Super Mario Kart
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Nintendo 'gigaleak' reveals the classic games that never were
An apparent leak of Nintendo art and source code has revealed prototypes for legions of classic games, including 'Yoshi's Island' and 'Star Fox 2.'
20 SNES games are coming to Nintendo Switch tomorrow
Nintendo Switch Online members have been able to play NES games on Switch for several months, and you won't have to wait much longer until you can finally play SNES games on the console. A whole bunch of them will drop September 5th, and they're included with a Switch Online subscription.
'Mortal Kombat' and 'Super Mario Kart' join the Video Game Hall of Fame
Sorry, Half-Life fans, you'll have to wait at least another year to see the classic FPS make it into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. The National Museum of Play has announced this year's batch of inductees: Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Kart, Colossal Cave Adventure and Microsoft Windows Solitaire.
Super Mario Kart races onto North American Wii U eShop
Super Mario Kart has appeared on the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U Virtual Console. The great-great-great-great-great-grandfather to the very popular Mario Kart 8 was spotted by NeoGAF and confirmed by Joystiq earlier today. The game still features its splitscreen 2-player mode, and can be purchased for $7.99. Wii U owners, you maybe begin to rev your nostalgia-powered engines. [Image: Nintendo]
Mario Kart 8 getting a spiky blue limited edition in Europe
Nintendo of Europe announced a limited edition Mario Kart 8 is coming to the continent, and it includes a spiky blue collector's model that you probably shouldn't chuck at friends, even if you really want first place. Europeans can shell out for it when the racer launches on May 30, while Nintendo of America has yet to announce a similar edition as yet. Nintendo also announced a Mario Kart 8 promo that harks back to the series' beginnings more than two decades ago - and to what is still the best entry in the series according to people who are right. Yes, SNES classic Super Mario Kart is swerving its way onto the Wii U Virtual Console in Europe on March 27, and if you buy it before June 30 you get a £5.49/8 euros discount on the downloadable version of Mario Kart 8. Correction: Post has been amended to reflect the bundle is software-only. [Image: Nintendo]
Now you can exchange Club Nintendo Coins for games
If your home is already full to bursting with Mario paraphernalia, you'll be delighted to learn that you can exchange your Club Nintendo Coins for downloadable games. Nintendo is featuring a rotating selection of WiiWare, Virtual Console, DSiWare, and eShop downloads offered on the North American Club Nintendo site. Through January 10, your choices include Super Mario Kart (100 Coins), 3D Classics: Xevious (100 Coins), Fluidity (150 Coins), and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (150 Coins). In a way, this is really cheap as it trades illusory fun money for games -- but in another way, it's outrageously expensive as said fun money is only acquired through the for-real purchase of multiple games. Those of you with more space for swag have new reward options as well: three different, adorable Mario notebooks, and a Zelda poster set.
SupaBoy portable SNES, the most fun you can have without a soldering iron
We previewed Hyperkin's SupaBoy back in the summer and loved the idea of toting 'round original SNES games without resorting to Ben Heck-style crafting. The handheld takes full-size cartridges, packs a 3.5-inch screen and a battery that's disappointingly rated for just two point five hours (best keep a power cable handy). It'll also double as a home console: there's an AV-out port and slots for two classic controllers for when you wanna kick it old-school. It's reportedly compatible with titles like Mario World, A Link to the Past and Starwing Starfox, but who needs them when we've got a mint condition copy of Tetris Attack at home? It'll cost you $80 and is available from Amazon as of yesterday -- we suggest you get to practicing blowing the dirt from the connectors, since you'll be doing a lot of it soon.
SNES Mario Kart power slides onto (non-jailbroken) iPad? (Update)
You're looking at Super Mario Kart, running on the Apple iPad, courtesy of emulation guru ZodTTD. When do you get to play it, faithful reader? Hard to tell. If, say, the iPad had already been jailbroken, all you'd need to do is wait for a suitably safe jailbreak method, download RockApp or Cydia, grab the snes4iphone emulator you see running above, and fire up the ROM. However, the intriguing thing about the above video is not that it's running an SNES game -- but that ZodTTD claims he compiled a special version of his snes4iphone emulator "specifically for non-jailbroken iDevices." Since Zod is almost certainly an official developer, it's possible he output the emulator as an .ipa file and is testing it on a fresh iPad using Apple developer tools, but if we're lucky, it could instead mean that someone has finally found a way to sideload apps onto a stock Apple device. Either way, peep multitouch karts sliding and shells flying on video, right after the break. Update: ZodTTD tells us that while he does have access to the jailbreak, he did have to flex developer muscle (and official dev tools) to make snes4iphone work on a non-jailbroken iPad. He says: The build of snes4iphone running on my iPad as seen in the video was actually based on an AppStore app I submitted called "snesty". Apple quickly rejected it right after pulling the NES emulator. I combined snesty with some snes4iphone features such as using the private API called CoreSurface. I used Apple developer tools and self signed it. Zod says that after Apple officially releases iPhone OS 4.0 and the existing jailbreak is distributed freely, he plans to create new versions of his emulators that run at the iPad's 1024 x 768 native resolution and support touchscreen controls, hardware keyboards and even external controllers should they come.
