http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=186509
Considering Super Mario Kart is the third biggest selling SNES game of all time, you'd think our memories of it wouldn't be hazy.
But, maybe due to its bizarre omission from the Virtual Console, in a recent revisit to the title we were shocked to discover how much we'd forgotten.
But we're sure it's just not us getting old, either. Without a re-release since its initial appearance over a decade ago, there can only be a handful who have played the game in the last five years.
So, in order to refresh your memory, here's a list of things that were lost in translation between Super Mario Kart and its successors.
1. No full screen mode for single-player
As Hideki Konno stated in a recent interview, the initial idea for the game came from wanting to take the single-player F-Zero experience and turning it into a two-player game.
Since the design goal was to make a game screen that would support two players racing simultaneously, it's not surprising that the game is hard coded to split the screen, even in single-player mode.
Instead of the lush full-screen racing seen in Mario Kart 64 and beyond, players have to put up with their field of vision halved, with the bottom screen segment displaying either an animated map or a rear-view mode.
Incidentally, rear-view makes a return in Mario Kart Wii, but has to be triggered by pressing the B-button, which is useful for keeping an eye out for shells and other nasties coming up from behind.
2. Coins
Whilst not as useful or prominent as rings in Sonic the Hedgehog, coins have always featured in Mario games. But, apart from Super Mario Kart and the GBA title Super Circuit, they have all but disappeared in the Mario Kart series.
In Super Mario Kart, up to ten coins can be collected to increase a racer's speed. Ramming will cause players to drop them and consequently slow them down, whilst Lakitu demands coin payment for putting you back on the track.
Not surprisingly then, coin collection is a vital strategy in Super Mario Kart. They act as a defence against ramming (you will only spin out if you have none) and add a way for equal-weighted drivers to get an edge over each other.
3. Accumulative speed
We've come to expect that speed limits and acceleration times are altered slightly with every successive edition of Mario Kart, but the difference between Super Mario Kart's mechanics and other entries into the franchise is simply staggering.
Even in Mario Kart 64, character's hit their top speed limits very quickly, with only Bowser, Donkey Kong and Wario really needing a few more seconds after a crash to get back up to maximum velocity.
Super Mario Kart, by comparison, almost consistently increases the speed of a player's kart. Speed is gained slowly and by staying on course, not riding over dirt and keeping away from walls.
The effect is to create a much harder game that privileges player ability over the randomness of power-ups.
In hindsight, the move away from giving perfect players a perfect speed was one of Nintendo's first steps in turning a hardcore game into a friendlier experience. In putting more emphasis on avoiding obstacles and walls though, Super Mario Kart really tests your racing skills.
4. The Feather
Or otherwise known as the power-up that simply disappeared. The feather is favoured power-up to the speed run crowd and for good reason. When activated, it propels the player kart high up into the air, making it capable of leaping over objects, barriers and - in some cases - the sides of the tracks.
Looking at the track design in Super Mario Kart, it's clear what Nintendo was trying to do. There's a variety of great short-cuts that demand players leap across gaping chasms, which are all but impossible without the feather. In the right place, it can move you from fourth to first.
Unfortunately, the feather is a little too powerful and savvy players soon found they could invent their own short-cuts that made the over-the-wall short-cut in the N64's Wario Stadium almost fair by comparison.
5. Computer Super-powers
The AI in Mario Kart is questionable at the best of times, with at least one opponent always on your tail regardless of how fast you're going. But Super Mario Kart tales that to a whole new level, giving each NPC unique special powers that never run out.
Mario and Luigi can trigger invincibility for a limited amount of time. Princess and Toad drop poisoned toadstools that shrink you. Bowser throws fireballs around the course. Yoshi lays eggs that spin you out. Koopa fires a barrage of green shells. And Donkey Kong has banana diarrhoea all over every course he drives on.
6. Question mark floor tiles
"Where are the floating question marks?", we asked when we booted up the game for the first time in ages. Then we drove over the tiles in the floor, received our first power-up and remembered.
The question marks in Super Mario Kart were probably embedded in the floor only because of performance issues. Unfortunately, it means that the fake power-up - a favourite in the office - never made an appearance until Mario Kart 64.
7. Now with two extra tracks
It's almost a given that if you ever go back to Super Mario Kart after spending years playing the later versions, the five-track courses will throw you.
Racing two extra tracks completely changes the style of play, making it far more a game of sustained ability, rather than the quick frantic free-for-all Mario Kart has now become.
As has been demonstrated occasion by the editor of Official Xbox Magazine, even the worst Mario Kart player in the world can sometimes come first in Mario Kart 64. But the two extra laps in SMK cause the distance between first and fourth to grow to such an extent that a sudden upset due to a red shell barrage is almost an impossibility.
8. Oil Slicks
There are plenty of annoying obstacles on later editions of Mario Kart (Penguins and Bombs are our most hated), but Super Mario Kart is the only one to use instant spin-outs on Mario circuits, turning the fastest of all tracks into hazard-fuelled chaos.
Like a banana, oil slicks spin your kart out as soon as you pass through them. But their placement in Mario circuits - traditionally fast levels that are more about tight corners and speed than anything else - turns what should be sliding heaven into a memory test of where the spills are.
9. Lives
No doubt a left-over from Mario's origins, Super Mario Kart gives players a finite amount of lives that can be lost by not placing above fifth in each race. In addition, you'd gain an extra life by coming first in three consecutive races.
10. Disappearing barricades
The frequently wall-free sections of Ghost circuits have always caused us some pain, but at least in Mario Kart 64 there are only two possibilities - a corner has a wall, or it doesn't.
Ghost Valley in Super Mario Kart, by comparison, has a third option - one-shot barricades.
These particular walls disappear after a collision, making the tracks unpredictable. To really avoid unexpectedly going in the drink, a player must treat the course almost like rainbow road, avoiding the edges and not relying on a wall bumping them back on track. Because you never know - the wall might not be there.
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