Is Mario Kart 64 Actually Good?

The Mario Kart series has been around for years. Throughout these years there has always been a constant debate surrounding which Mario Kart did it best. In this video, I take a look at the game that is always brought up in this debate, Mario Kart 64! I hope you enjoy this Mario Kart 64 retrospective!
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[@danhenry8163]

This was my first ever N64 game I got when my parents bought me and all my brothers an N64 for Christmas. I'll always love this game no matter how many years pass by.

[@FreeAimDog]

yeah the beach level and the kamale desert and the penguin one is always fun to play its why i emulate the game, i love that they brought those tracks back in mario kart tour, they made a insane remix of kamale desert where you take the train track section and jump above the train and on some ramps then go out of the track section on to the path.

[@GeistInTheMachine]

Same, same. I just wish it had more levels.

[@dcski1352]

This was my first video game period

[@smoke3571985]

same here my first game for the 64 this and starfox both i still love today but nothing beats mario kart 64 for the amount of fun i had playing it

[@tommoore2012]

Also same. But they got us Ocarina of Time too.

[@Mark3nd]

Im sure i noticed, but there are features that make this game too unique. - Spinning out without even a Banana - Making light weights spin out from heavies, especially getting rammed from behind by mediums - Spinning as your sliding forward - Driving a bit further before spinning out by banana - Saving yourself from the banana - Barrel rolling forward when hit - Barrel flying forward when hit - The ground actually shakes when landing - Crash jumping (if you managed to time it right on PWOOMP!!!) - It is chaotically awesome!! So much madness in the game!

[@looeyg]

Yes this game is quite goated

[@hhhh82user]

im pretty sure you can spin out without a banana in super mario kart too

[@armandogarcia231]

The best feature is to be able to recover so fast after spinning out and return to full speed if you press A 3 times and hold it on the last one!!!

[@eksmad]

It never was bad to begin with ..

[@HistoryandReviews]

It was and is

[@tenisball9323]

@@Wario1382 tell me you’re 15 without telling me you’re 15

[@yang6642]

@@Wario1382Nah

[@deatgr3623]

@@tenisball9323 add ds and 7 and I’d maybe agree with him, I have a soft spot for super circuit and 64 but they have aged kinda poor

[@will.c.2005]

I have to say my personal favorite is wii but each game has its strengths and is at the very least good

[@YoshiTheOreo]

A major reason the blue shell was so rare was because certain tracks had a special box that gives it to you gareenteed. Luigi's Circuit with the balloon at the beginning. The launch ramp leading to the line box on top of a rock. You got the item purely on a skill rather than luck, which is what made it the most balanced Mario Kart mechanic of them all.

[@Metallic64-rm4tz]

I got it once in first even on a map that doesn't have it exclusive

[@ChillingCrowley]

​@@Metallic64-rm4tzwhich course?

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

Yeah, grabbing the exclusive Blue Shell block on KT Beach without a shroom always felt so good.

[@TheJohnnee]

5:05 This comment aged well.

[@EllZombie149]

Ikr 😂

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Mario Kart 64 is my *favourite* Mario Kart... i still cry a bit when that credits theme starts 😢👍

[@TheJadeFist]

The Blue Shell in Mario Kart 64, you could actually do things about it. It could hit a wall, or if timed when going over a ramp it can miss. The later games decided to just make it fly above and hit the lead racer, which is why it IS TERRIBLE, if you're in first place you're only going to get like a banana, you can't defend against it no matter what, you have no counter play. They removed counter play, and that's not fun, especially when you're winning and get hit screwed at the end of the 3rd lap dropping from first to 6th because you got hit with 2 blue shells, several red shells and maybe some lightning for good measure. 64 the items could change a race but they didn't feel unfair.

[@matthewallen1957]

To this day it’s still my favorite.

[@christianstenger7280]

Absolute Legend! For me, it's only either MK 64 or MK 8 Deluxe. And in terms of battle mode, MK 64's even the ONLY go-to address for me. Nintendo never managed to fully recreate that original balloony feeling ever again.

