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Nathan Blades burns rubber in Mario kart 7.
The playful, almost Disney-esque, Mario Kart vibe completely drew me in, even as an amateur. To this day, I still get totally swallowed up into the courses of autumn-inspired Maple Treeway, the explosive Bowser’s Castle or the hectic urban Moonview Highway. Yet I only recently stopped to think about the odd paradox that falling off the track edge and plummeting into the endless sparkling cosmos of Rainbow Road or the abyss of Wario’s Gold Mine has you back on course a few seconds later, but something as silly as a banana can stop you winning a trophy. It’s so absurd that it’s almost ironic; Mario Kart taps into the spirit that virtual racing shouldn’t take itself too seriously, something that as a non-hardcore gamer I find surprisingly comforting.
Similarly, there’s nowhere else you’ll find such a bemusing roster of eccentric characters; you have the freedom to role play between the anti-hero chubby Italian plumber, an extinct or skeletal animal, creatures and ghosts of indeterminate origin, a plant or even a baby; it’s also one of the few games you can switch into being the villain. In some ways, this ‘anything-goes’ world makes it into the perfect social icebreaker – it’s not just a world for teenage boys; anyone and everyone is welcomed into its odd parallel universe.
Obviously, Mario Kart can be played alone; the competitiveness and ‘unlockable’ bikes, courses and characters hook gamers into continuous self-challenging (with the potential to develop into an irrational resentment towards Daisy or Donkey Kong…I speak from experience). But this virtual world is always enhanced by a social dimension. The crazy caricatures you’re competing against are never as devilish as the enemies on your living room couch who are desperate to have that edge on you, nor can they be retaliated against in the same real-life way. Conversely, you’re never going to have Yoshi watching your back against those expletive-inducing blue shells in a team race like a more experienced best friend or family member whispering tips in your ear on how to minimise their impact, just because they want to see you secure your first victory.
I will always defend Mario Kart – be it on its more classic incarnations like Gamecube and N64 or its latest Wii version – as a tool for bringing people together. There is a sense of teamwork in Battles, or taking turns unlocking further elements. But even at its most basic (including at the handheld console level) it is gaming accessible to all ages, genders and types of people. And if you’re lucky, it can even sometimes be a medium for romance...
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