History YMMV / MarioKart64

** Toad's Turnpike on Extra Cup, where not only the turns, but the ''cars'' change direction.

* BreatherLevel: Rainbow Road, despite being a ridiculously long course and having Chain Chomps, is far easier than the previous level, Banshee Boardwalk. (It's much more difficult in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', since most of the railings are removed and it's done as one lap divided into three segments rather than three complete laps)

* Determinator: A speedrunner named Abney replay Choco Mountain 26431 times to do a glitch three times in succession to break the world record of 3 laps.

** It might be accurate to say that ''Mario Kart 64'' was where the series started to GrowTheBeard, and was considered the best in the series for the time being, but has aged poorly in retrospect - particularly due to the SpritePolygonMix causing some wonky physics issues (your characters are two-dimensional sprites in a three-dimensional world) as well as AI rubberbanding that is egregious even for ''Mario Kart''.

** Royal Raceway has many narrow turns that are easy to fall off and one of them leads to the water. Thankfully made much easier in the update for ''VideoGame/MarioKart8''.

* BreatherLevel: Rainbow Road, despite being a ridiculously long course and having Chain Chomps, is far easier than the previous level, Banshee Boardwalk.

** The cars of the Toad's Turnpike course. Even more so in mirror mode.

** Yoshi Valley is a huge labyrinth on narrow cliff sides, and the computer doesn't keep track of your places. Oh, and there is a huge egg near the end that can crush you.

** Royal Raceway (Princess Peach's course) has many narrow turns that are easy to fall off and one of them leads to the water.

** Royal Raceway (Princess Peach's course) has many narrow turns that are easy to fall off and one of them leads to the water.

* MemeticMutation: "Luigi is the pope!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]In the Japanese version, Luigi's "Luigi is the top" is [[{{mondegreen}} misheard]] as that[[/note]]

* MemeticMutation: "Luigi is the pope!" [[note:Explanation]]In the Japanese version, Luigi's "Luigi is the top" is misheard as that[[/note]]

* {{Mondegreen}}:
** WordOfGod is that in the Japanese version Wario says "''So ein Mist!'' in German rather than "Doh, I missed!"
** "Lugi is the top" from the Japanese version is misinterpreted "Luigi is the pope".

* CharacterTiers: Few players like the Heavy characters, they are incredibly slow and useless on turns and offroads. This game probably introduced a real tier system.

** Royal Raceway (Princess Peach's course) isn't as bad as the above mentioned courses, but it has many narrow turns that are easy to fall off and one of them leads to the water.

** Royal Stadium (Princess Peach's Stage) isn't as bad as the abovementioned courses, but it has many narrow turns that are easy to fall off and one of them leads to the water.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Arguably, the bomb pursuing your character in the bad ending for not making the podium, because of how absurdly cruel it is.

** If Banshee Boardwalk isn't the hardest track in the game for someone, Bowser's Castle will be. It has a massive array of hazards in the first half of the track up to the short lava bridge. Get hit by any of them on 150cc or Extra while racing computers will easily allow one of them to not only take the lead, but [[RubberBandAI stay in the lead thanks to the inhuman top speeds they can reach when you can't see them]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYwZT3CvpMw&fmt=18 The Staff Roll]], such an amazing, happy and heartwarming song.

* CharacterTiers: Almost nobody likes the Heavy characters, they are incredibly slow and useless on turns and offroads. This game probably introduced a real tier system.
** That said, there are skilled players who know how to drift boost (drifting is how you don't lose speed while turning after all) and use the characters' weight to their advantage. And really, if you're going off-road without stars or mushrooms you're not playing well anyway.

** The cars of the Toad's Turnpike course. Even more so in the mirror version of the track.

** The cars of the Toad's Turnpike course. Even more so in the inverted course.

** The cars of the Toad's Turnpike course.

* GoddamnedBats: Banshee Boardwalk.

** If Banshee Boardwalk isn't the hardest track in the game for someone, Bowser's Castle will be. It has a massive aray of hazards in the first half of the track up to the short lava bridge. Get hit by any of them on 150cc or Extra while racing computers will easily allow one of them to not only take the lead, but [[RubberBandAI stay in the lead thanks to the inhuman top speeds they can reach when you can't see them]].

** If Banshee Boardwalk isn't the hardest track in the game for someone, Bowser's Castle will be. It has a massive away of hazards in the first half of the track up to the short lava bridge. Get hit by any of them on 150cc or Extra while racing computers will easily allow one of them to not only take the lead, but [[RubberBandAI stay in the lead thanks to the inhuman top speeds they can reach when you can't see them]].