[@sonictelephone1526]

The thing spoiling it for me was how much the CPU rubber banded. There was little point getting good at the game if playing against CPU racers, because they'll just catch you up whatever anyway

[@yasin2390]

I dont know if its a glitch but sometimes while falling behind i have a hard time catching up to the 1st cpu because he kept building up a ridiculous distance between everybody else.

[@brainthebrian3690]

Wat u mean? That was the best part, it kept the race completive. I hate being in first in the modern ones and basically having to entertain myself.

[@AwesomeMooseSmile]

​@@brainthebrian3690The problem is that a lot of the factors of Mario kart is luck, and in games where the game will let you get away with being at a much higher spot than the other CPUs if you genuinely played well enough to do that, getting pelted with blue shells or red shells and being able to do nothing about it makes it fair because you're already far ahead because of your skill, so it counters out the luck, but with something like 64 or even Wii for that matter, if you get pelted by an item you had zero control with getting hit by and you just lost, even if you played perfectly optimally, then that's just annoying.

[@rwentfordable]

Yeah, I've tried it again after 20 years. With rubber banding I do t think I'll try it again.

[@Nobunaga1983]

Nintendo was notorious for the rubber band effect. Ruined so many racing games. Why should you be punished for being good at a racing game?

[@BOABModels]

I liked playing MK64 when at friends' houses but in my opinion, Crash Team racing is a superior game. The driving mechanics in that are more rewarding to learn and there is very little rubber banding. It came out a couple of years afterwards so I'm sure Naughty Dog played a lot of Mario Kart to get their ideas right.

[@aaronayl1]

Pretty sure the heavy characters have the highest top speed to make up for their slow acceleration. The Light characters have the slowest top speed.

[@tolkkiz]

Yes, I'm glad someone pointed that out, such a basic fact.

[@michaelpeters78]

I think yoshi actually has the highest top speed. the advantage of the heavy players is they can spin you out by bumping into you.

[@Rodanguirus]

That's the common approach the series would adhere to, and a lot of guides falsely report that, but MK64 is a bizarre exception.

[@aaronayl1]

@@Rodanguirus interesting! The manual also reported this, I am sure. Maybe it's a programming error.

[@ianmatthews7385]

I think maneuverability comes into play as well

[@Rachel-od3wx]

With all those new tracks in MK8D I hope they'll also bring back the fantastic battle mode levels from MK64. I basically spent my childhood there.

[@Milli2X]

Hands down best racing game ever, its so broken and full of opportunities to screw over your friends and always rewards bravery

[@carterjames8829]

The broken things are unfortunately the downsides to this game and why it hasn't aged too well.

[@badad8537]

It's not as good as Diddy Kong Racing

[@carterjames8829]

@@badad8537 I've never played that game, tho I imagine it being a step up from Mario Kart 64.

[@badad8537]

@@carterjames8829 Oh it really is, pretty much everything about it is better. Don't get me wrong I love a lot of different versions of Mario Kart, but when it comes to N64 Diddy Kong Racing is far superior imo.

[@carterjames8829]

@@badad8537 I'm assuming that's really saying something judging from how innovative Mario Kart 64 was for Mario Kart as a franchise.

[@olbuddy5251]

I got this game for Christmas- the Japanese version in 1996 I believe. My Dad somehow brought my N64 to a shop to modify it so it could play Japanese imports. It was the first year I knew "the truth" about Santa Claus and it just blew my mind to have a game none of my friends had and had it so early. To this day it remains my favorite Mario Kart game.

[@KelMurphy]

Woah! I also got a Japanese version in '96! I modified it with my friend by cutting out the plastic blockers where the cartridges go in. Was sweating that process out! lol...

[@john-sp8jk]

​@@KelMurphy is the Japanese version any different??🎮🕹️🎮

[@Neat_meat]

Back in the day, I remember spending hours in Mario kart 64 with my uncle. thanks for bringing me back so much good memories! Edit: wow, i got 68 likes, that’s almost nice

[@TheDancingWorkman]

Pò

[@dexri7945]

these videos are so underrated, the editing, script with good background and feedback, and engaging all around. love all the videos, keep it up!

