The balls-to-the-wall 3D follow-up to 1992's SNES classic Mario Kart is one of the best video games ever made, even as newer, shinier iterations have come and gone (with Mario Kart 8 just recently releasing for the Wii U). The game is on the surface a simple Nintendo-themed racer, with players picking one of eight characters, such as Luigi, Mario and Princess Peach, though it's rendered so much more fun and unpredictable by mystery boxes which can be picked up around the tracks, bestowing the recipient with a random power. This might be the ability to drop a banana peel for a player behind you to slip on, fire a red shell to incapacitate a rival who snuck ahead, or even the much complained-about blue shell, which will automatically obliterate whoever is in first place. The Grand Prix and Time Trial modes are great fun for solo play, but again, this is a game that's completely enlivened by its 4-player multiplayer potential. Racing against friends is an incredible amount of fun, all the more so if you can snatch victory out of their hands with the help of some power-ups. The Battle Mode is also hugely entertaining, as each player has three balloons attached to the top of their car, and every time they suffer damage from a power-up, one balloon is lost until there is just one player left standing. Even today, few racers manage to conjure up this degree of loony fun.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
