The Mario Years, 11.3.11

The Mario Years

Every man, woman and child in the country can surely remember that moment when they got their first games console. For me that moment arrived at the tender age of 8 (though practically an adult by today's standards) and the console in question was a brand new, shiny SNES. The SNES (or Super Nintendo Entertainment System) in 2011, is largely consigned to the attics and lofts of the nation somewhere between Smash Hits back issues and an old Nokia 3210. At the time though, it was the latest and greatest thing in computer gaming. The image of super-cool Ryu and all his majesty staring up from the box at my impressionable young eyes on Christmas day 1994, now filed forever in the nether regions of my mind, under the heading 'Nostalgia'. Looking back through rose-tinted specs, it is still hard to view such titles as Streetfighter, Super Mario World or Sim City with anything but longing.
It is easy to scoff at the old consoles now, what with their 16-bit graphics, primitive sound tracks and 2D gaming. I can honestly say though that this five year period of my childhood in the mid-late nineties, was my gaming olden era. Go ahead, laugh. But all the Red Dead Redemption AI in the world can't the compare with the inate playibility of the likes of Super Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, or even, dare i say it, Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing. It first of those three though that will be the subject of my little rantette. If i had to choose only one game to play for the rest of eternity, this first-person racer would be my choice.
Having obliterated the SNES packaging at frightening speed, it was mere minutes (ok, it was mere minutes following an hour of Streetfighter) before me and the beautifully simple Nintendo control pad were in direct battle against the road-hog-evil of Bowser and the cunning of Princess Toadstool and her mushroom missiles. On the surface, there perhaps isn't a lot that stands out about Mario Kart. When the game's stripped down it's essentially funny little characters racing around in funny little cars, surreally dodging green shells and suspicious-looking mushrooms along the way. It wasn't especially pioneering either. There were racing games before it and my word have there been racing games since. When it comes to it though i could probably sum-up my devotion to Mario Kart in two words: insanely addictive. Never has any game (video or otherwise) been so very playable.
Into the first weeks of my SNES ownership, other titles were being increasingly overlooked in favour of the familiar rivalries of the likes of Yoshi the dinosaur and Koopa Troopa, the...erm...Koopa. After a while, i was exclusively playing just the one game, i was hooked on those little pink and yellow mushrooms. For a long time too. It isn't a game you get bored of easily, that's the problem. To begin with, it was actually pretty difficult to master. So much so, that even now i can still recall the very first time that i didn't lose to the Andy, an older boy that lived across the road. My mother was so proud. Well, she wasn't, but i definitely felt as if she should have been.
For those poor saps who haven't played, Mario Kart, in it's purest form is eight racers, 5 races, 5 laps per race and some inspired end credits involving, for no apparent reason a giant blimp which is eventually popped by a champagne cork by the winner (usually me as Toad). There are five different courses in each championship and four championships in all: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup. Once all cups have been completed in one player mode, your wheels are upgraded from a 50cc 'Kart' to a 100cc version and once that difficulty level is finally mastered you have become a master of the art and your Kart gets souped-up all the way to a whopping 150cc of power. The whacky, trippy world of mid-'90s Nintendo is a far cry from the polished 'real world' graphics of modern day Gran Turismo but even looking back nostalgically, bizarre as it was, Mario Kart shouldn't be reduced to being just kitsch silliness. Indeed, i have never seen my competive edge flourish to the extent as on the final lap of Rainbow road armed with a 'Starman' in the back pocket.
Then there's Battle Mode. As exciting as it got at that time, this game-within-a-game essentially invented fighting whilst driving, and who knows where we'd be without that. Allowing up to 4-players, it also introduced me to the world of multi-player gaming. Each of the four is allotted three balloons as 'armour' and the aim of the game is to burst your opponent's balloons in a ruthless last-Kart-standing face off. With finishing lines not being part of the equation, Battle Mode is a completely different game, where the green shell is king. It was also the cause, until shamefully recently, of fairly serious family feuds between my older brother and i.
Sadly, my SNES years have come to an end and with that, my obsession with Mario Kart too. It is several years since i last cranked-up that clumsy-looking grey console, having wrestled with temperamental power cables and dust-laden cartridges, managed to eek out a last few hours of gaming and reminiscing. Nowadays, i lay little claim to being a gamer and despite being impressed by some comtemporary titles (Grand Theft Auto, Call Of Duty) it has been as an outsider looking in and the thrill has never quite returned. Without knowing it, the SNES years were my golden age for gaming. No matter how hard i try, it seems 90's gaming is in my blood. Mario Kart was my Mozart and everything else just pales in comparison.
Pete Robinson