[@diabeticman2194]

MK64 is definitely a classic in the series, but I really don't think it's aged as well as DD!!, Wii or DS. Sure, it does have a fantastic battle mode and some all time great tracks (Royal Raceway and Yoshi's Valley come to mind), I find the controls to be a bit janky and too annoying for me to say I fully enjoy playing it today, along with the infamous CPU rubber banding

[@Gage_Brumley]

I don't know of any N64 games that have aged particularly well

[@hw5091]

64, saturn and ps1 are not good to look back on. Even ps2 is pretty rough. Some gcn n xbox games look pretty decent, especially the cartoon first party gcn games. They don't need to be as detailed. However, 64 games with all the modern upscalers etc, actually do look pretty good depending on the game. If a little baron.

[@Splozy]

The noobs have escaped

[@NCHLTII]

Double dash has aged very very well and is very underrated imo

[@mrfishmon5517]

Texture packs my friend 👍🏻

[@Gredran]

Fun fact: the drivers and items being 2D sprites of 3D renders were VERY common for games back then, even in Mario 64 with Bob-ombs and other things. Games like Starcraft and one of the sonic games, I think 3D Blast and maybe some others? Did this too. Plenty of companies were trying to toss as much as they could in, but artists at the time quickly realized that… the model itself would be nice, but the processing wasn’t there yet, but now they had the PERFECT reference to trace over or snapshot for Sprite or animation cutouts. So TLDR: it was very common because technical people realized at the same time the potential, but they also all realized how good 3D models were as 2D reference, which is still sometimes the case even today.

[@ianeons9278]

I they abandoned the name Super Mario Kart R because of Sonic R around that time.

[@MarioMamTess]

I'll be honest, I've played a LOT of Mario Kart games across the series (I grew up with Double Dash, Wii, DS, and 7), and I really don't like Mario Kart 64's controls. You said it was very good and most people will probably get the hang of it by Lap 2 of their first race, but I honestly can't say I agree. I've tried to pick up Mario Kart 64 multiple times, but even after playing a couple Grand Prixs, I just can't control my driver well. I'm always flying into the grass, drifting the wrong way, slamming into every wall. I just can't pick up this game's controls at all, and I'm not sure why.

[@RoachCatJr]

hard agree & i grew up playing this (& super well at the time). now i'm garbage at it but it feels super weird

[@dinglemcdangledongle]

make sure you are using the og controller! mk64 was definitely designed for it. the control stick is way heavier and harder to move, but that forces the player to make more precise inputs.

[@matiasv248]

i played mk64 alot on xbox 360 controller and became soo good at it. spent so many hours with my bro playing this on an old macbook and a big screen

[@bucketsdoo5252]

Turning 28 On July of This Yr , this was my Childhood , proud 1995 baby

[@Danny_SE11]

The game is nearly 30 years old but people are comparing it to games made on the Switch, if this was still the best Mario Kart then Nintendo has done something seriously wrong

[@Flegz1]

Mario Kart 64 is a pretty good game, but it has a lot of glitches and you can easily break tracks, it also has a bit small amount of characters, the CPUs are annoying and they rubber band which sucks and makes the game harder to get 1st place. So overall MK64 is an okay game, but not as good as Diddy Kong Racing.

[@HistoryandReviews]

@@SatanenPerkele go away

[@TandJgaming]

Agreed. Diddy Kong truly let you master a course instead of getting rubber banded to hell and punished for being out front. I love diddy kong racing for being a game about actual skill and track knowledge and less about cheesing and getting lucky. I love both games but diddy Kong edges it out for me

[@MLife1000]

Diddy Kong was surprisingly good 👍

[@BenutzerWalter]

I love that you go over the history and some technical details of each game in your review! Really makes them unique

[@FKanimations]

Watching this video coincidentally after kamek was announced as a playable character lol

[@pukalo]

I feel like I'm one of the few people in the world whose favourite Mario Kart is Super Circuit.

[@c4rbin]

"but hey maybe we'll see kamek return in the booster course pass or something" holy shit you where right

[@Chirp296]

I played MK64 so much before I left for college. I've so many good memories of it even though I haven't played it in about 20 years now.

