Mario Kart: Super Circuit is Portable Fun

So, while everyone's throwing a big hubbub over the new Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS, I, being the cheapskate that I am (not necessarily by choice, mind you) decided to go old school and finally pick up for Mario Kart: Super Circuit for the good ol' GBA.

 As a fan of the Mario Kart series, I was anxious to finally pick up and play Super Circuit years after it's release.  I've had a ton of fun on Mario Kart Wii and its always interesting for me to go back in the past a little bit to see how the games have progressed.

First off, Super Circuit is fun.  It's a perfect portable game. The tracks are not so long as to take up too much time, yet they are long enough to not feel too cheap and tacked on for the sake of putting a Mario Kart game out.  There is a nice selection of tracks to start the game off that each require it's own type of skill to master.  Sure, as always, there is a track or two that sometimes feels unnecessarily frustrating, but the fun you have on the other tracks more than make up for it.  Once you get the hang of sliding around corners, using the jump button to control those turns and coming out of them with a nice little boost to shoot you ahead of your opponents, you'll be having all kinds of great fun.

There are a few different modes to choose from.  You can of course go for the classic Grand Prix mode with 50, 100, or 150ccs and test your mettle against your computer foes (I hate Peach). There is the Time Trial mode in which you can learn to master the tracks with no fear of being rear ended with a dreaded red turtle shell at the finish line, and then there is the Quick Run, in which you can simply load up any track you want and race against the CPU without worrying about doing an entire Cup.  Unfortunately, you need another person with a Gameboy Advance and a connector cable to play Multiplayer and since I don't have that option, I can't comment on it.  All I know is that I've heard that it is better if the other person were to have their own Super Circuit cart as well.  You can play with only one game and a connector cable if you wish, but it will limit your character selection.

Super Circuit also harkens the return of the coins from Super Mario Kart, which means that the outcome of the race will rely on skill as much as it does luck.  Whereas the newest incarnations of the Mario Kart franchise usually require an big chunk of luck (you tend to get punished for being good), you will have to collect as many coins as you can to help your speed and to keep you from spinning out each time you get hit, which will happen when you run out of coins.  Collecting coins also brings up another cool thing about the game; if you collect 100 coins in each cup after getting gold in it, it will unlock that cup from the original Super Mario Kart.  So, when all is said and done, you have the potential for unlocking another five cups for a grand total of 40 tracks to race.  Not too shabby for a portable racing game.

Honestly, I found this game to be more fun than I expected.  It's absolutely perfect for what it's intended for.  When you are out and about and have your Gameboy Advance with you, it's great for playing bite sized chunks at a time.  It takes very little time to compete in a cup and be done with it if that is what you wish.  On the other hand, there are enough tracks and it is enough fun that you could sit in your living room or on a road trip and play it for hours.  I recommend this game heartily for those that are fans of the Kart.

Nintendo 3DS Demo

Must look... away...

I've tried not to think too much about the 3DS.  Due to the state of my finances, I get a little bit more broke even thinking about adding a new piece of gaming hardware to my collection (which basically consists of a Wii).  I never got on the DS wagon, though I always thought one would be kind of cool.  I'm not in that position where I have to wonder if it is worth it to update my DS to a 3DS, in other words.  If a 3DS plays DS games, which I'm sure they do, that would be the way I would go, no doubt.  So I was strolling about the local Target store over the weekend and there it sat, a shiny demo of the 3DS that no one had grabbed a hold of.  So I did.  This would be the first time I'd played anything with the letters DS in the title.  The game was Starfox 64, and boy did I suck.  I vaguely remember playing this game for the 64 what feels like a few decades ago, so the demo level was kinda familiar.  My biggest problem was that I wanted to push up to go down and down to go up, like a lot of old school flying games, so I kept going off target or even off screen.

It was like this, only prettier

But the game was fun, I could of sat there and played it and got familiar enough with it to blow through the couple of demo levels they had playing.  The 3D, well, it was neat.  I don't think it's the kind of thing that would sell me on a system, the games will do a better job than that, but I felt it gave a cool little extra effect to the game that added a little something to the experience.  It was enough to make me wish I could get myself a 3DS and blow through Ocarina of Time or Mario 3D Land 3D World or whatever the confusing wording of that title might be.  Even Starfox would be a nice little addition to the handheld.  Sigh.  Sometimes living on a budget truly sucks.  Unfortunately, Daycare costs money and not a little of it.

It occurred to me that I've only had one handheld my entire life, and that was the original Gameboy.  I remember hours of fun playing Metroid 2 or Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and it hit me that you don't have to plop down hundreds of dollars for a little portable fun.  There's a vast library of Gameboy Advance games I've never played, and some I've played while at someone else's house and never got to finish, that I could dig into until I get funds for a 3DS.  Gameboy Advances run pretty cheap on the internet or craigslist and after I save up a few bucks, I think I'll get one of those and start playing some stuff like Metroid Fusion or Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap.

That should tide me over.  At least until I run into a demo version of the 3DS in some store playing a copy of Mario Kart 7.  Then the pangs will begin again...I really want one now.