Line #5 VideoGame/MarioKart64


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mario_kart_64.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Keep road rage off the streets.]]]]
3
4	''Mario Kart 64'' (released in 1996) is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 and the sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart''. The game is the first game in [[VideoGame/MarioKart the series]] to be in 3D, and allows up to four players to play.
5
6	While the formula is largely unchanged from the original, many refinements that would stick with the series going forward were introduced in this installment. For one, the game is split into four cups of four tracks each (for a total of sixteen tracks) rather than four cups of five tracks each, as in the original. Each track is unique, rather than repeating themes, and features variations in height as opposed to the all-flat courses of the original. Courses are longer, and as a result there are only three laps per race rather than five.
7
8	New items were introduced to shake things up, such as triple shells, triple mushrooms, banana bunches, and the infamous [[ComebackMechanic Spiny Shell.]] The CPU racers no longer have [[SecretAIMoves exclusive items]] in Grand Prix mode; in fact, the Spiny Shell cannot be used by CPU racers at all, giving human players an advantage. Lastly, the game would be the first to introduce [[LevelInReverse Mirror Mode]] (here called "Extra"), a variant on 150cc where tracks are flipped horizontally.
9
10	Every track from this game with the exception of Wario Stadium has shown up in one incarnation of this game from ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' onwards.
11
12	This game would be re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, and later on the Wii U in 2016. It was also one of the launch titles for Nintendo Switch Online's library of Nintendo 64 games.
13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15	[[folder:Drivers]]
16	([=*=] denotes a character newly introduced to the series)
17	* Bowser
18	* Donkey Kong[=*=]
19	* Luigi
20	* Mario
21	* Peach
22	* Toad
23	* Wario[=*=]
24	* Yoshi
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Tracks]]
28	* Mushroom Cup
29	** [[TheBigRace Luigi Raceway]]
30	** [[{{Arcadia}} Moo Moo Farm]]
31	** [[PalmtreePanic Koopa Troopa Beach]]
32	** [[TheWildWest Kalimari Desert]]
33	* Flower Cup
34	** [[BigHonkingTrafficJam Toad's Turnpike]]
35	** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Frappe Snowland]]
36	** [[DeathMountain Choco Mountain]]
37	** [[TheBigRace Mario Raceway]]
38	* Star Cup
39	** [[AthleticArenaLevel Wario Stadium]]
40	** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Sherbet Land]]
41	** [[TheBigRace Royal Raceway]]
42	** [[LethalLavaLand Bowser's Castle]]
43	* Special Cup
44	** [[JungleJapes DK's Jungle Parkway]]
45	** [[DeathMountain Yoshi Valley]]
46	** [[BigBoosHaunt Banshee Boardwalk]]
47	** [[AstralFinale Rainbow Road]]
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Battle Tracks]]
51	* [[LethalLavaLand Big Donut]]
52	* [[ToyTime Block Fort]]
53	* [[TheBigRace Double Deck]]
54	* {{Skyscraper\|City}}
55	[[/folder]]
56	----
57	!!The game features examples of these tropes:
58	* ActionBomb: Players who have lost all of their balloons in battle mode turn into a BigBulkyBomb called the Mini Bomb Kart. Even though they officially already lost, they can still drive around run into one of the other remaining racers [[TakingYouWithMe to make them lose a stock of their own.]]
59	* AlwaysNight: Wario Stadium, Bowser's Castle, Banshee Boardwalk, Rainbow Road[[note]]Justified in this game, since it's in space, but not in ''Mario Kart 8''.[[/note]], and it's always sunset at Toad's Turnpike.
60	* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Rainbow Road, complete with the neon characters in the background and of course the road.
61	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
62	** If you get any place lower than 4th, the game will allow you to retry the course again with no penalty. This is extremely helpful in beating the 150cc races.
63	** The game is programmed to give better items to stragglers than to those in first place so that you can make a comeback if you're falling behind.
64	* ArtificialStupidity: Somehow, CPU characters in Grand Prix races sometimes find a way to spin out on their ''own'' banana peels ''before they even throw them.'' Example: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HwyQAQCIew&t=56s Luigi at about the 0:55 mark in this playthrough video.]]
65	* AscendedGlitch: The official Player's Guide shows off a number of "glitch" shortcuts that involve jumping over walls or tricking the game into thinking you've gone through more of the course than you really have.
66	* AstralFinale: Rainbow Road, the last track of the game, takes place in space -- complete with character-themed constellations.
67	* AthleticArenaLevel: This is the first game in its series to feature a race course inspired by extreme sports, in this case Wario Stadium. It's a muddy, maze-like monster truck circuit that takes a long time to traverse (usually 5 minutes in lower speed tiers). It uses the same background music as the Luigi, Mario and Royal (Peach) Raceways, which in turn are more traditional circuit tracks.
