Mario Kart Advance
Updated: 01-26-01
I can still vividly remember seeing first snap shots of Super Mario Kart for the Super NES in Nintendo Power. After trying to figure what kind of game it was, I laughed at the game's shoddy looking graphics (as it turns out, Nintendo Power didn't exactly have the best screenshots back in the day). Once I actually got to play the game, however, I was hooked. I don't even hesitate to say that Super Mario Kart is my favorite Mario game after Super Mario Bros. 3. So you can imagine how I felt when Nintendo announced Mario Kart Advance for the GameBoy Advance.
Mario Kart Advance looks to be the flag ship title for the GBA, and Nintendo couldn't have picked a better lead game. MKA is being designed by Intelligent Systems, the internal Nintendo team responsible for Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, and Tetris Attack. Worried that the game might stray from its EAD roots? You shouldn't be. Reports indicate that Mario Kart Advance is an absolute blast to play. Infact, MKA was awarded "game of the show" at the recent ECTS show (and yes, that includes PS2 stuff). Visually, the game looks like a mix between the SNES classic and its N64 sequel. The terrain is similar to the SNES version, only with more complex backgrounds. This helps show off the GameBoy Advance's spiffy new hardware scrolling and scaling abilities. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Bowser and Toad are currently slated to be the selectable racers in the game (lets hope Intelligent Systems adds a few bonus characters ala Mario Tennis).
Of course, no discussion about Mario Kart Advance would be complete without mention of the vaunted multiplayer mode. This is something Nintendo stressed at the Spaceworld show. Mario Kart Advance will have full 4-player racing and battle modes. The big advantage here is each player has their own screen, and you can take on your buddies any where. This one game, in my opinion, makes the GBA worth its $90 sticker price alone. We'll have more on this hot title soon, but in the meantime check out these hands-on impressions of the game from Jeton Grajqevci's Experiencing Spaceworld feature:
This was without a doubt the game with the largest crowd. I had to wait in line for up to 30 minutes to get one minute's play. The game was better looking than its SNES predecessor and played as well. The Mode 7 effects worked without a flaw, and it also had three seperate backgrounds that moved independently from each other. It featured everything I had hoped for in a portable Mario Kart game, and although only one track was available, I left the booth with a smile on my face.
Nintendo has recently revealed more on Mario Kart Advance. The game will not only support a regular 4-player mode but it will also feature online play via the Mobile GB Cell Phone Adaptor. It's unknown whether or not Nintendo will bring this cool feature over for the US release, but expect it to sell even more copies of the game in cell-phone crazy Japan. Some of the newer screenshots also indicate the game will feature new courses, albiet similar in style to previous Mario Kart games.