News Articles
Thursday25th Jan 2024
Random 'Resident Evil Kart' ROM Hack Brings Fixed Camera Angles To Super Mario Kart
Up for a challenge?
Resident Evil and Mario Kart. Hardly the most likely pairing, eh? We'd be pretty confident assuming that a crossover isn't coming our way anytime soon, but if the last few years have proven one thing, it's that you can never rule out the hacking community. 'Resident Evil Kart' is a new ROM hack from SNES hacker MrL314 which...
Monday6th Mar 2023
Random Super Mario Kart Composer Launches Retro-Inspired Chiptune Album
LOOP816 is out now
If you're a fan of games like Super Mario Kart, Super Mario All-Stars, and Pilotwings, then you may have heard of Soyo Oka, a composer who worked with Nintendo from 1987 to 1995. Even if you're not aware of her by name, you will have no doubt heard a number of her more famous tracks, including Mario Circuit and
Tuesday11th Oct 2022
Random 'Super Mario Kart Deluxe' Romhack Gets The Franchise's Most Notorious Item
Feeling blue?
Everyone's got their favourite items when it comes to the Mario Kart franchise, but we'd be willing to bet that it probably isn't the Blue Shell. Introduced in Mario Kart 64 and subsequently becoming a mainstay in the franchise to this very day, the Blue Shell is a veritable nightmare for those cruising along in first place,...
Tuesday23rd Aug 2022
News 20th Super Mario Kart Championships Start Their Engines On Twitch Today
Off to the races
We are rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Kart's Japanese release on the Super Famicom, but what if we told you that there is another SMK-adjacent anniversary happening today? We are, of course, talking about the Super Mario Kart Championships, which will be racing off the start line today in its 20th year of...
Sunday17th Jul 2022
Video Take A Look At The Regional Differences In The Mario Kart Series
How does the Japanese version compare?
If you like Mario Kart and are a fan of the series' long-running history, this latest video from the same YouTube Channel behind Boundary Break (Shesez) is a must-watch. It investigates the regional differences in Nintendo's popular kart racing series - from different announcers in Mario Kart 64 to the...
Tuesday12th Jul 2022
Poll What's The Best Mario Kart Game?
Rate them Rainbow Roads
Some of us here at Nintendo Life Towers are convinced that your favourite Mario Kart game is simply the one you played first with three other players in the same room — or just one other player if you were there at the very beginning with Super Mario Kart on Super NES. We tend to think this because while we can all agree...
Tuesday29th Mar 2022
News Turns Out Sonic 2's Stars Have Impeccable Taste In Video Games
Chrono Trigger! GoldenEye! Contra!
The press blitz for the Sonic 2 movie is in full swing, and that means plenty of interviews with the cast – including James Marsden and Ben Schwartz, the latter of whom provides Sonic's voice in this and its forerunner. As you might imagine for a movie based on a video game, the topic of video games cropped up...
Monday21st Feb 2022
News Mario Kart Convinced Nintendo's President To Join The Company In The '90s
"I didn’t really play many Nintendo games"
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has revealed that Super Mario Kart played a huge role in getting him to join the company earlier in his life. Speaking to Nikkei, Furukawa spoke about his history with Nintendo and how he came to work for the Kyoto firm. He admits that, although he had a Super Famicom...
Wednesday15th Dec 2021
News Almost 30 Years Later, This Super Mario Kart Player Has Achieved An "Impossible" Record
From legend to Myth+
Super Mario Kart may have launched way back in 1993 and spawned several sequels since then, but it has lost none of its power when it comes to attracting record-breaking attempts. We've covered the likes of Sami Cetin on Nintendo Life in the past, as well as Guillaume "Antistar" Leviach – two of the world's best Super Mario...
Wednesday3rd Nov 2021
Random Check Out Emora Kart, A Macintosh-Exclusive Super Mario Kart Clone From 1994
Complete with mouse controls!
