the Nintendo 64 Controller. Pressing changes the camera angle from the standard angle to a wide-angle lens view. When players press , they have the option of various dashboard displays. By default, the screen displays a map on the right, where each player character is represented by a kart colored to the corresponding character color, while purple dots are represented by CPU players. Elements on the map that flash indicate that they are in first place. When the elements are changed, players can view a speedometer or a display where the character's UI laps around the screen, with line color indicating what lap they are on. Finally, pressing sets different volume levels for the background music, from On to Half to Off.

At the beginning of every race, Lakitu appears and gives a countdown signal. The positioning of the racers is dependent on their prior positions, though when starting a Grand Prix, players first start out in eighth place. In two-player Grand Prix, Player 1 by default starts out in eighth while Player 2 starts in seventh; in Versus Mode, all players start in the same positions. If players time their acceleration when the signal changes from red to blue, they can start out quicker or even perform a Rocket Start, though if players press too early, they spin out and start slower than average. As opposed to a race in the previous game, a standard race now has three laps rather than five due to the much longer raceways compared to those found in Super Mario Kart. Every time a player crosses the line to begin their second lap, Lakitu signals the player by appearing and holding a green 2nd Lap sign. When a player crosses the line to begin their third and final lap, "Final Lap!" plays, Lakitu appears and holds a blue Final Lap sign, and the background music speeds up as a result; this jingle does not play when succeeding players also cross the line.

Integral to the Mario Kart series is its item-based system. In order to receive items, the character must drive through an Item Box. Once that happens, an Item Window with an item roulette appears with medium sound, and when it stops, it "dings". Players can press the trigger or during the roulette to stop the roulette early. Players can use items by pressing the trigger or . Players can hold Bananas, shells, and Fake Items by holding the trigger or , and they can pick up another item while one of those items is currently being deployed; releasing the trigger also releases the item. Items are dependent on the position the player is in, where further behind players are more likely to receive powerful items such as the Super Star, Thunder Bolt, and Spiny Shell, while first place generally receives Bananas and Green Shells. Unlike Super Mario Kart's Question Blocks, Item Boxes respawn very quickly as soon as a player drives through them.

Controller Pak Manager

A Controller Pak Manager is built into the game, and if the player presses and holds before turning on the console, the Controller Pak Manager shows all saves from other games that use the accessory. When the player presses and holds while opening the iQue Player release, this save screen does not appear.

This is the first Mario Kart game with onomatopoeia, such as "Poomp!", "Boing!", "Crash", and "Whirrrr".

Controls

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

Action(s)	Nintendo 64 / iQue Player	Wii Classic Controller	GameCube Controller	Wii U (default)	Dual Joy-Con / Pro Controller	Single Joy-Con
Steer
Accelerate / Rocket Start
Brake
Reverse	+	+ ↓	+ ↓	+ ↓	+ ↓	+ ↓
Spin-Turn	+	+	+	+	+	+
Use items, stop item roulette	/	/ / / ↓	/ / / ↓	/ / / ↓	/ ↓ / / +	/ / +
Hop / Slide
Change camera view (standard or wide-angle)		↑	↑	↑	↑ / +	+
Change dashboard display		→	→	→	→ / +	+
Set music volume to On, Half, or Off		/	/	/		+
Change option during the menus	/	/	/	/	/ /
Select option during the menus / Pause / Resume gameplay						+ /

Footnotes

Game modes

Mario Grand Prix

Luigi and Wario racing each other on Luigi Raceway in Grand Prix

As the main mode of the game that allows up to two players, Grand Prix involves players racing computer-controlled opponents in four cups, designated as the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and Special Cup, with four races in each cup. These cups are further divided into three different difficulty settings of increasing engine sizes: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. 50cc is the slowest speed available, while 150cc is the fastest. After every race is completed, points are tallied depending on how the player has ranked (the first-place player earns nine points, the second-place player earns six points, the third-place player earns three points, the fourth-place player earns one point, and the fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-place players earn zero points). If players score zero points, they must restart the race; when two players are active, only one player is required to place fourth or above to continue the race. Unlike in Super Mario Kart, players can now try again as many times as they wish after they finish in fifth or below. At the end of a Grand Prix, they can receive a trophy on a podium depending on how well they placed, with bronze, silver, and gold being the worst to best trophies; the trophy model additionally changes with each increase in engine class size. However, if players place fourth or lower at the end of a Grand Prix, a special cutscene plays, in which the player character watches the top three characters place on a podium, then drives away and gets followed and attacked by a Mini Bomb Kart, with the message "What a pity! You placed Xth. Maybe next time!" popping up, where X is the player's rank (in the Japanese version, the message is "You are in Xth"). When players earn Gold in all cups in 150cc, Extra (known as Mirror Mode in later installments) is unlocked, allowing players to race on courses in 100cc but flipped horizontally. In addition to players unlocking Extra, the title screen changes.

The game uses rubberbanding AI, meaning that no matter what weight class, the AI drivers can recover and return to speed faster than the human player. The rival system in this game is the more common 2 Rival system seen in most similar games, whereupon two randomly selected rivals fight with the player and use the "Handicap" feature to situate themselves on level with the player. They always stay the same, no matter what the championship standings are. On a side note, when the player plays the 150cc mode or Extra, two random CPU racers may receive a huge handicap, and even when hit with an item such as a Red Shell, they recover rapidly. Sometimes there is also one player that receives an even larger handicap, and when the player is ahead, it becomes very challenging for them to stop.

Time Trials

The Nintendo 64's Controller Pak (front and back)

In Time Trials, players must race for the fastest time. After setting a record, players can challenge that record and race against themselves, represented by a ghost of their character-of-choice. The ghost will be saved only if the player does not pause, crash into an obstacle, drive in reverse, or fall off the road during the race.

The original release of this game uses 123 pages (7.87 KB) of the Controller Pak to record ghost data, which would occupy all the space in the Controller Pak (one page being a non-standard measurement unit equal to 64 bytes). However, later versions of the game used 121 pages (7.74 KB) on the Controller Pak, leaving only two pages free. Because none of the available controllers on later consoles have a Controller Pak slot, and the Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online do not emulate the Controller Pak, it is impossible to record ghost data on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console versions of the game, or on the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics app.

Versus

Versus Mode involves two or more players racing each other on selected racecourses of their choice. After the players finish a selected racecourse, one point is given to the first-place winner as a tally (if three or four players are playing, players in first, second, and third place receive three points, two points, and one point, respectively), and players can race again or select another course. There is no set number of races. When two or more players are racing together, Mini Bomb Karts appear on the courses.

Battle

D.K. and Peach battling each other on Skyscraper in Battle Mode

Available to only two or more players, Battle Mode is a competitive mode where players combat each other in an arena rather than reach the finish line in a race. Each player starts with three balloons, color-coded to the character they are using, and they lose a balloon when hit by any item or if they fall off-track. It is also possible to lose a balloon if a heavier player, such as Bowser, hits a lighter player, such as Toad, with great enough speed (more details below, in the "Drivers" section). When a player has lost all balloons, the player loses and becomes a Mini Bomb Kart. A Mini Bomb Kart is controllable, and it can be attacked and stunned by items, though it explodes if it runs into another p