Mario meets Pac-Man in this exciting arcade.
When gamers find the game, it will cost about 4 tokens to play the game and for each race track you race in. So you might want to bring in a lot of money to exchange for tokens. When players first start off, you will choose the options on where to play on. Then, you will be able to choose from the original cast of Mario Kart which features Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser. The playable characters even include three of Namco’s popular characters such as Pac-man, Ms. Pac-man, and Blinky (the red ghost enemy in Pac-man games.) Once gamers had chosen their character, the arcade will take a picture of your face which will be seen in along with some of the character’s features. For example, when you choose a character like Mario, your picture will be shown and you will have Mario’s hat on and mustache. After that, then you will be ready to play the game in the race tournaments.
The first cup I raced in was a Mario Cup which features standard short courses on a Delfino Island theme. In the race, the controls are very similar as driving a car. You put your right foot on the gas pedal to move and putting your right foot on the breaks will make your car stop. Once the race begins, you can put your foot on the gas pedal to boost after the count down to begin is over. While driving, you use your hands to keep your kart steady and turn whenever you are ready to turn. Also, drifting is possible once you take a sharp turn and it is also possible to do a short jump on a kart. On the track, gamers collect coins to keep the kart from crashing into other karts or obstacles in the track, similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit for the GBA.
The laps in the race tracks is based on the track’s length. For example, if you are racing in a short course, you will have to race around it for about 6 laps or so. There are a lot of new items in this game as well and some of the original items such as bananas and shells. The new items includes throwing metal plates, dynamites, rain clouds, and new Boo items that slows down other racers.
Throwing items are easy in this game, once you grab an item from the Item Box, your character will hold it in his or her hands. Then, you will see a homing target on a racer in front of you. You simply push the horn button which is located on the steering wheel and you will see it hit the racer. Some of the items were mostly exclusive to the tracks that I raced in during the Mario Cup.
After gamers finished a race tournament, gamers will play a little mini-game. One type of mini-game is driving while you bump into a giant watermelon in Delfino Island to the finish. The mini-game is similar to the watermelon mission in Super Mario Sunshine. There are many different types of mini-games after completing more race tournaments.
Gamers can play this game with other people and friends. Up to four players can compete with each other in the game’s race tracks if the arcade games are connected to each other. Like in traditional Mario Kart games, you and 3 other players race in the track without computer players.
Once gamers get on the driver’s seat, you will play the game with no problems if you have experience from driving a car or playing many arcade racers. It will take a little while for many young gamers to get the hang of the controls.
The graphics in this game looks mostly like next generation graphics and it definitely surpasses Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the GameCube. The skies in the tracks look realistic and the tracks themselves look great as well. There are many different kinds of race tracks in this game. Gamers could be racing in standard courses that are near Delfino Island or racing in the city and many more. The game even has a Rainbow Road course like traditional Mario Kart games and even Bowser theme courses.
If fans or gamers are familiar with some of the sound effects and small tunes in Mario Kart, they are in heard in the game as well. Gamers will hear the same sound effects such as the count down or passing around another lap. The characters have their original voices from the past Mario games which will be familiar to fans of Mario. Even Pac-Man and friends get their own voices as well. The game’s music is very well done as well, each piece of music fits well to the trace theme on the courses.
This is one of the rarest Mario Kart game gamers will see out there. If you are lucky, you should definitely try the game out while having a lot of money for tokens. It will take 4 tokens to play the game and also playing the game’s other race tracks. So be ready to have a lot of money to exchange for tokens. The game is very fun to play even more fun to play the game as Pac-Man and his friends. Nintendo and Namco have done a great job working on this Mario Kart game. Once gamers play this game for the first time, they will have a lot of fun playing this. Playing this game could be a once in a life time chance. So if you do happen to find Mario Kart Arcade GP, give it a try.