We're all used to seeing kart racers copying the tried and trusted Mario Kart formula these days, but here's a quick blast to the past that proves game developers were busy mimicking Nintendo's style right from the off. Emora Kart is a mouse-controlled Super Mario Kart clone that was developed exclusively for Macintosh...
Thursday10th Jun 2021
News Super Mario Kart Hacker Restores Nintendo's Official Track Editor
Code uncovered in recently leaked prototype
A "hacker guy" known as ‘MrL314’ has successfully restored the track editor used by Nintendo to construct Super Mario Kart. The original discovery stems from last year's Nintendo leak which contained an early prototype of SMK from 1991. Here, he found references to a track editor in the code -...
Wednesday26th May 2021
Reminder Five NES And SNES Games Hit Switch Today, Plus A Special Version Of Super Mario Kart
A retro wonderland
As promised, five new games have arrived on Nintendo Switch Online's NES and SNES apps today. But hang on a minute... What's this bonus game we see before us? Yes, as we shared last week, SNES titles Caveman Ninja (otherwise known as Joe & Mac), Magical Drop II, Spanky's Quest, Super Baseball Simulator 1.0
Friday4th Sep 2020
News "Super" Mario Kart Tour Event Starts Next Week, Get Ready To Welcome Back Two Familiar Faces
From the original 1992 kart outing
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit wasn't the only racer discussed during Super Mario's 35th anniversary Direct. In addition to this, Nintendo announced a special new "Super" Mario Kart Tour event fueled by nostalgia. This event runs from 8th September (that's next week) until 22nd September and will feature special...
Saturday25th Jul 2020
News Classic Nintendo Source Code And Prototypes Allegedly Leaked
For SNES games and much more
Following on from those "massive" Nintendo leaks earlier this year, it has now reportedly happened again. Alleged prototype versions of classic Super Nintendo titles such as Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Kart, and
Tuesday19th Nov 2019
News High-Quality Super Nintendo Poster Set Up For Grabs On My Nintendo (Europe)
And go in the draw to win a SNES Mini
Fancy some new Super Nintendo games for the Switch Online service? How about some themed posters instead? If you happen to be located in Europe, you can now redeem and order an exclusive set of posters from the My Nintendo Store. This poster set is priced at 300 Platinum Points and features three iconic SNES...
Sunday25th Aug 2019
Poll Box Art Brawl #5 - Super Mario Kart
Before the big blue shell
Welcome to Round 5 of Box Art Brawl, where we take a gander at the box art of a certain retro game and crown one regional variant as champion. Last week the classic NES brawler River City Ransom duked it out with its counterparts until the Japanese version emerged bloody-nosed but victorious, beating down the North American...
Thursday30th Aug 2018
News Get Up To 50% Off Top Nintendo Select Titles In North America Right Now
Zelda, Animal Crossing, Kirby and more!
The My Nintendo store in North America is offering a large range of discounts at the moment, with a bunch of games from the Nintendo Selects range on offer for up to 50% off. There are a whopping 15 games available this time around, with several of these being up there amongst the 3DS and Wii U's...
Tuesday26th Sep 2017
News Super Mario Kart Nearly Became F-Zero 2
How different things could’ve been
Mario Kart is easily one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, absolutely nailing the local multiplayer gameplay and providing an easily accessible experience for all to enjoy. It stands as a cornerstone of Nintendo’s portfolio and plays no small part in selling new hardware for the company; there’s a reason...
Tuesday29th Aug 2017
News Super Mario Kart on SNES Gets MSU1 Digital Audio Enhancement
Koopa Troopa's supremacy remains unaffected by aural changes
It is hard to believe that just recently Super Mario Kart turned 25 years old. Even more unbelievable, in just one month there will be a new SNES console with the game out at retail, so we can take on those cups all over again. Dedicated Super Nintendo and MSU1 fans (a byuu-developed...
Wednesday28th Jun 2017
News Famitsu Readers Choose Super Mario Kart as the Best Racing Game of All Time
Crosses the line ahead of all its rivals
Whenever a conversation turns to the 'best of all time' in anything, there's sure to be some feisty opinions. Now that the Famitsu Weekly readers have chosen their best racing game of all time, that's sure to get fans talking. The winner was Super Mario Kart, which saw off various rivals including...