[@Tashiro64]

As a mk64 speedrunner, even while enjoying listening to you, i was still having a lot of reactions because of how you play loll. such a great nostalgic game. And credit music is so awesome

[@FreeAimDog]

him: is mario 64 actually good? me: only if you play on 100cc and you know the courses other wise the CPU will have artificial speed and you will never catch up to them and you will have a bad time if you go 150cc.

[@EWOODJ]

150cc or bust

[@coolbrotherf127]

As a kid, playing battle mode with 3 other people was some of the most fun I'd ever had playing video games at the time. I think only Mario Kart DS has a better battle mode.

[@jamesknapp64]

Rainbow Road theme is legendary

[@oblivion85]

You know a game is great when you look forward to the credits.

[@Thegamer-ow9vz]

I just got this on my Wii U

[@rockoorbe2002]

I played this one back in the 2000s when my brother and I pitched in to buy a second hand N64 from a pawn shop in North Dakota where we were working. And now I got it in my laptop and play it via emulator. It's definitely a good game although what saves it is the multiplayer. Particularly when the N64 has space for 4 players. Because quite frankly, the single player mode gets repetitive and frustrating after a while, especially with the dreaded rubber band AI.

[@0rnery0verwatch]

I agree with you... the multiplayer is the best aspect. This is a solid game overall, but after having played Mario Kart 8, this game seems like a warm-up at best. Still, it paved the way for the future of the franchise. I still remember buying the players guide for this game, and it having "bumper stickers" in the back, one of which said "Mario Kart 64 - Kick Asphalt!". I remember my grandma saying "that doesn't sound right... please don't put that sticker anywhere I can see it" hahaha

[@sticefragfrenzy9319]

never realised the racers were 2d

[@cgrooney9945]

Bowser, Wario and Donkey Kong all have a top speed of 70mph ....Toad tops out at 66mph. The heavies are the fastest but they have the slowest acceleration. ALSO The colour of the smoke behind your car indicates boost. I enjoy your video but do a little more fact checking next time!

[@benjammin316]

If you gold the 150cc cups on all courses, you get mirrored tracks as an option too.

[@eadghe]

Mario Kart 64 was really fun, back in the days. But now I played it decades later and still got it, but the worlds seem to be too small, not very challenging and overall it feels like a child's game. I imagine it will still sorta fun with other people, but it belongs in the past, where it made my youth. Some people can't let go of that time though, as it seems.

[@toastbud6870]

I never played Mario kart 64 I wasn’t even born but I played it on nso and I found it amazing! I get what you’re saying too thoe but an opinion from a new gen kid it really holds up well but if you’re a bit open minded you know like my friends prefer ps5 new gen games so they’d find it boring but for a old game it’s really good and even looks good

[@fuzzynugget5181]

im a 43 year old gamer myself, and always been a fan of the franchise since it initial release on SNES. I played trough them all while growing up but Mariokart64 just hit different and is the one i keep getting back to when the mates drop by. i must say the latest installment on switch with all its extras and dlc`s is also right up there

[@TheMysteryDriver]

"I'm doing a deep dive into Mario kart 64" "I can't talk about all the tracks for some reason"

[@ben_sisko2149]

I remember having a lot of fun "exploring" Peach's castle with my brother when we decided to take a turn in that circuit. Pretty useless, but cool detail.

[@Parker--]

It has always been subpar. It benefits from nostalgia turned weird speedrun devotion bc it was easily breakable. The battle mode was far better than the racing. The best racing was on Diddy Kong Racing.

[@Professor-of-Gaming]

MK64 is the complete Mario kart package. Other entries do certain things better, but nothing nails everything like MK64

[@Abyssoft]

SMK had a mini turbo, it wasn't detailed in the manual but it functions exactly the same, press R to go into a drift and counter steer to charge power, there's no visual indicator like the smoke in MK64 but there is an audible rev of the engine; speedrunners for SMK will break their controllers open to remove the nub under the dpad so they can charge a mini turbo by holding all directions at once.