68	* BananaPeel: Now with the probability of getting a trail of five bananas.
69	* BigBoosHaunt: Banshee Boardwalk, although there are just bats and giant Cheep Cheeps as hazards
70	* BlandNameProduct: The Japanese version contains parodies of real life products, such as Mobil 1 oil, Union 76 gas, and Goodyear tires. These were all changed to be more generic outside of Japan, likely due to legal reasons.
71	* BleakLevel: Bowser's Castle and Banshee Boardwalk are quite DarkerAndEdgier compared to the others.
72	* BonusFeatureFailure: Time Trial ghosts. First, ''any'' major crash, enemy collision, course-out, or even ''pausing'' will disqualify your ghost from being recorded.[[note]]Taking too long will also ghost-DQ you, but that's a more understandable restriction for memory reasons.[[/note]] Second, a single save for ghost data (which nets you two ghosts) takes up ''121 pages'' on the 123-page Controller Pak, meaning that the only other thing that will be able to fit on your Controller Pak afterwards is a single small-size file for another game. Third, in the Platform/VirtualConsole re-release, the ability to save your ghost is disabled entirely since the Wii's N64 emulator doesn't save Controller Pak data. This remains true for the Wii U Virtual Console version and even the Nintendo Switch Online version.
73	* BottomlessPits: Due to limitations in the game's engine, there were no true Bottomless Pits; every hazard that would force Lakitu to be summoned and respawn the player onto the track would be some form of liquid (water, freezing water, or lava) or a solid surface (such as the bottoms of Yoshi Valley and Rainbow Road, which take forever to recover from if you fall in since it's a long way down)
74	* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the Japanese version, there's an ad that parodies Marlboro cigarettes. It was changed when the game released outside of Japan. The ad was removed in the Nintendo Switch Online version.
75	* BraggingRightsReward: Get first place in all tracks in Grand Prix mode to get Mirror Mode, which also comes with a nice new title screen.
76	* ButtMonkey: Toad [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:Mario_Kart_64_Kalamari_Desert.jpg is]] [[https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/b/ba/MK64_Sherbert_Land_Artwork.jpg often]] [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:MK64_Toad.png seen]] as one in promotional renders for the game.
77	* {{Cap}}: It might seem counterintuitive for a racing game, but going slowly in a TimeTrial will result in you hitting the time cap. The game's engine will not count any higher than ninety-nine minutes, fifty-nine-point-ninety-nine seconds (although subsequent lap times are still counted).
78	* CarFu: Battle Mode. Each racer starts with three balloons, and damage or falling off makes them lose one. Who ever loses all three balloons is "out" but still turns into a Mini Bomb Kart, which can be controlled as a hazard.
79	* CaveBehindTheFalls: Koopa Troopa Beach's shortcut, which requires either a lightweight racer with good jumping skills or a Mushroom to reach.
80	* CherubicChoir: In the credits music, the Toad's Turnpike theme and the Bowser's Castle theme.
81	* ColorCodedMultiplayer:
82	** Player order goes from blue for player 1, red for 2, yellow for 3, and green for 4. Though it really only shows up on the character select screen.
83	** Among individual drivers, Mario is red, Luigi is green, Peach is pink, Toad is blue, Yoshi is light green, Donkey Kong is yellow, Wario is purple, and Bowser is orange. However for the Battle Mode, Donkey Kong gets brown balloons, Wario has yellow, and Bowser has purple.
84	* ComebackMechanic: The Spiny Shell (a.k.a. the Blue Shell) makes its introduction here, a powerful item reserved for stragglers that screams through the track to hit the racer in first place and anyone unfortunate enough in between, becoming the bane of veteran Mario Kart fans everywhere. Thankfully it's only seen in human vs human races and is not programed to be used by computers.
85	* CompanyCameo: Some tracks feature Nintendo's logo printed in advertising walls, indicating that the company sponsors the races in-universe.
86	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard:
87	** When a player is in 1st, drifting or not, there will usually be one or two CPU drivers that trail behind the player, ready to take the lead once they wipe out. It becomes jarring when the player plays as a lightweight and has a heavyweight in either the first or second CPU positions who are able to reach speeds they otherwise can't achieve without drifting.
88	** If you have a cheat enabled that allows a human player to be controlled by a CPU, you can see that the computers get almost permanent drafting bonuses while they drive, and the ability to use Bananas, Fake Item boxes, Boos, Stars, and Thunder without driving over an Item box (in fact, players must manually trigger a CPU-controlled human's item box if they obtain an item).
89	** On 100cc and 150cc, you'd better not let the first CPU driver get too far ahead, or else they speed up so quickly that you'll never have a chance of catching up, short of very fast corner-cutting or Lightning.
90	** If off-screen, the CPU-drivers appears to recover from falls, obstacles and weapons faster than any human player can.
