It's easy for any dedicated fans of Nintendo to choose a top five, or top ten favourite games of all time. They will usually involve the token characters that we have grown to love. Mario, Luigi, Link, Donkey Kong etc Of course there are always good quality games from all genres on the market, but it's fair to say that as Nintendo owners, it's the prospect of in-house games that excite us the most as opposed to the third party titles. We know from Nintendo's consistent record of achievement, that they are more than likely to deliver something revolutionary to the gaming world. The vast majority of their titles have a touch of Nintendo magic, but this can often be a problem that comes back to haunt them. Universal respect means that people expect more from Nintendo than any other Software Developers, and after a revolutionary title such as Mario Kart on the SNES, it is difficult to make improvements to sequels, or new versions of a game, without heavy scrutinisation, and comparison.

Most Nintendo owners are more than familiar with Mario Kart. As many of you know, the game has surfaced on three consoles over the years; the SNES, N64, and more recently the GBA. For me the SNES version wasn't just another game, but an important part of my youth, as well as a regular talking point. O.K it was a basic enough principal. Nintendo's known characters take the wheel of a Go Kart and battle it out on the racetrack, or in a battle arena. So simple, yet so effective. Everything from the way the Kart handled, to the games judgment of other players speed, and distance, was calculated to perfection. Mario Kart 64 was not only a disappointment because it failed to improve on the SNES version, but also because it had lost, and over complicated many aspects of the original. Characters abilities had been enhanced too much for starters. In the original, no matter who you decided to race as, or with, there was always a level playing field and a sporting chance of winning the race. On the 64, despite reuniting the Mario Kart gangs of old on several occasions, MK64 characters seem to be too different, and the tracks and battle arenas are either too big or too ambitious in terms of layout. A good example of this point can be found when playing the battle arena in MK64 that has colour coded sections in all four corners, and three height levels to drive around. WHY! What was wrong with the original battle layouts where you could plan and execute tactical attacks, and always know where your opponents were? On the 64, it makes your head spin trying to keep track of your opponent's movements, and you rarely pull off the attack you would like to. Mario Kart on the SNES, was the perfect, humorous multiplayer racing game, and perfection cannot be improved on. You could take it as seriously as you wanted to, but it was it's simplicity that helped make up the perfect formula. Despite its niggles though there's no denying how successful MK64 was and how addictive it was, a true masterpiece that evolved multi-player gaming in many peoples eyes. More recently the GBA version didn't disappoint, but it was essentially a port from the original, so nobody really expected it to.

So here we are, eagerly awaiting a GC version of the game. We still don't know a great deal about what is going on with the game. Failure of a working demo appearance at this year E3 may have driven many to suicide, but there have been more than enough comments since on the Internet, in the gaming press, and from Mr. Miyamoto himself to confirm our suspicions. From what we know, there is a good chance of the game arriving in the form of a promotional vehicle for Nintendo's new plug in modem. I think they now know that MK64 was not as well received as the original because the games concept and playability cannot be improved on. The game is really in need of a complete revamping like Zelda, and the new F-Zero. I hope they share my opinion. We need a completely new Mario Kart. Not a completely new unrecognisable Mario Kart, but a game that keeps the strong aspects of the original, and throws some exciting new ingredients in to the pot, that were never intended for the original version. For now, we can all rest in the knowledge that whatever they do is highly likely to be a different take on a game that still has us dusting off our old consoles once in a while, despite the huge power and impact of the Cube on the lives of us humble gamers.

For more on Mario Kart coming to the Cube check out the following links: