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Mario Kart 64 Review
Few subjects polarize former Nintendo 64 owners more than Mario Kart 64. Some people proclaim MK64 to be one of the very best in the series; while conversely, others say it's the worst of all Mario Karts. Mario Kart 64 is now available through the Wii's Virtual Console for $10, and its addition is likely to spark more of that same debate. However, no matter what your original feelings were on the game during its heyday, the inexorable truth is that Mario Kart 64 simply doesn't hold up all that well in 2007.
For Mario Kart fans, MK64 marks the introductory point for many of the mechanics and concepts that are now staples of the series. Apart from being Wario's kart-racing debut, weapons such as blue shells and fake item boxes originated in this game. Mario Kart 64 also significantly lengthened the tracks over its Super Nintendo Entertainment System forebear, which was either a blessing or a curse, depending on your mindset. In some ways, it made the single-player game too easy, though some of the fault also lies with the opponent artificial intelligence, which isn't very aggressive and is pretty easy to bowl over. The only thing that really makes the game challenging at all is the kart handling, which is arguably the worst in any MK game. Powersliding is an exercise in frustration if you're used to the less exaggerated slides of games like Mario Kart DS and even the original Super Mario Kart. That's not to say that it can't be gotten used to, but it takes more effort to adjust to than it probably ought.
The main draw of MK64 was its four-player multiplayer. Whether in battle mode or split-screen racing, for its time, the multiplayer offered a great deal of fun, because there wasn't really anything else quite like it during that initial run of N64 games. The multiplayer still stacks up favorably compared with some of the other games available on the Virtual Console, but it's hard to play if you've been spending any time with more recent Mario Kart games. The battle-mode stages are especially difficult to enjoy. The stages are just too big and empty, making it difficult to find your opponents. Four-player racing is still reasonably fun, however.
The VC version of MK64 is a mostly solid port, though it has some quirks. For one, the game won't save any ghost racer data, which the original N64 game saved to the system's memory card. Another issue pops up with the audio. The original audio effects already sound pretty crusty in this day and age, but there's some sort of emulation glitch that causes music to drop off from time to time. We ran into a few instances where music just stopped playing during races until we restarted the game. As far as controls go, MK64 supports the classic controller and GameCube controller, but we noticed that the Cube controller had a few small problems, not the least of which was that it was a real hassle to fire weapons backward using the Cube's control stick. Also, the options menu that was pulled up with the left shoulder button on the N64 isn't mapped to the left shoulder trigger on the GameCube controller, which is just unintuitive.
On top of the few issues with the emulation, Mario Kart 64 just doesn't look very impressive anymore, even compared with something like Super Mario 64 on the VC. The character graphics are extremely pixelated, and the tracks aren't much to look at. Yes, it's an old game, but it's an old game that has not aged well. That statement is true across the board, actually. Of course, some players are undoubtedly going to have fond nostalgic memories of time spent with Mario Kart 64 back in the day, and those folks will probably end up downloading the game no matter what. But what they'll find with MK64 on the VC isn't so much the same great game they remember but a slightly crusty relic from the past that has had its framework improved upon multiple times in recent sequels. And for those who never got around to playing Mario Kart 64, it's not that the game isn't at all worth checking out, but it's tough to recommend paying $10 for the least enjoyable version of Mario Kart out there--especially when it seems like an inevitability that Super Mario Kart will hit the Virtual Console some time in the future.