91	* ContinuityNod: Royal Raceway is home to Peach's Castle, which looks nearly identical to its appearance in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64.'' You can drive into the courtyard of the castle which is also a dead end; causing it to be barricaded off in the ''Mario Kart 8'' version of the track.
92	* ConvectionSchmonvection: There's no problem driving around Bowser's Castle and the Big Donut battle stage despite featuring lava. The former of which is surrounded by the stuff.
93	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Extra Mode mirrors all the courses horizontally, which will screw you up at least once. Once you tackle Toad's Turnpike in Extra, now you have to face ''oncoming traffic'' rather than following it.
94	* DeathActivatedSuperPower: In battle mode, defeated players turn into bombs (if there are more than two players) and can proceed to drive into an opponent to remove one of their balloons.
95	* DeathAsGameMechanic: Losing all your balloons has you transform into a mobile bomb, allowing you to get revenge on the player who eliminated you or blowing up someone else out of spite. Players who are bombs can interact with item boxes, but they cannot use them.
96	* DeathMountain: Choco Mountain (a brown canyon based on Chocolate Island from ''Super Mario World'') and Yoshi Valley (a maze-like track set within a canyon whose pits are several meters deep). Yoshi Valley returns in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''8 Deluxe'', while Choco Mountain returns in the latter as part of the Booster Course Pass, as well as previously in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour''.
97	* DeathOrGloryAttack: The "Leap of Faith" shortcut Rainbow Road. Driving off the left side of the track just after the start at the right speed and angle will allow you to land on a lower tier and bypass 1/3rd of the track. Pulling this off will give you a near-insurmountable lead vs. AI racers. Miss the jump and you might as well restart.
98	* DigitizedSprites: The race tracks are in 3D, but the items and racers are sprites.
99	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
100	** While this is the point where the series largely evolved to its final format, Nintendo was still working out some of the gameplay mechanics. The lightweight characters (high acceleration/low speed) are actually ''faster'' than the heavyweights (high speed/low acceleration). Using the lightweights (Peach, Toad, and Yoshi) properly can make them potential [[invoked]]{{Game Breaker}}s, as not only are they faster and can pick up quickly after crashing, they can also drive off-road better than the other drivers. The only advantage that the heavyweights in this game (Bowser, Wario, and Donkey Kong) have is that they can bash the lightweights and the middleweights off the road or make them spin out. The original advantages and disadvantages that were present in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'' for each weight class were reverted back in later games, starting from ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''. And on another note, like ''Super Mario Kart'', you still can't advance to the next race if you place 5th or lower (though at least there's no lives system anymore, so you can't GameOver per se). Visually, it's the only ''Mario Kart'' game to run at 30 FPS, and that's ''with'' the SpritePolygonMix that has not been seen in subsequent proper-3D ''Mario Kart'' games.
101	** Rainbow Road in this game is not the infamous contorting final obstacle course that Mario Kart players are accustomed to, but instead a long, flat, leisurely breather course which is fully guide railed and only has the occasional incoming Chomps as obstacles.
102	** Tracks that jump over themselves, such as Wario Stadium, are favorites of players who enjoy sabotaging jumps with banana peels and fake item boxes so the computer falls down and has to repeat a chunk of the course. Later installments with such jumps, including Retro Track versions of the courses in this game, instead have Lakitu swoop in and help the racer over the jump.
103	** Tracks in this game are generally a lot bigger than later examples. Rainbow Road is the obvious example as an intentional MarathonLevel, but then you also have the likes of Toad's Turnpike and Wario Stadium, both of which are deceptively long in terms of race length. In this case, it's largely because the tracks are quite oversized in comparison to your karts, and later games that bring back these tracks as retro courses often shrink them down to better match the scale of the players.
104	** This is the only game in the series to make use of [[WrittenSoundEffect Written Sound Effects]] that would appear from your kart in response to certain things. This is an oddity even within the wider ''Mario'' series, and it's never seen in ''Mario Kart'' again.
105	** You can adjust the volume of the music mid race, something that no other ''Mario Kart'' game does. The music is also muted in a 3 or 4 player game and cannot be turned back on, which is likely due to the limitations of the N64's audio chip in regards to multiplayer.
106	** The camera can be adjusted to either be close to the character (the default setting) or be pulled back farther. This was never used in any other game.
107	** Mirror mode was called "Extra" here and the traffic in Toad's Turnpike would go in the opposite direction. Future games that used heavy traffic as an obstacle would keep the traffic flow in the proper direction in Mirror mode.
108	** Swerving side to side too much could cause your character to lose control and spin out. This mechanic was never used again.
109	** Red Shells would always attempt to cut across the track to reach the opponent ahead of you if they were pretty far ahead, which caused the shell to hit a wall or fall into a {{Bottomless Pit\|s}}. Future games would have Red Shells travel along the track and only swerve when they were close to their target.
