The Story of Mario Kart 64: A Super Racer and Timeless N64 Classic

Though starting in 1992, the Mario Kart series didn't shift into overdrive until 1996(Chapter Markers and more below…)

Episode information
GTV 176 “The Story of Mario Kart 64" Season 9 Episode 16
Original Airdate: August 2, 2024
Produced December July 17-26, 2024
Recorded at Butsudan Studios and edited on my 14” MacBook M1 Pro! Edited and produced with Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, all paid for with Gainful Employment™ while riding the train to work and home, back and forth, day after day, and lunch breaks too!

0:00 GTV ID: The Best Time Possible Where Available
0:03 Open: The True Foundation
0:53 Act: 1 The Origins of Mario Kart
05:42 CM 1: Mario Kart 64 (Japan, 1996)
06:14 Act 2: The Road to 1996
15:01 CM 2: Mario Kart 64 (U.S., 1997)
15:33 Act 3: Victory Laps
22:20 CM 3: Mario Kart 64 (Australia, 1997)
22:52 Epilogue: Sometimes, It Takes Two Tries

Here are other GTV episodes set in the Mario Universe

Luigi’s Mansion Arcade    • Let's Play Luigi's Mansion Arcade Wit...  
Super Mario Bros 2 Acoustic Soundtrack    • Super Mario Bros. 2 Acoustic Remix  
What Was Yume Kojo? (AKA Not The Story of Super Mario 2)    • "Not the Story of Super Mario Bros. 2...  
Super Mario Bros Wii Coin World Arcade    • New Super Mario Bros Wii Coin World S...  
Super Mario Bros 2 Manga    • Super Mario Bros. 2 Manga Adventures  
Super Mario Bros 2 Music Bug    • Super Mario Bros. 2 Subspace Music Gl...  
Dr. Mario Manga    • Dr. Mario Manga Adventures  
The Perils of Pauline    • The Perils of Pauline: How Did Mario'...  
Super Mario Land Manga    • Super Mario Land Manga Adventures  
The Story of Super Mario Bros. 3    • The Story of Super Mario Bros. 3: A R...  
The Story of Super Mario Bros Too (AKA The Great Giana Sisters Story)    • "The Story of Super Mario Bros., Too"...  
All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.    • How Super Mario Bros. & All Night Nip...  
Donkey Kong Manga    • Donkey Kong Manga Adventures  
Super Mario Land 2 Manga Part 1    • Super Mario Land 2 Manga Adventures (...  
Super Mario Land 2 Manga Part 2    • Super Mario Land 2 Manga Adventures (...  
Super Mario All Stars    • The Story of Super Mario All Stars: S...  
The Year of Luigi    • The Year of Luigi! Remembering Ninten...  
Super Mario Land 3 Manga (Part One)    • The Manga Adventures of Super Mario L...  
Super Mario Land 3 Manga (Part Two)    • The Manga Adventures of Super Mario L...  
Super Mario Pixel Remasters    • Why Aren't There Super Mario Bros. Pi...  
Mario & Wario Manga Adventures    • The Manga Adventures Mario and Wario!...  
Famicom Remix vs. Nintendo World Championships    • Nintendo World Championships NES Edit...  


Partial Transcript
The Mario Kart series debuted on August 27th, 1992. The original game, Super Mario Kart had its beginnings in exploring the technical possibilities of the Super Famicom. In the nearly 2 years that Nintendo’s 16-Bit hardware had been on the market, a number of games that pushed the boundaries of what was possible on screen had come to pass. Two of the earliest games that broke new ground were PilotWings and F-Zero. Fans at home marveled at the graphics of these games as playfields rotated in a 3-Dimensional space, while objects scaled in and out.

Pilotwings wasn’t much more than a technical demo. Though there were clear goals, it was not a very action oriented game. F-Zero had a level of difficulty above what the average Nintendo gamer would expect. As well, both games were one player. Along with Super Mario World, Nintendo’s initial 16-Bit offerings gave no option for simultaneous 2-player action. This led Shigeru Miyamoto, who produced all three of these games to create something that filled in those gaps, while still being a technical showcase.

The final result was Super Mario Kart! A two player game that was simple to pick up and play, great for quick sessions with a friend, and most importantly, very fun!

Rather than high speed racers, Super Mario Kart used slow moving go-karts, traveling around themed courses that resembled stages from Super Mario World. Eight characters were playable, all of them from the Mario series! Some were slow to start but could reach a high top speed, while others had great handling. Keeping with the Mario theme, coins and power-ups could be collected! These can help the player gain an advantage to secure a win!

Most importantly, 2-players could enjoy the game at the same time. With an amazing rotating point of view for both players. Known in Nintendo circles as “Mode 7 Graphics”

One of the major technical obstacles that Nintendo, and others, have faced time and again is that once a “next-gen” hardware set is finished and released, that machine is frozen in time, with no real way to improve it. The only thing to do, is work on the next “next-gen” kit, and go through the cycle all over again.