Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart 64 (originally titled Super Mario Kart R) is the second game in the Mario Kart series. It is for the Nintendo 64, and is also available on the Wii's Virtual Console. It is the series's first step into 3D graphics. However, the drivers themselves were not in 3D.

It has set many trends in the Mario Kart series, and courses such as Sherbet Land and Wario Stadium were used again. The courses Moo Moo Farm, Frappe Snowland, Choco Mountain and Banshee Boardwalk were later featured in Mario Kart DS, and the first three are playable online.

Gameplay
As opposed to Super Mario Kart, a race now has three laps, not five, due to the fact the raceways are a lot longer then in Super Mario Kart. To get the items, the character had to get an Item Box.

Player's steer with the Nintendo 64 Controller's control stick, and hold down A to accelerate. The B button is used for the brake. With the Z trigger items are used. When you press the R trigger you would jump and then turn so that you could turn if there is a tight corner like in open courses where there are hardly any boundaries to stop you go into other land like snow and sand. Don't turn to much or turn side to side otherwise you will slid and spin around making you stop for a few seconds.

The cups can be raced on the difficulty settings of 50, 100 or 150 cc or the unlockable Mirror Mode. There is also a Time Trial Mode and a Battle Mode available. In Battle Mode, each player starts with three balloons, and loses a balloon when hit by any item. When a player has lost all of his/her balloons, he or she loses.

The rival system in this game is the more commonly used 2 Rival system, where 2 randomly selected rivals will fight with the player, and will use the "Handicap" feature to get themselves on level with the player. They will always stay the same no matter what the championship standings are.

Lightweights
The Lightweight drivers are the fastest and have the best acceleration in the game, but tend to slide out the most of the drivers. If a Heavyweight Player rams into a Lightweight Player, the Lightweight player will slip out, giving Heavyweights a large advantage over them in Battle Mode.

Middleweights
The Middleweight Drivers both are about even with everything, making them good for beginners, but technically not particularly good characters to play as. Although, they have an advantage since they can't be rammed by Heavyweights like Lightweights can, but are still more agile then the Heavyweights.

Heavyweights
The Heavyweights are rather clunky, and have the best traction of all the characters in the game. Although the official strategy guide claimed them to be the fastest characters in the game, the Lightweights are actually faster, along with the fact that the Heavyweights have the worst acceleration, this technically makes the Heavyweights the worst to play as in normal races. But, with the ability to make Lightweights spin out by ramming into them, their the best drivers in Battle Mode.

In a beta screenshot of the game, a Magikoopa took the place of Donkey Kong. Since Magikoopa had Donkey Kong's place, it is debatable what driver type he would have been(Lightweight, Middleweight, or Heavyweight).

Mushroom Cup

 * Luigi Raceway
 * Moo Moo Farm
 * Koopa Troopa Beach
 * Kalimari Desert

Flower Cup

 * Toad's Turnpike
 * Frappe Snowland
 * Choco Mountain
 * Mario Raceway

Star Cup

 * Wario Stadium
 * Sherbet Land
 * Royal Raceway
 * Bowser's Castle

Special Cup

 * DK's Jungle Parkway
 * Yoshi Valley
 * Banshee Boardwalk
 * Rainbow Road

Battle Courses

 * Big Donut
 * Block Fort
 * Double Deck
 * Skyscraper

Items

 * Banana
 * Banana Bunch
 * Green Shell
 * Triple Green Shells
 * Red Shell
 * Triple Red Shells
 * Blue Shell
 * Fake Item Box
 * Mushroom
 * Triple Mushroom
 * Super Mushroom
 * Star
 * Boo
 * Thunderbolt