110	* EarnYourBadEnding: Finishing off the podium at the end of a Grand Prix is actually more difficult than finishing on it, as you have to actively try and finish in 4th as much as possible.
111	* {{Egopolis}}: [[SarcasmMode Shockingly]], Wario Stadium is like this. Not only is it one of the longest courses in the game, the walls of the racetrack are one long series of Wario's face. It also has a truly massive grandstand, probably to help Wario maximize the gate receipts.
112	* ExitPursuedByABear: If you fail to make the podium, a bomb goes after your character as they drive away.
113	* FragileSpeedster: Peach, Toad, and Yoshi are the fastest, but can be easily knocked around.
114	* FranchiseCodifier: The ''Mario Kart'' series started in 1992 with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', but its numerous traits of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness make ''Mario Kart 64'' the true architect of the series and the one which drew the blueprint for the elements, presentation and structure that came to define all subsequent elements (including ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'', which otherwise borrows many aspects of the SNES original).
115	* GimmickLevel:
116	** "Toad Turnpike" features live traffic that racers must avoid, along with said traffic having several different configurations that are randomly chosen each time you load up the track.
117	** "Yoshi Valley" hides both your mini-map and the positions of racers. The track features multiple splintering and winding routes, which makes it difficult to judge who is ahead until you're approaching the finish line.
118	* GoKartingWithBowser: Mario and the Princess don't seem to mind a friendly round of kart-racing with the jerk who just kidnapped her last week. They even let Wario join them.
119	* GravityBarrier: Plenty, but Rainbow Road has a nice steep drop at the beginning.
120	* GreenHillZone: All of the "Raceway" tracks (known as Circuits in Japan), as they feature no significant hazards besides some easy-to-avoid Piranha Plants (in Mario's) and a lake (in Peach's). Moo Moo Farm is another track in this setting, being literally a bunch of green hills in a rural field, though the Monty Moles from underground can give some trouble to unsuspecting players.
121	* HeliumSpeech: All the racers on the receiving-end [[ShrinkRay whenever Lightning is unleashed]] speak in high-pitched voices. It can be particularly hilarious to hear Mario screaming his tiny head off, or if crossing the finish line hearing him cry his victory dialogue.
122	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Happens any time a racer spins out on their own banana peel or gets clobbered by their own Koopa shell. Particularly funny when it happens to a CPU racer.
123	* HomeStage: Every one of the playable racers have a course named after them. The exception goes to Peach, who doesn't have a track specifically ''named'' after her (not in this game) but still has a home track with Royal Raceway. Princess Peach's Castle can even be reached off of the road.
124	* InconsistentDub: For this game only, Dry Dry Desert was renamed Kalamari Desert and the Circuit courses are called Raceways. Retro versions of this game's tracks in later games [[GrandfatherClause still retain]] the DubNameChange.
125	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: The Lightning is an item that is often received by players who are lagging behind. When used, it zaps everyone but the user with a bolt from the skies, making them spin out and drop any items they have. When shrunken, drivers' top speeds are reduced, and they're vulnerable to being SquashedFlat if a normal-sized driver runs over them, cutting their speed as well.
126	* InvincibleMinorMinion: It's impossible to kill the Chain Chomps, though they only appear on Rainbow Road anyway.
127	* ItsAWonderfulFailure: The player who ends up in 4th place or lower at the end of a Grand Prix gets to watch the top 3 take the winner's podium and gets chased by a bomb.
128	* JumpScare: During the portion of the credits pertaining the Banshee Boardwalk (fittingly one of the two tracks with a spooky theme), the camera pans up to the front of the abandoned house, then quickly zooms in on the right-pointing arrow, filling the screen with bright (bloody?) red; it can be a bit jarring if it's unexpected, especially since up to that point it was just the camera slowly panning around views of the game's prior tracks.
129	* JungleJapes: DK's Jungle Parkway takes place in a jungle, as the name implies. If a driver is off the road, they'll be hit by coconuts from unseen monkeys.
130	* KingmakerScenario: In Battle Mode, anyone who runs out of Balloons when there are still 2 or more players left becomes a Mini Bomb Kart. They've officially lost that match, but can drive right up to any remaining players and explode in their faces.
131	* LethalLavaLand: Bowser's Castle is surrounded in a sea of lava.
132	* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Placing lower than the top 3 at the end of each Grand Prix nets one in the award ceremony, where it airs out a bit when it shows your character driving away from the courtyard of Peach's Castle, then finally stops when the Bomb Kart arrives to further humiliate your character.
133	* LevelInReverse: Extra Cups are similar to 150cc mode but the tracks are mirrored (e.g. where you originally turned left you now turn right). Given a nasty spin when it comes to Toad's Turnpike, as not only is the track layout flipped so is the direction of traffic -- you now have to drive ''against'' all the traffic on the turnpike!
