Top 50 Video Games: Number 25

Well, here we are kids. The halfway mark in the Top 50 List. Can you feel the excitement and elation practically vomiting from your monitor? Can you feel it? Here's a quick recap of the first 25 in the list:

50 - Columns
49 - Gauntlet
48 - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!
47 - Myth
46 - Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle
45 - Strider
44 - Devil May Cry
43 - Animal Crossing
42 - Magic The Gathering
41 - Contra
40 - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
39 - River City Ransom
38 - Galaga
37 - Mega Man 2
36 - Twisted Metal Black
35 - Bubble Bobble
34 - Eternal Darkness
33 - Icewind Dale
32 - Heroes of Might and Magic III
31 - Super Mario Bros 2
30 - Shadowgate
29 - Sonic the Hedgehog
28 - Bionic Commando
27 - Super Mario RPG
26 - Ms Pac Man

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the next game in this prestigous internet list:

#25: Super Mario Kart
System: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: 1992
Players: 1-4


I cannot possibly relate to you in mere words how much ass this game kicks.


They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, Super Mario Kart is one of the most flattering games in recent memory. Mario Kart gave us a new kind of racing game. They went with go karts because you can see the driver - this allows you to easily recognize other players as well as allowing Nintendo to place their well known characters in the drivers seats. They also decided to litter the tracks with powerups adding combat element to the races. It had been done before (RC Pro-Am) but never to this degree. It had pseudo 3d graphics and looked pretty damn good back in the day.

Alright Guy Tom and I used to sit up in my room listening to Primus, making AG Countdowns and playing Mario Kart for hours on end. There were 4 functionally different karts to choose from, 2 different drivers for each. Toad/Koopa weren't the fastest but handled great. Bowser/Donkey Kong Jr had shitty acceleration but great top speed. Princess/Yoshi had the best acceleration and were average everywhere else. Mario/Luigi were middle of the road in every category. The game was full of classic Mario items for the racers to use against each other. Mushrooms for speed bursts, koopa shells as missiles, and the classic invincibility stars among others. Many of the levels (throughout the entire series) take place in locales in the Mario universe such as haunted houses full of boos, castles with lava pits as well as the ever-present rainbow tracks in each kart game.


It's 13 years later and we now have Mariokart Doubledash. The formula hasn't changed so mush as been perfected.


The Mario kart games are the best racing games I've ever played. They did inspire a legion of copycats which were anything but inspired. Mario Kart became a formula: take a selection of your series'/company's/system's most popular characters, put them in karts, give them some kooky powerups and ta-da! - you've got a game with an instant audience. Shrek, Crash Bandicoot, Diddy Kong and others have starred in their own racing games that are in one one way or another reminiscent of Mario kart. Apart from clones and followers, Nintendo has released sequels for the Nintendo 64, the Gameboy Advance and the Gamecube. I've played each of them except the gameboy title, and they are just as fun as the original game. Mario Kart: Doubledash for the Gamecube is a blast, and actually features Couch-friendly multiplayer racing where one player drives the kart and the other players is responsible for weapon/powerup usage. This game is one of the reasons Couch should own a Gamecube.