European Nintendo downloads: Super Mario Kart, Chronos Twins DX
We don't even have to try to explain the significance of today's Virtual Console game. It's Super Mario Kart. Well, okay, for our younger audience members: Super Mario Kart is like Mario Kart Wii, but older. Europe's been on a roll recently, first with the Hanabi Festival granting Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and others, and now Super Mario Kart! DSiWare has four games this week, including the remake of the Amiga Oscar in Movieland and Puzzle to Go Diddl, a jigsaw puzzle game whose title we're doing our very best not to giggle about. Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Family Mini Golf (WiiWare, 1-8 players, 500 Wii Points) Chronos Twins DX (WiiWare, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) AiRace: Tunnel (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Oscar in Movieland (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points) Puzzle to Go Diddl (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Spaceball Revolution (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
New Blur trailer meant to be watched with friends
If you and your buddies were wondering what the upcoming real-life kart racer (with realistic cars), Blur, has to offer in terms of multiplayer content, the latest trailer for the game was made specifically with y'all in mind. Like Super Mario Kart -- the game is often said to be a direct inspiration for Bizarre Creations' latest endeavor -- local split-screen seems to be a prominent component of the multiplayer experience, unlike the online-focused games we're so used to at this point. Oddly, though, the trailer speaks repeatedly of the "social" aspect of the game, while no mention whatsoever of any online components are made (and what of that multiplayer beta, eh?). We're not exactly flummoxed quite yet though, as Blur still only has a "2010" release window and we've hardly seen it since last year's PAX Prime. That could always be, though, that, you know, we missed it. It is a blur, after all. %Gallery-63796%
VC in Brief: Super Mario Kart (SNES), A Boy and His Blob (NES)
This week's Virtual Console update is delicious on two different fronts. For one, it's delicious in that we wish we could have some of those jelly beans the Blob in A Boy and His Blob is snacking on -- well, except for the ketchup ones. Even we don't like those! Secondly, it's delicious because ... uh, we may not have thought that far ahead, But, hey, Super Mario Kart! Have you been adequately distracted from our mental lapse? Check out the video above! Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bit.Trip Void, Super Mario Kart, A Boy and His Blob
Nintendo celebrates Thanksgiving by dropping a massive feast onto the table of every Wii and DSi owner in North America. The next Bit.Trip game is now available on WiiWare, DSiWare receives another heaping serving of Electroplankton, and Virtual Console welcomes ... Super Mario Kart. We guess when Nintendo said "by year's end" it meant "next week." See the full, seasonally appropriate bounty after the break.
Report: Mario Kart, Pilotwings and Smash Bros. coming to Virtual Console by year's end
Gamespot is reporting that Nintendo revealed to them that a few oft-requested classic titles will be added to the Virtual Console within the coming weeks. According to the report, the festivities will kick off this coming Monday, when Super Mario Kart (which has been available in Japan for approximately forever) will be added to the storefront for the standard price of 800 Wii Points ($8). Later in the holiday season, Nintendo will also reportedly drop the original Pilotwings onto the platform, then shortly after that, will also toss Super Smash Bros. into the mix. No prices have been announced for these two titles, but according to the Gamespot article, both will be released by the end of the year. That's just great. It's not like we're already drowning in huge, time-draining blockbusters. Now we've got to start perfecting our drifting and shell-flinging once again. We appreciate the gesture, Nintendo -- but your timing is rotten.