[@grottybt5006]

Haven't had my n64 in over ten years but it feels like just yesterday when I played this

[@xenai.]

didn't have a n64, but my dad has a modded xbox that had tons of games, mk64 included. I miss playing battle mode on that

[@crafto6881]

HOW DID YOU PREDICT KAMEK IN BOOSTER COURSE PASS??

[@migosp43]

so mario kart 64 was released earlier but some games after have numbers between 1-10, this is why i find it funny they named it this way

[@Antonio-is2cn]

Mario Kart 64 is still the best! Remember when characters only used 1 Kart? Me too...

[@TP25_productions]

My dad has been playing it with me and he had found all of the glitches and remembered them from when he was a kid and he is so good at the game and yes he uses yoshi

[@Watermelon-ob1op]

Short answer: No. They’ve improved greatly on it since then.

[@mikelondakos9723]

I think it's good, still my favorite. People hate on rainbowroad, but for me, it's a pleasant ride down memory lane. I'll always love this game.

[@superkiller4436]

I think I found it more fun to try and reach the lowest score in the Grand Prix and managed to still would come out on top is more entertaining! By that I mean reaching 4th Place I managed to do it as Wario once and it was absolutely hilarious!

[@chrisfalx3251]

I had a Chinese next-door neighbor, who, for some reason used to get the Japanese versions of the games before I think I had this and turak both in Japanese, and he wrote down directions how to get down to the menus and how to scroll through the Japanese characters on the start menu😂

[@007megaoof]

All the other Mario karts wish they were in the sopranos

[@Wario_Guy]

Gotta admit, people talking about all their memories with Mk, I never really loved it. Only one I played was DS… that one was a banger. But I have always loved literally every other spin-off, especially Wario and Paper Mario.

[@HistoryandReviews]

Banger? NERD

[@flariz4824]

I liked almost all Mario Karts except the original which might have been good when it came out by I just couldnt get into it. Mario Kart 64 is my personal favorite to this day. I also played most of them roughtly within the same 1-2 year period so no nostalgia argument here.

[@migovas1483]

9:53 There IS a visual indicator for when you correctly perform a drift ( mini-Turbo) you can see the speedometer goes up. some extra 10-15 km/h or whatever for 1-2 seconds.. Snake Drifting on N64, DD and DS is bread and butter of the Game, you live and Die by it.. You need to master it.

[@Megladong]

My only complaint is the draw distance is terrible and no one has made a rom hack to fix it yet.

[@imafreakinninja12]

If Mario Kart 8 was good, it wouldn't have had to rely on cheap cash-grab guest characters to boost sales.

[@sligacheese6470]

I have the n64 driving wheel by Dale Ernhart jr and it’s pretty cool using the wheel on Mario 64. ❤

[@SuperHiFiGaming]

Still the best in the series and it's not even close.

[@capnfoo]

Playing 4 player Grand Prix on two karts in Double Dash is the best Mario kart. Normally your experience is only shared with other people when you attack or pass them, but with two people on one kart the entirety of every race is a shared experience and every clash involves four people so there is a lot of yelling.

[@Blazethh]

Mario Kart 64 is great, I think it just gets overlooked now by younger people because of how great the franchise is. One aspect about it that I think is super underrated is how great the soundtrack is. The Credits theme might be the best Mario Kart song period.

[@simunator]

wish ds's drift mechanic would come back. it was goat

[@ian-wy5fw]

looking forward to more videos in the future, keep up the awesome work

[@brosiahhh1158]

I love your videos dude, keep it up!

[@mikehendrickson85]

Good video, but you forgot to mention the "Extra" option to race all the courses in reverse.

[@Redmage913]

This game feels much less arbitrary than the games that come after it. A huge part is that AI racers don’t have access to a few items in MK64, namely shells. When you have to adjust your play to ensure you’re constantly in second place until the very last second, it becomes less of a race and more of gaming the game. In more modern titles, skill is actively punished.

[@RealKetchi]

Great video bro - really enjoyed it :D

[@danielmclean3733]

Heavyweight characters have a high speed stat and lightweight have a low speed stat

[@danielmclean3733]

And you definitely get a speed boost for drifting in the snes mario kart

[@ericzubyk2329]

I would say yes if you’re a pro but IDK for others. And we call the KD train the Jones Express in the Player’s Page community.