134	* LongSongShortScene: The results screen music. It turns out that it has a hidden song that you get to hear after letting the music loop ''64 times'', just under 53 minutes in total. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqqsewbj5Qw Here's the song]].
135	* MarathonLevel:
136	** Rainbow Road is the longest track in the series. Long enough that a controller pack usually doesn't have enough memory to save a track ghost. It can take up to two minutes to complete a lap. And you have to do three laps. When the track was brought back in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', it was formatted as one lap divided into three segments.
137	** Wario Stadium is a close second, with the manual itself stating that its length will make it tough for players to stay concentrated in the race. It has a near-labyrinthine layout that keeps the laps dragging on, taking roughly four minutes (five in the lower difficulties) to race through without using glitches.
138	* MasterOfAll: Lightweights, who are the fastest, quickest to accelerate alongside Bowser thanks to the triple tap A, have no handling issues, and can even use their light weight to jump over the other cast members because there’s nobody lighter than them. Though the weight thing is more DifficultButAwesome compared to the easier to utilize heavyweights ramming people aside, it’s far more abusable once you learn how.
139	* MasterOfNone: While Mario and Luigi were intended to be the JackOfAllStats, their stats aren't middle of the road enough for them to qualify as jacks, and they even have the ''worst'' acceleration, losing even to the heavyweights. This is even mentioned in the Player's Guide, amusingly immediately after saying that they are "fairly well rounded".
140	* MetropolisLevel: Toad's Turnpike is a crowded highway with real-sized vehicles driving across it. The characters, who are driving smaller go-karts, must keep an eye on them to avoid clashing, especially in Mirror Mode when all those vehicles are driven in the ''opposite'' direction. It makes a return in ''Mario Kart 8'' as a NostalgiaLevel.
141	* MightyGlacier: Bowser, Wario, and DK have bad acceleration and the worst off-road handling, but can shove lighter racers out of the way.
142	* MinskyPickup: At the start of the Moo Moo Farm theme (which is also used for Yoshi Valley). Koopa Troopa Beach has a different version.
143	* MissingSecret: There is a Thwomp stuck behind a cage in the Bowser's Castle stage. A yellow light shines on it, making it appear green. It is the only Thwomp in the game to not slam down on the floor as an attack, preferring to hover in place indefinitely. Naturally, rumors about this supposedly green Thwomp spread like wildfire, both about what it could do if set free and why it's caged in the first place. There is still no official explanation for that Thwomp. It even returned when the course was brought back for ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii''.
144	* MookThemedLevel: Banshee Boardwalk, which features many Boos lingering in the background of the track. Averted with Koopa Troopa Beach, because it's named after the Koopa-shaped rock formation that is located in a side of the coast (there are no actual Koopa Troopas).
145	* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: The computer does not need to go over an item block to get an item. This is most evident on Toad's Turnpike, where the item blocks are all in the pit area that the computer never enters, but that doesn't stop them from leaving bananas all over the place. In addition, the computer does not get certain items: they never seem to get banana chains or any of the shells, including blue ones. Every game after ''Mario Kart 64'' has the AI only use items if they actually picked one up from an item box.
146	* NoSmoking: The Japanese version features Mario-based {{Bland Name Product}}s parodying real life brands, including "Marioro", a parody of Marlboro. The international version changes these out of concerns over both [[WritingAroundTrademarks trademarks]] and promotion of smoking in children's media.
147	* PalmtreePanic: Koopa Troopa Beach, which is part of the Mushroom Cup. It's a sandy racetrack where the characters drive through the coastal perimeter of a rocky island. There's a cave that can be entered through a ramp, providing a handy shortcut to a later part of the track.
148	* ParodyNames: The Japanese version had billboards with parodies of real life companies like Marlboro (Marioro) or the Mobil 1 motor oil (Yoshi 1).
149	* PoisonMushroom: This game marks the debut of Fake Item Boxes, which do about the same thing as Poison Mushrooms in other ''Mario'' games. Whereas the normal item boxes in this game spin and provide an item upon contact, a fake one will be static. Both blocks look exactly the same from a distance (the fake one changing when you get closer), but most players can avoid them by memorizing where real items boxes should appear.
150	* PunnyName: "Kalimari Desert" (the infamous track with the train) is a pun on both "calamari"[[note]]Squid that you eat.[[/note]] and on the real life "Kalahari Desert" in Africa.
151	* PutOnABus:
152	** Koopa Troopa was left out and replaced with Wario, and would remain unplayable until ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''. The most common joke at the time was that Wario had stolen Koopa Troopa's kart. ''Nintendo Power'' published a piece of fan art that had Koopa Troopa on the phone with the police, confirming that "a fat man with purple overalls" stole his kart.
153	** Donkey Kong Jr. was replaced with the Creator/{{Rare}} version of DK himself, and would not be playable in another ''Mario Kart'' until ''[[VideoGame/MarioKartTour Tour]]'', nearly three decades after ''Super''.
