Mario Kart 64

"The [Mario Kart] game I remember as causing the most havoc was Mario Kart 64. Now, this was before the days of online play, so if you were playing multiplayer, you were sitting in the same room as the people you were trying to knock off the road with that Star power-up. And the battle mode was just the worst. There is no worse feeling in the world than going from 3 balloons to none because someone was sitting behind you with 3 red turtle shells, just waiting to mess your day up."

- Lasercorn's thoughts on Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart 64 is a Mario Kart racing game featured in Top 5 Friday, Game Bang, and Raging Bonus on Smosh Games.

Information
Mario Kart 64 (マリオカート64 Mario Kāto Rokujūyon) is a 1997 go-kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the successor to Super Mario Kart for the SNES and is the second game in the Mario Kart series. It released to generally positive reviews and has sold 10 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling game on Nintendo 64.

Changes from the original include the move to polygon-based true 3D computer graphics for track design and the inclusion of four-player support. Players take control of characters from Super Mario, who race around a variety of tracks with items that can either harm opponents or aid the user. The move to 3D graphics allowed for track features not possible in the original game, such as elevation, bridges, walls, and pits.

Gameplay
Mario Kart 64 is a kart racing game in which the player controls one of eight selectable Mario characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario, and Donkey Kong) who race in karts in different race tracks that vary in shape and theme. During a race, the players can obtain random items from special Item boxes placed in different areas of the track that are used to impede others and gain the advantage. Characters are divided into three weight classes: lightweights, whose karts have the highest acceleration; middleweights, who have normal acceleration and top speed; and heavyweight, whose karts have low acceleration and high top speed and can knock around other players.

There are four different game modes available:
 * Grand Prix: 1-2 players participate in four three-lap races on one of the four cups. Difficulty is measured by engine size: 50, 100, or 150cc. There is an additional unlockable difficulty called 'Extra', which allows players to race at 100cc on mirrored versions of tracks.
 * Time Trials: A single-player-only mode without any item boxes or opponent racers where the objective is to complete a three-lap race on a selected track in the shortest time possible.
 * Versus Mode: 2-4 players compete in single races on any track without bots.
 * Battle Mode: Players attack each other with items inside of an arena. The players have balloons attached to their karts, which they can lose when they are hit by an item, eliminated from play upon losing all balloons. The last man standing wins.