Mario Kart: Super Circuit

The Good

Somewhat fun to play

Good track variety

Solid item balancing—items like blue shells and lightning, which are famously overabundant in later Mario Kart installments, are quite rare here, whereas some of the more moderately aggressive items (red shells, stars) are pleasantly commonplace

The Bad

Feels like a considerable step down from its 3D predecessor, Mario Kart 64

Loose, floaty controls

Has aged very poorly graphically

Below-par music—a few songs are actively annoying

The Bottom Line

Substandard. In addition to being the least innovative entry in the franchise, Mario Kart: Super Circuit has aged like fine milk. Every other Mario Kart game massively outclasses it in one way or another and would be a better choice to play.

The Good
FUN!!! Really. I thought that hooning around endlessly in a little kart would get monotonous, but I never tired of blasting the opposition!!!

The Bad
The lightning powerup that I only got once and the computer karts kept blasting me with! I showed them though. ^^ And, in 150cc, you really start to wonder who granted Bowser his driver's licence, the maniac. Other than that, some tracks were insanely hard (especially secret ones) and others almost impossible. But really, all that adds to the thrill of the race!

The Bottom Line
You'll have so much fun playing this you'll never want to stop!! Seriously addictive. I even had my little brothers cheering for me at one stage!! ^^

This game absolutely rocks!!!

The Good
The original Mario Kart was one of the best racing games on the SNES in its day and still has great gameplay even today, beating many of the poor 'Kart' game imitators hands down so it's great to see a return to the gameplay of the original but with even more control. There are 20 new tracks to race around which is lover-ly, time trial, cup races, quick races, 3 difficulty levels and loads of gameplay are all in here. If you have friends with a Gameboy Advance and Mario Kart, then you can race head to head with up to 4 of you, or you can battle one another just like the SNES title. As if that wasn't enough, there are extra tracks locked away in the cart. These bonus courses comprise every track from the original SNES version which makes for 40 tracks. Basically this is a classic title and a new one in the same package. Graphics and sound are some of the best seen on the GBA so far with smooth movement and sampled sounds.

The Bad
The nature of racing games means that at some point frustration will kick in. Getting all the way to the last track in a cup and totally stuffing it up is infuriating. Also, the harder modes can be a real pain because at times you can be attacked by multiple racers all at once leaving you spinning out of control long after everyone has overtaken you. On a personal note, I really don't like the mario universe characters. Of course this is very personal but if you don't like Mario, then you're gonna be less interested in this title immediately but this shouldn't deter you.

The Bottom Line
The best Kart game to date. And it's portable too. If you like a bit of zany racing fun then pick this up. It's the perfect handheld title.