154	* RacingTheTrain: Kalimari Desert can have you do this, especially given how being forced to wait for the train to pass totally wastes a lot of time. So it means a lot of karts racing towards the level crossing as the train races by, and the odd too slow racer smashing right into it. You can also literally try and outrun the train round the track by racing ahead through the tunnel.
155	* RailroadTracksOfDoom: Kalimari Desert has a train which spins you out of control if you try to cross the tracks at the wrong time. However, if you time it correctly and very carefully, you can also drive on the tracks through the tunnel in a valuable shortcut.
156	* RiddleForTheAges: What do you think that Thwomp in Bowser's Castle did to deserve the solitary confinement?
157	* TheRival: In each Grand Prix, you are given at least two of these, and they will be the main abusers of RubberBandAI of that GP.
158	* RubberBandAI: If you're good at hitting shortcuts, expect the computer to be able to suddenly hit a top speed well beyond what any human could do. The most blatant instance is Rainbow Road in ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'', which has a shortcut that can literally skip 40% of the course (and [=N64=] Rainbow Road, as of the Deluxe edition of ''VideoGame/MarioKart8's release'', is still the longest course in the series' history). Even if you hit said shortcut on all three laps and use perfectly timed drifting boosts throughout the rest of the course, the computer is still able to catch up to you by the last lap. By turning on the map-view, it's possible to watch opponents suddenly accelerate to unrealistic speed whenever they are outside of the game's draw distance for the player. Allow a single CPU driver to get too far ahead in 150cc or Extra and they'll reach the finish line in times no human player, even drifting experts, can finish in- especially in hectic courses like Toad's Turnpike and Bowser's Castle. Because the AI racers aren't rendered if they're out of your view, this also means that course obstacles won't affect them, thus allowing their speed breaking rubber band to go unimpeded.
159	* SandBridgeAtLowTide: Koopa Troopa Beach uses this trope as a shortcut.
160	* SequenceBreaking: There are many shortcuts in the game that can be exploited by the player to skip part of the course:
161	** Luigi Raceway has several:
162	*** One skip, possible in Grand Prix or Versus mode, involves [[ViolationOfCommonSense using the Spiny Shell in first place]]. At the beginning of the second lap, a hot air balloon appears with an item box that always contains a Spiny Shell. Grab the Spiny Shell, and if you're in first at the end of the second lap, shoot it and turn left as you cross the finish line. The blast will send the player over the wall and into the tunnel.
163	*** Another Grand Prix/Versus-only skip involves firing red shells or a blue shell against the wall to the left of the start/finish line while driving towards it, to knock your character on top of the wall. Lakitu will place you back on the track, but you will have skipped an entire lap.
164	*** It is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vljsbqwx6Uc use a mushroom boost to jump over the brick wall just before the final corner of the course]], saving several seconds over driving round normally. This can be done in Time Trials mode as well as Grand Prix/Versus.
165	*** It is also possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfkGi0pKa-o&t=2m22s jump over the steep bank of sand]], bouncing up twice to clear the grey wall coming out of the tunnel, just before where the above shortcut would be done, saving a few extra seconds. This does not require the use of a mushroom, but is much, much, '''much''' harder than the above shortcut.
166	*** The most extreme shortcut is only possible on the Japanese version of the game, as the glitch was fixed in the versions released elsewhere in the world. Aiming a mushroom boost directly at the left-hand wall by the start-finish line, it is possible to bounce back behind the line and skip and entire lap. This is even faster than the "red shell" skip listed above.
167	** Kalimari Desert:
168	*** There is a built in easter egg whereby, if you enter the train tunnel after the second crossing while using a star, the finish line will be extended outwards into the tunnel. Programmers have confirmed that this was intentional. However, it is possible to abuse this by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDv4hjnWItw&t=0m40s driving in using a star after the ''first'' crossing instead, driving up to the extended finish line, then quickly changing direction]]. This cuts out almost the entire lap.
169	*** It is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP7m64ZkpZc&t=18s cut inside the train tracks before the second crossing, then use a mushroom to jump back over the fences surrounding tracks to rejoin the racetrack]]. This saves a small amount of time over driving round normally.
170	*** If you have a red shell, you can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDv4hjnWItw&t=21s drive into the train tunnel from the first crossing, through and out the other side, then fire the red shell against the inside fence; if done correctly, it will loop around and hit you, launching you over the train tracks and to almost the end of the lap]], which is faster than driving around the course normally.
171	*** It is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOyGLr4dcFI "clip through" the fence with a mushroom]] after driving through the tunnel after entering via the first crossing as described in the above "red shell" shortcut. This enables the shortcut to be performed on time trials, but it is very, very, very, very, '''very''' hard to do; there are only two documented cases of this shortcut being pulled off successfully, and it was made obsolete by the discovery of the shortcut below, which is both easier and faster...
