Mario Kart Super Circuit

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Mario Kart Super Circuit

Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	July 21, 2001 August 27, 2001 14 September 2001
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone OFLC: G
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Media	32-Megabit cartridge

Mario Kart: Super Circuit, known in Japan as Mario Kart Advance (マリオカートアドバンス, Mario Kāto Adobansu^?), is a video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. It combines features from earlier Mario Kart games (Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64) In particular, it features the gameplay mechanics of the latter title and tracks from the former game (unlockable). Super Circuit is also the first Mario Kart game to be on a handheld.

1 Single-player gameplay
2 Multiplayer gameplay
3 Characters
4 Power-ups
5 Reception
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] Single-player gameplay

As with its predecessors, Super Circuit is a light-hearted circuit racing game. In it, the player races against seven opponents, each a character from Nintendo's Mario series, in small racing karts, upon a series of tracks by the DMT Mario world. Strewn upon the tracks are power-ups to aid the bearer or hinder their opponents, as well as Coins which increase the player's top speed.

[edit] Mario GP mode

The main mode in the game. The player races in a series of "Grand Prix" competitions (Cups), against seven computer-controlled competitors. Each Cup consists of four three-lap races. Each Cup may be approached at a 50 cc, 100 cc, or 150 cc speed, determining the speed and therefore difficulty of the race.

[edit] Super Circuit

Each racer's finishing position in each race determines the number of points he or she receives (nine for first, six for second, three for third, one for fourth, and none for a lower placement), and at the end, the player with the most points wins. If the player finishes in fifth place or lower on any given race, he or she loses a life and must restart. The player may also choose to restart a race at any time, at the cost of a life. Upon losing their allocation of three lives in each Cup, however, the player loses and is ejected from the competition.

At the end of the cup, the player is awarded a trophy based on his or her finishing position (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) and a rating based upon how well he or she raced (E, D, C, B, A, One-Star, Two-Stars, Three Stars, in ascending order) based upon the number of coins collected, their finishing positions in each race, and their lap times.

[edit] Extra

Also, the Cups and tracks from Super Mario Kart for the SNES are available as Extra Cups, through playing well in their namesake. To unlock these cups, first the Special Cup must be unlocked, and then a gold trophy must be won in that cup. Then the player must run each Cup again, winning a Gold trophy and collecting 100 coins or more. The appropriate Cup is then unlocked.

Each race in an Extra cup consists of five, rather than three laps. Also, the track arrangement has changed, due to the number of cups. In Super Mario Kart, there were four cups with five tracks each; in the Extra cups, there are five cups with four tracks each.

Unlocked tracks (Special and Extra Cups) are only available at the speed they were unlocked with. For example, obtaining a Gold trophy in each of the first four Cups at 50 cc unlocks the Special Cup at 50 cc, but not 100 cc or 150 cc. Time Trial mode for the Extra cups is unlocked when the player unlocks 150 cc.

There were a few changes to the SNES courses. Most of the hazards were removed. For instance, there are no flashing Thwomps in Rainbow Road. The backgrounds were re-used from the Super Circuit tracks as well. Some areas and shortcuts on the SNES tracks are now inaccessible due to the removal of the feather item from Super Mario Kart, like the out-of-bounds bouncy bar in Koopa Beach 2.

[edit] Time Trial

Any track unlocked at 150 cc in Mario GP Mode may be raced upon, alone, with the track's coins and power-ups removed. The player does, however, start with three Mushroom power-ups (see below) which may be used at any time. Normal Cups are raced for three laps, Special Cups for five. A lap-time and total-time record are set for each, to provide a challenge, and the player's best lap time and total time recorded. Upon racing once on a track, the player races against his or her "Ghost car", showing his or her progress on the previous attempt. This may be switched off.

Up to 10 "ghost car" runs may be saved in total, and they can be either be viewed in replay mode or be raced against. This may be useful if a player is attempting to improve his or her fastest time on a given course, for example, by studying and competing against his or her current best run.

[edit] Quick Run

The player may choose any unlocked track, from any cup, and any speed, and race against seven opponents as in Mario GP mode. Coins, the number of laps (three or five), and the items can be toggled on or off.

[edit] Multiplayer gameplay

Mario Kart Super Circuit screenshot with Yoshi on Peach Circuit.

[edit] Mario GP mode

Up to two players may progress in this mode. It works identically to the single-player Mario GP, except that there are two human players and six computer-controlled ones.

[edit] VS mode

Similar to singleplayer Quick Run mode, with two to four human players, and no computer-controlled ones.

[edit] Battle mode

Two to four players are placed in specially designed battle arenas, strewn with power-ups. Each player has three balloons attached to their kart, and each time he or she takes a successful hit (from an offensive item or aggressive ramming), he or she loses one. Upon losing the last, he or she is taken out of the game. The last player standing wins.

[edit] Ghost trade

Up to two of the player's "ghost car" saves may be copied to another player, and up to two received in return. These may then be raced against in Time Trial mode or viewed as replays as though they were the player's own. This may be useful in attempting to better a friend's best time at a given track, or to show off a player's skill.

[edit] Characters

There are eight first playable characters, each with his or her own kart, drawn from Nintendo's Mario series.

There are also differently colored Yoshis, which are only available in single-pak multiplayer (Similar to Shy Guys in MKDS).

[edit] Power-ups

Various power-ups are placed upon tracks in Mario GP, Quick Run, Battle, and Vs. modes. As in the previous Mario Kart games, the power-ups are items based on the Mario universe. All of the items from the original Mario Kart, minus the Feather, appear in this game.

As in Mario Kart 64, most attack items can be trailed behind the player before being thrown or used.

[edit] Reception

Mario Kart: Super Circuit was extremely well received by the press and public alike. Those frustrated with Nintendo's policy of remaking older games for the GBA were pleasantly surprised that not only had Nintendo released a brand new Mario Kart game, but that most of the courses from Super Mario Kart had been included instead of being released as a separate port. It is still one of the most popular games for the GBA.

[edit] Trivia

This game was featured in the movie Son of the Mask.
Luigi, Wario, Peach, and Toad's voices in this game were originally used in the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64.
If you play a single pack game, all players will be a different color of Yoshi. Player 1 is Green, Player 2 is Red, Player 3 is Blue and Player 4 is Yellow. Also, only four courses can be played in single pack mode; Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, and Bowser Castle 1.
The characters and 2D models are based on the same models from Mario Kart 64.
The castle in the background of Rainbow Road is from Paper Mario.