[@patrickholt8782]

To me all the tracks in 64 are at least a 7/10 or higher. There’s no track I don’t like. And the cpu puts up a fight until the last second.

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

07:31 Or lets them increase their lead if you're really unlucky 😅 10:58 one thing I loved about the Blue/Spiny Shell in MK64 was that it came from behind like a red shell, no kamikaze dive. This meant you could block it with your own trailed blue shell, should you happen to have smuggled one into first place 😄 11:45 I got to play 4 player on the reg! So grateful for that; I was living with my aunt and 2 cousins at the time and we all used to get together most nights in the loungeroom and fiercely, bitterly compete at Mario Kart 64, racing and battling, hurling all sorts of verbal abuse and smack talk, screen cheating like hell... amazing times 🥹 (Final edit... probably:) Subbed.

[@markmagician2471]

I've been playing Mario Kart 64 again recently

[@_Blinxzy]

I don’t miss the rubber banding CPU

[@Abridgimation]

N64 Mario Kart is a great game to annoy your friends when drunk. MK8 and MKDS is better imo, mainly because of the controls and tracks available. 64 is still incredible for its time

[@sairentoeko]

DoubleDash will always hold a special place in my heart, but 64 is pretty good

[@jessekirksey1980]

I still have the original copy to share with my nephews

[@spider-ham7140]

My only complaint is that I wish the enemy A.I was able to use every item just like the player.

[@sledgen.]

it's such a shame that this game lacks detail and the processing power to do so. Because I like it but if it had more stuff in it I would've liked it so much more

[@Spitta504TV]

Mariomikester - This is a FANTASTIC video.

[@NYCJoeBlack]

Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS is still one of my all-time favorite in the series!

[@jakeansell5408]

Fantastic game mario kart 64 best course for me is bowser castle

[@juandiegotorres9632]

Why would the Gran prix be limited to 1 and 2 players? The only difference between vs and grand prix is that gran prix has the tracks in a pre set order. Couldn't that be done with 3 or 4 players?

[@TheCD123]

Idk if this is correct, but my guess is that it has to do with Grand Prix also having the CPUs in the track, which could be resource intensive. Might have been a limitation of processing power.

[@loganstrait7503]

This game's got big nostalgia, but mechanically I do not think this game holds up. It feels very clunky to me, and always has. And I like a lot of N64 games, including F-Zero X. In my view, despite being very popular and famous as an item of nostalgia, this game is unquestionably inferior to its contemporary and direct competitor CRASH TEAM RACING on the original Playstation, which runs more smoothly, has better tracks, a totally iconic story mode with the medal mode and the relic mode etc. You got to play these two games side by side and see how different they feel.

[@Tugsboi47]

I got Mario kart 64 on my school computer and I love it

[@MrJohnlennon007]

I used to love this game so much. It’s amazing with friends. But the insane rubber banding negates skill. I know other games have bad rubber banding but I really feel it here.

[@michaelgill7994]

This one didn't give you just bananas and green shells in first place

[@emmet042]

5:04 Well then.

[@kenanbroersma709]

Honestly, Super Mario kart has aged better graphically than 64

[@Bubba__Sawyer]

Nothing on the N64 has aged well. Games looked like crap next to consoles of the next generation in the early 2000's let alone compared to today.

[@ChadH2023]

One of my favorite game intros ever.

[@Triforce9426]

I think MK64 has aged pretty lousy. Steering and drifting is too loose and slippery, many items don't work very well, and the AI has the worst rubberbanding I've ever seen in a racing game.

[@franwex]

Take a shot every time the word “honestly” is used.

[@JohnnyDollar720]

Love this game. Couch coop back in the day was usually this game or goldeneye in my friend group.

[@Dylnn17]

At last, my favourite one

[@stanjones5341]

Wario Stadium has started many a “ruckus”

[@kauffamn1016]

This for sure the best Mario kart hands down , and battle is 100% better than Mario kart 8