172	*** The quickest timesaving shortcut possible on this track is possible in both Grand Prix and Time Trials, though it requires you get a mushroom to perform in Grand Prix. It involves firing the mushroom boost against the wall to the left of the start/finish line, then jumping at just the right point to be launched up in the air, pass through the wall and land in a hidden underground lake below. Lakitu will you pick you up and place you back at the finish line, but you will ahve skipped an entire lap. Do this on all three laps and you can complete the course in around [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3H_A4NYic0 39 seconds (NTSC)]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9cww0TtJ9Y 45 seconds (PAL)]].
173	** Toad's Turnpike has a shortcut which involves [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgQzcVSkqYY driving onto the barrier at the edge of the track shortly after the start of the lap, around the point where the track passes over a lower section of the track further along the lap (you can see this by having the map view selected). Then, when Lakitu places you back on the track, drive through the wall on the righrt hand side and, if you aimed correctly, you will land down on the later section of the track below, skipping a large chunk of the lap]]. If you miss and fall down in the hidden water by the side of the lower section of the track instead, Lakitu may put you down on that section anyway.
174	** Frappe Snowland has a shortcut that is easy to pull off if you know it exists, but its existence is not at all obvious to the uninitiated. Drive back from the finish line onto the bridge just before the end of the course, then drive from this bridge directly onto the snow to the side of the home straight (this can be either to the left or right of the track) without touching any part of the track between the bridge and the snow. Drive forward in the snow until you reach the finish line, then drive off to the side further into the snow until you're out of bounds. Lakitu will put you back on the bridge, but you will have skipped almost an entire lap! Doing this on all three laps allows you to complete the entire course under 30 seconds.
175	** Choco Mountain:
176	*** It is fairly easy to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUD9p2rUEMU&t=607s jump to the top of the grey stone wall midway round the lap]], onto a later section of the track which runs parallel to the early section.
177	*** As a harder version of the above shortcut, you can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S4CllNpquM&t=8m22s jump over the brown chocolate wall just before the start of the grey wall, by using the small hill in the road]]. This saves a few extra seconds over the easier version.
178	*** It is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyAurrIvYN4 jump up the wall to the left of the start/finish line and get "stuck", causing Lakitu to place you further along in the lap]], saving a few seconds.
179	*** As a quicker alternative to the above shortcut, it is also possible to completely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyxRpfvVLqI jump over the wall and land directly on the later section of the track]], avoiding the need to use Lakitu thereby saving a couple of extra seconds.
180	*** The biggest skip of them all, dubbed the "Weathertenko", has the player use a mushroom to drive up the wall to the left of the start-finish line and tumble down right behind it, allowing them to finish a lap in less than ten seconds. 3-lap world records have fallen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwoanwjkRoE under 15 seconds]] due to this. It is harder than it sounds since the angle at which the player must drive up a wall is rather precise and making a mistake will have Lakitu carry you elsewhere. Only six people have ever managed to do it three laps in a row.
181	** Mario Raceway:
182	*** It is possible to use a mushroom to jump over the wall separating the elevated portion of the course after the first few turns from the lower section of the course later in the lap. Doing this on all 3 laps can result in finishing the race in under [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reB36rhG4ms 50 seconds (NTSC)]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pLdqQ7wmgk just over a minute (PAL)]].
183	*** In Grand Prix mode, it is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S4CllNpquM&t=590s use a red shell to launch yourself over the wall by the finish line]], which allows you to cut out almost the entire lap after the first two corners by driving off to the right towards the wall after the second corner.
184	** Wario Stadium in the same game has a short hill at the beginning that, if used in the correct manner, allows you to skip about half the course from the very beginning. For added fun, this brings you to another area of the track which, with enough skill, can be skipped ''back'' to the very end of the course. This leads to a track that generally takes about four minutes to complete having world records of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W--mvFnosec about 12 seconds (NTSC)]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r73d8cHtcRs 14 seconds (PAL)]].
185	** Royal Raceway:
186	*** If you [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CYWK-MXnWc&t=16s jump across the river where it runs parallel to the track after the first three corners, and hit the bank on the other side on the right hand side of the dividing polygon, Lakitu will place you down on the ramp leading towards the big jump]], skipping several corners and saving over 10 seconds.
187	*** If you [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CYWK-MXnWc&t=27s aim far to the left when being launched off the ramp for the big jump, you can land on the bank beside the final corner of the track and Lakitu will place you down just before the final corner]]. This saves around 2 seconds over driving round normally. It is fairly easy to pull off in 150cc, but a trickier (though still possible) in 100cc/Time Trials.