Tuesday25th Apr 2017
News Super Mario Kart Started Life As An F-Zero Multiplayer Prototype
Mario Kart got boost power!
Super Nintendo launch game F-Zero was an impressive feat of development at the time. With its use of Mode 7 visuals it made for a compelling single-player futuristic racing experience that is enjoyable to play even today. It's a shame that the franchise appears to be pretty much dormant now with the last entries being...
Wednesday29th Jun 2016
1992 interview gets translated into English for the first time
Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's most recognisable series but back in the early '90s the idea of the famous mascot hopping into a car was quite unique, and was even seen as something of a risk for the developer. With the benefit of hindsight we can clearly see Super Mario Kart as a moment...
Thursday24th Mar 2016
Nintendo Download 24th March (North America)
Hyrule Warriors Legends! Yoshi's Story! SNES on New 3DS! More!
It's that time again, dear readers, for the North American Nintendo Download Update. This week has plenty of tempting options to consider, with four Virtual Console games across Wii U and New 3DS, a major retail release on the portable, a Director's Cut from WayForward, some tasty...
Tuesday22nd Mar 2016
Random Fan Ports Super Mario Kart to HTML5
Not exactly perfect, but it works
Though it can seem a bit basic by modern standards, Super Mario Kart was an innovative racer for its time, and it kicked off one of the most successful racing game franchises to date. It did have some unique mechanics that haven't completely been translated to the newer games, and there's certainly still a fan...
Monday14th Mar 2016
Nintendo Download 17th March (Europe)
Pokkén Tournament! Mutant Mudds Super Challenge! New 3DS VC! More!
With another week's beginnings we have the Nintendo Download Update details for Europe, and this time around we have a major Wii U release and a cross-buy Nindie title leading the way. There are also two classic Super NES racing games coming to the New 3DS Virtual Console, a shooter...
Wednesday17th Feb 2016
Video See How Many Faces You Can Name In This 101-Character Super Mario Kart Race
"And it's go, go, go!"
As we all know, Super Mario Kart on the SNES allows 8 famous faces from the Mushroom Kingdom to challenge one another in a no-holds-barred race to the finish line. Subsequent entries in the franchise have added more driver choice to the roster, but YouTube user Hat-Loving Gamer clearly feels Nintendo hasn't gone anywhere near...
Saturday15th Aug 2015
Event Super Mario Kart SNES World Championships 2015 - 18th to 22nd August
Champion racers are back
The worldwide Mario Kart community is huge, especially since the success of Mario Kart 8; yet let's not forget that the older versions are still heavily competitive. Super Mario Kart has Official World Championships held annually in France every August run by the French Federation of SMK team ( Nintendo of France have been a...
Tuesday28th Jul 2015
News Mattel Is Releasing Mario Themed Hot Wheels Racers
Lead the way
As of late, Nintendo has been collaborating with a wide variety of companies to help increase its brand exposure. Just last week, for example, it announced a special partnership with social media giant, Facebook, to promote the upcoming Wii U title, Super Mario Maker. This week, news has surfaced via Brazillian toy site T-Hunted, that...
Thursday29th Jan 2015
News Week Three of the eShop Throwback Sale Goes Live in North America
Metroid Prime Trilogy, Mario Kart 8, Mario Golf: World Tour and more
In a move poised to please Metroid fans and ruin bidding wars for some, Nintendo has graciously released the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii U eShop. Spearheading the third week of the North American "Throwback Sale," the beloved trilogy is available for a whopping 50% off its...
Monday15th Dec 2014
News December's Club Nintendo Rewards Aim to Bring Festive Cheer
Super Mario Kart! Kid Icarus! Kirby! More!
It's now time for the final North American Club Nintendo rewards update of 2014, with the December offerings taking us well into 2015 and giving keen coin collectors their last chance to splash the virtual cash before Christmas. This batch has the now-standard eight games, with four across Wii U and Wii...
