I’m sure that everybody’s familiar with the Mario Kart series in one way or another, and this is the game that started it all. In its first instalment, the series isn’t quite what it would later become, but this is still a good game.

Presumably due to the limitations of the time, there is only a selection of eight characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Koopa, Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. The small number of characters doesn’t really bother me very much though, and I’m actually quite pleased that you can be Donkey Kong Jr. (who at the time of writing has never returned to the series.) There are, however, twenty different race courses which is quite a nice number. While one or two of the tracks may have similar aesthetics, they all have layouts that make them different enough for me to enjoy them as unique experiences.

The single player mode gives you the option of two different classes, 50cc and 100cc, (and a time trail mode) with one being easier than the other and each having a handful of cups to win. I had a lot of fun racing through 50cc mode with the only potential downside being that it was perhaps too easy. There were several times when I lapped the racer who was in last place. Then I started doing the cups at 100cc. All of a sudden, things seemed to be quite challenging. I certainly wasn’t lapping anybody any more. But it was all in good fun. Once that’s done (and I hope this won’t be considered a spoiler) you unlock 150cc mode which, for me, was an absolutely insane level of difficulty.

The CPU racers in this game work in a way which, on 150cc mode, can be extremely frustrating. You see, each racer isn’t out to win; each racer is out to ensure that they will come in their designated position and that you will come last. So it’s very much a case of you against them. They also don’t seem to be slowed by going off-road, whereas you are slowed very significantly.

But that’s not all. Most significantly they have an unlimited supply of items. In the game, you go over item boxes and then get something which will help you in that race (a mushroom to go faster, a shell to throw at other racers) but the CPUs don’t get anything from item boxes because they all have an infinite number of one kind of item which matches their character (often ones you cannot use yourself). For example, Donkey Kong Jr. has unlimited bananas which he’ll drop to make you skid out of control if you’re behind, or throw ahead of you, if you’re in front of him.

Does that seem a fair trade for your scattered access to every item? Well, I’m afraid it isn’t. Mario and Luigi have unlimited stars, and that means they have unlimited invincibility and merely touching them will make you skid out. Oh, and it makes them go faster too. You’d think that the annoying thing would be the fact that you’d then be unable to slow them down with your own items, wouldn’t you? Well, every CPU character can just jump really high in the air to avoid any items anyway, so, you’ll probably miss them half the time! You lack this magic jump power, by the way.

But I don’t want to give this game a bad review. It is still a good game. There’s also a multiplayer mode which will probably be the main feature for anybody who has somebody to play with. Playing with a friend is very fun and it suffers from none of the downsides that the single player mode occasionally does. There’s also a ‘Battle Mode’ where two players can fight against one another in their karts, using the items. It’s sad that only two people can play together, but it’s good fun even with two.

This is a game that’s definitely worth a try, but its later difficulty can’t be understated. Rating: 8.5/10

Buy it here.

Until recently, this had been one of Nintendo’s more overlooked games. I think the reason that this game became slightly obscure is the fact that, in a way, it is rather weird. The gameplay is a little like a mixture between The Legend of Zelda and Metroid and features many scrolling 2D platforming levels, except, instead of scrolling left or right, you always have to go upward (which can be incredibly annoying, because you can never go down, to go lower than the screen, even if there is land there, will kill you), so it’s certainly very unique.

Story-wise, while it’s all very clearly based on Greek mythology, it pretty much does its own thing. You play as a young angel named Pit who is trapped in the Underworld. As Pit, you need to escape the Underworld and then go on to save Angel Land from the rule of the evil Medusa. It’s the kind of basic story that you’d expect from a NES game.

What’s especially strange about this game is the difficulty. There are four worlds, and the first two are so much harder than the later two. As you progress through the game, you collect things which make Pit more powerful, the problem is, that without these things he’s really rather weak, making it disproportionately hard to begin with. Also, even when powered-up, Pit’s really slow. This can be pretty irritating when you have enemies which quickly move all around the screen and harm you on contact and especially bad when, at the start, Pit can’t take much damage before he dies and you have to start all over again. There are also enemies which, with no warning, will steal your power ups meaning that an encounter with them can be worse than anything else.

On the whole, it’s worth a try as it’s an interesting part of Nintendo’s past. It can be quite fun, especially if you have a version with save states and it’s nice to get to know Pit since his revival in 2012. The graphics may not be fantastic (I hate black skies), but they’re not bad for their time. There’s an interesting selection of unique enemies (even if some of them are infuriating) and one of them even provides a lovely little connection to Metroid.

Rating: 7.9/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)