Mario Kart 64 is a
racing game that was originally released for the
Nintendo 64 in 1996 in Japan and 1997 worldwide. It is the second entry in the
Mario Kart series. Being an upgrade from its predecessor,
Super Mario Kart, it features a similar base to that game in which players select cast members of the
Super Mario franchise to drive in
karts, employing a weapon-based system to benefit the player and hinder opponents, though it has expanded gameplay, such as the introduction of
Mini-Turbo boosts from
drifting in addition to four-player support. It is the first game of the
Super Mario franchise to let more than two people play simultaneously. It is also the first
Mario Kart game to use three-dimensional graphics for its environment design, such as the addition of elevation, advanced collision physics, expanded camera controls, real walls that can obscure views, and increased aesthetic fidelity; however, the characters, the items, and some track obstacles in-game remain as two-dimensional, pre-rendered sprites, which are rendered for game optimization. Additionally, the game contains unique track designs rather than multiple variants of the same track, and it introduces various track tropes that would later be reused in later
Mario Kart installments, such as
Luigi Circuit being the first track. Other elements would become series mainstays, such as its racer weight classification, the introduction of
Wario and
Donkey Kong as playable characters, and several new items such as the
Spiny Shell,
Triple Green Shells, and
Triple Red Shells.