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Excitebike Review Many people have fond memories of Excitebike, since it was one of the original launch games for Nintendo's NES console back in 1985. Now that the game is available for the Wii's Virtual Console, it's nice to see that it's still charming and fun to play, even if the intervening years haven't been kind to the graphics and audio. In a nutshell, Excitebike is a side-scrolling rendition of supercross motorcycle racing. The two buttons propel your bike forward. One gets you going faster than the other, but will also generate heat that can eventually lead to a temporary engine stall. As the screen scrolls by, you need to move up and down between the four lanes and pop wheelies in order to avoid obstacles and CPU-controlled riders. Speeding over hills will send you flying into the air. While in flight, you can use the directional pad to tilt your bike forward or backward to get more hang time and land on ramps at an angle that won't slow you down. If you finish the course with one of the top three times, you'll move to the next. The overall goal is to make it to the fifth and final course and come away with the top time. Tracks go by fast and take about a minute or two to finish. It shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes to master all five tracks, but the design is so simple and fun that you'll probably feel the urge to play again and again as the days pass. Since Excitebike was one of the first games made for the NES, the graphics and audio are plain even by 8-bit standards. There's very little music in the game. As you move down the track, you'll just hear the constant buzz of the engine and the periodic harangue of the overheat warning. The same static backdrop is recycled for each track, though the color scheme and the placement of objects do change. The tiny riders and bikes are charming, but they don't animate much. You'll see the wheels bouncing up and down, and, if you wipe out, you can watch your rider tumble end over end and then hobble back to his bike. Despite the lack of flash, the graphics are clean and have a certain charm about them. Watching your rider fly off a ramp like an 8-bit Evel Knievel is more thrilling than you'd think. The game doesn't offer a two-player mode, unfortunately, but you can choose whether or not to race against CPU riders. You may also get some extra mileage out of the game's track editor, which lets you place obstacles on a track, set the number of laps, and save your creation for later. When Excitebike was originally published for the NES, the save function couldn't be used because Nintendo never got around to releasing the tape-drive peripheral that the function required. The save function works in the Virtual Console release, just as long as you remember to load your track each time you restart the game. Nothing else has been updated or changed. The game looks and sounds just like it did on the NES, and, using the Wii Remote, it plays the same too. Excitebike won't consume hours of your time, but, at 500 Wii points ($5), it's a decent value when you add up all of the short bursts of fun you can have with it. |
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Moto Roader Review With the exception of the Micro Machine games, there aren't a whole lot of top-down racers being released these days--but back in the day they were all the rage. Well, maybe not all the rage, but the games had their fans. One such blast from the past is Moto Roader, a top-down racer with a terrible name that was originally released on the TurboGrafix 16 and is now available for 600 points ($6) on the Wii's Virtual Console. While you might have fond memories of Moto Roader, it hasn't aged very well. These days, it makes for a shallow single-player experience, but if you've got at least one other person to play against, Moto Roader can still be a fun game. Moto Roader has seven different circuits in which you're pitted against four other cars in a series of races. As with most games, the driver with the most points at the end of the series wins. After each race you're awarded some cash, which can be used to upgrade your tires, engine, body, brakes, and more. You can even purchase grenades, hoppers (which allow you to jump obstacles), nitro, and other special items. The racing itself is simple. You navigate the winding courses, all the while trying to avoid obstacles and keep your car steady on the occasional random patches of ice. It can take some time to get a grip on the steering, though, since you've got to take into account the car's orientation before deciding whether or not pressing left on the D pad will make the car actually go the way you want it to. All of the racers have to be onscreen at the same time, and the game warps any car that is too far behind back up into the pack. Each time you're bumped up you lose gas, and when you're out of gas the race is over. Because you'll be teleported up with the rest of the racers, there's very little incentive to avoid obstacles. In fact, you can buy extra gas between races, watch the race as you get teleported around the track, and then pick up the controller on the final stretch and win the race. Constantly having cars warp from place to place takes all the fun out of the racing and ruins the single-player mode. However, the game is much more enjoyable when played with five people. The Wii only supports four remotes at once, so you'll need at least one GameCube controller to play with five people, but the game is much more exciting this way. The races are more intense, launching grenades at your buddies is a blast, and you actually need a bit of skill to win races. Moto Roader sure isn't much to look at. The courses are bland and devoid of interesting scenery, and the sense of speed is nonexistent. The cars look decent, though, and they're very colorful, which is really cool if you like colorful cars. Perhaps in an effort to get you enjoy the graphics more, the audio is terrible. The sound effects are lousy, and the music is just as bad. If you're thinking of picking up Moto Roader, you simply need to ask yourself two questions: "Do I like top-down racing games?," and "Do I have people to race with?" If you answered "yes" to both questions, you'll likely get your six bucks' worth out of the game. |
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