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Super Mario Kart and ... streaming game music
We were all set to gush over Super Mario Kart and the promise of some charmingly retro party gaming (for two players at a time, of course, which we suppose is part of the retro charm), but Gust disrupted our plans by releasing something on WiiWare that is weird and ill-advised enough to demand our attention. Game Sound Station is a subscription-based music streaming service available on WiiWare -- almost exclusively for listening to Gust game soundtracks. If you'd like to pay for a week of unlimited Atelier and Ar Tonelico game music, here's your chance!The other WiiWare game, peakvox escape virus, is sort of a Snake crossed with Geometry Wars experience. As a DNA codon, you pick up other DNA around a level to form a chain, carefully navigating your increasingly long chain around enemy viruses. The game has a variety of other modes, including one that turns it into a shooter.Virtual Console: Super Mario Kart (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Assault (Arcade, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Game Sound Station (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) peakvox escape virus (1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Super Mario Kart races onto Japan's Virtual Console next month
The lineup of Virtual Console games heading to Japan next month is fairly light. But we suspect that won't matter at all because it includes Super Mario Kart. Super Mario Kart plus any quantity of other games seems like a nice month! Oh, especially since it also includes Final Fantasy II, which, unfortunately, we don't expect to see on our own Virtual Console.Other games include another Famicom entry in the Jake Hunter series, adorable Wagyan Land and Mappy sequels from Namco, and the original arcade versions of Altered Beast (!) and Golden Axe (!!).Famicom: Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Toki no Sugiyuki Mama Ni Final Fantasy II Super Famicom: Super Wagyan Land (out June 2) Super Mario Kart Virtual Console Arcade Altered Beast (out June 2) Golden Axe Hopping Mappy (out June 2)
OFLC ratings suggest VC release for Pilotwings, Super Mario Kart
The OFLC website is back after being hacked, with the Australian ratings organization taking the opportunity to redesign it. Luckily, it's still revealing unannounced games! The database has two new listings for classic Nintendo franchises that, really, should already be on the Virtual Console: Pilotwings and Super Mario Kart. We've actually booted up the Wii Shop more than once hoping to buy Super Mario Kart after forgetting that only the N64 game is available on Virtual Console, not the original.Also of interest: Picturebook Games: A Pop-Up Adventure!, which must be Nintendo's original WiiWare board game adventure, Asoberu Ehon Tobida-Sugoroku!, and You, Me, and the Cubes, which is clearly Kenji Eno's WiiWare puzzler Kimi to Boku to Rittai.[Via GoNintendo]
Tiny Wiimote "projector" is not nearly as impressive as it sounds on paper
This image is not necessarily one we are thrilled about having projected upon our walls, but we are pretty fond of anything in miniature. This 2.25-inch Wiimote is actually a semi-ingenious mini-projector which projects an image (yes, only one) from Super Mario Kart when its button is pressed. When you order you'll get a random choice of one of the six possible images, each less exciting and more pointless than the next. They're available from ThinkGeek now for $6, which is maybe worth the roughly one minute of amusement you (or your cat) will get out of the thing.[Via Wired]
Friday Video: A drive down Mario Kart Memory lane
Now this is an old one. How many of you can remember this classic ad, utilizing the "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!" voiceover guy? Did you know that the karts found in Mario Kart have two speeds? Fast and WAY TOO FAST! Ah, classic commercials, it doesn't get much better than that. Each week, our Friday Video segment takes a look at the gaming landscape online and brings forth an interesting video that (hopefully) gets the dialog started. Past entries have included a look at Mario on the PS2 (what?) and some of Nintendo's other marketing attempts.
Force Dynamics 301 driving simulator takes on Super Mario Kart
While most of the cool kids are off whizzing around courses in Mario Kart Wii, the gurus at Force Dynamics are reminiscing about the one that started it all. Apparently the firm has tweaked its 301 motion platform to actually control the kart in the SNES hit, and the rider's chair even leaps up along with Mario, Peach or any other jumping character you choose. Sure, it's missing those absolutely brain-melting Wii graphics (but not by much, if you catch our drift), but we'd probably take a ride in this over an hour with the Wii Wheel any day. Check out the full video waiting after the break.
Sixteen years of Mario Kart
It's been nearly two decades since Super Mario Kart, and in that time, the five console releases have turned Mario's hobby into a powerhouse franchise in its own right. And no matter where you started in the series, be it with Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart: Double Dash, you've probably already noticed that the old adage applies here: the more things change, the more they stay the same. We're kicking off a week of everything Mario Kart with an overall look at the franchise, with an emphasis on old familiar faces and places. Reappearing characters, recurring tracks, and our oldest memories with the series: you'll find it all right here. Looking to stay spoiler-free? Only very basic information is revealed about Mario Kart Wii, near the end of the gallery. Follow Yoshi! >
