Throwback Thursday: "Super Mario Kart" and 20 Years of Banana Peels

Before Blue Shells, before Fire Mushrooms, before inverted tracks, there was this SNES classic

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Mario Kart 8 drops tomorrow, and for anyone who owns a Wii U, it’s a first-day purchase.

A not-up-for-debate, plunk-down-your-money, first-day purchase. For anyone who doesn’t own a Wii U? It’s a damn good reason to buy one. Finally, after two years of floundering with non-distinct branding, sparse 3rd party support, and amazing games that went unnoticed—Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World— Nintendo has struck gold with Mario Kart 8. 

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What is it about the Mario Kart franchise that makes it feel so fresh? After eight installments over eight different gaming systems (five consoles and three handhelds), it shows no sign of putting on the brakes. Mario Kart games stand in stark contrast to other, ‘realistic’ racing experiences like Gran Turismo or Need for Speed. The learning curve is shallow—anyone can get on the track and start competing. It takes practice, however, to power slide around corners—to perfect the jumps and shortcuts that will cut your time significantly.

And even then, no one—not even the most talented racer—can account for the insane Power-Ups littering the track. From Red Shells, to spiked Blue Shells, to Banana Peels, to Mushroom Boosters, the Mario Kart items create a ‘rubber band’ difficulty—the pack is always bunched closely, the lead is difficult to maintain, and the worst driver always has a lucky shot.

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The Mario Kart series got its start back in 1992, with the release of Super Mario Kart for the SNES. It hasn’t aged gracefully, and it doesn’t stack up to its more realized successors, but Super Mario Kart paved the way for bigger, better games. The game established a high standard of quality for the time, and it introduced several innovative mechanics that we take for granted today.


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The Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups had wonderful tracks that established some clear precedents for future games. There was Ghost Valley 1, the first Mario Kart track with a shortcut—you could lop precious seconds off your time as long as you had a Feather to make a crucial jump. There was Chocolate Island 2, a mud track with a massive bog—you needed a Mushroom booster to maintain your top speed.

Later Kart classics, like Wario Stadium, owe a debt to these early forerunners like Bowser’s Castle 1, a twisty, slippery beast that made you powerslide over lakes of lava.

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Tomorrow, as you hang glide, swim, and whip around the Mario Kart 8 tracks in glorious HD, take a moment to appreciate the original Super Mario Kart—for all that it accomplished, and for all that Nintendo has improved upon since. Let’s hope that Mario Kart 8 reverses Nintendo’s misfortunes. Sony and Microsoft could use the challenge, and a little healthy competition never hurt anyone. We’ll see you on the Wii U multiplayer—Rainbow Road or bust.

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