188	** DK's Jungle Parkway is yet another course where it is possible to skip almost an entire lap in a few seconds. By driving off to the left at the very end of the lap, down into the angle between the wall of the cave and the finish line. For a slower version, you can fall into a hidden underground lake and be put back in the cave by Lakitu, or for a faster version, land directly in the bottom of the cave (this requires driving in at precisely the right angle). Either way, if done correctly you will have passed the finish line while falling down into the gap, and therefore fool the game into thinking you're at the end of the lap when you're back in the bottom of the cave, therefore skipping an entire lap. It is possible to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbOewCo-NCk finish the entire course in 20 seconds (PAL)]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Z0M-nIrd0 17 seconds (NTSC)]] by doing this on all three laps.
189	** On Yoshi Valley it is possible to complete a lap in under 10 seconds, and the entire course in under 30 seconds, by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AEAL-NwDHo using a mushroom to jumping from the startline across to the left and hitting a specific spot on the canyon wall opposite]]. Lakitu will then place you back on the start line, but you will have skipped an entire lap.
190	** Rainbow Road has several:
191	*** The easiest version is one of the most famous in the game. There's a steep hill at the very start, which allows you to jump over the rails by performing the hop that forms the first part of a drift... and if you make a leap of faith in the right spot, it's possible to land on a portion of track far below, cutting around one third of the course.
192	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsqJZjUOYjU A harder version]], which saves around 10 more seconds per lap, involves turning more sharply, and leaving the high portion of the track sooner, to land at the top of the spiral, whereas the easier version lands a little before the bottom of the spiral.
193	*** An even more difficult trick involves jumping over the fence at the start in the right spot, and fooling the game into thinking you fell off before the finish line, therefore getting get put back by Lakitu at the ''end'' of the lap, skipping the entire course. With this, the entire course can be completed in just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_j9eAsbWd4 41 seconds]].
194	* ShaveAndAHaircut: One of the car horns does this in Toad's Turnpike.
195	* ShiftingSandLand: Kalimari Desert, which is always played during sunset. Its main feature is a train that is being driven through looping rails, making it a dangerous obstacle as the racers' track intersects with the train's rails in two points.
196	* ShortcutsMakeLongDelays: The shortest route through Yoshi's Valley is a narrow, windy path with no railing, falling off will cost you several seconds of recovery time. The [[LeapOfFaith Rainbow Road]] shortcut, capable of giving you an irreversible lead ([[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard against humans]]) if executed properly, will also take forever to recover from if you failed. Same goes for a similar shortcut in Royal Raceway, which ''will'' make you fall into the water; the hard part is getting the game to register your landing in a way that Lakitu deposits you ahead of the section following the ramp and near the finish line, rather than back on the ramp.
197	* ShoutOut: Sherbet Land is named after a world in the original ''VideoGame/WarioLand''.
198	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Frappe Snowland (in Flower Cup) focuses on snow while Sherbet Land looks like an iceberg track. The biggest threat in the former is snowmen, as collision against them is explosive and makes the driver waste too much time in recovering; in the latter, the driver has to watch out for penguins instead.
199	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Once again, Peach is the only female racer.
200	* SnowySleighBells: Sleigh bells ring though the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7NepeWLuTU theme]] playing in the frigid Frappe Snowland and Sherbet Land.
201	* SpritePolygonMix: The backgrounds and some objects are 3D, while the racers and most of the hazards are DigitizedSprites (which looks pretty weird when the camera pans around the parked characters in the award ceremonies). The reason they used this was because they wanted the game to maintain a consistent framerate while having all 8 racers on screen at once, which at the time would have much harder to pull off if they were all polygon models.
202	* SuddenlyVoiced: Luigi, Toad and Wario are voiced for the first time. The other characters stick with the same voices or vocal effects they had in the SNES era or ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''.
203	* TitleScream: Done in two different ways depending on the version. In the Japanese version, a group of Japanese children is heard yelling "Mario Kart!", while in the overseas releases, Mario yells "Welcome to Mario Kart!".
204	* UncommonTime: The results screen music is played in 11/8 time signature.
205	* UnendingEndCard: At the end of the credits, the game leaves you hanging on a shot of Peach's Castle from Royal Raceway. You'll need to reset the game to continue playing.
206	* UnlockableDifficultyLevels: All games from this one onwards, with the exception of ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'', have four difficulty levels: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and Mirror Mode (the latter known as Extra Mode in ''64'' itself). The first three are available from the start, while Mirror/Extra is unlocked once you win all Gold Cups in 150cc.
207	* VideoGame3DLeap: Since it's part of a racing series, the leap is only aesthetic.
208	* WackyRacing: Par for the course. The only rule in the competition is: Reach first place. The means are irrelevant. Many weapons can be used to attack other racers and get past them. And if they fall into water or a pitfall, Lakitu will bring them back to the course with no punishment (there are no Coins in this game) other than wasting precious time.

Context VideoGame / MarioKart64