Mario Kart 64 was a console seller in my neck of the woods when it came out. System and controller seller I should say. This was the party game to have when friends came over, tons of fun times, some hurt feelings, revenge getting got, and more than a few bruised egos after a night of playing Mario Kart 64. Here are five hacks that add more fun to the game via new characters, new tracks, and more.
First up, we have the Simpsons hack. This is the hack that got me to look into these hacks. It makes me wonder why we have not seen more Simpsons games outside the action/platform genre. Sure, we got Road Rage and Hit and Run, two amazing games, but outside those two, not much else exploring the Simpsons universe.
The usual suspects are here including parental favorite, Bart, also Homer and Marge as well as Lisa. Interestingly, Ap und Chief Wiggum made the cut from all the Simpsons characters that could have been featured. Krusty and Flanders round out the available playable characters.The larger characters, Wiggum, Homer, Krusty, all feature a bit of big head mode with their sprites. It is a funny look that somehow fits just fine. Powerups are changed to Simpsons items from donuts to Duff beer. Some tracks feature billboards advertising various products and stores in the Simpsons world such as Lard Lad, Kwik E Mart, and others.
Next, we have Slasher Kart 64, a mashup of various horror villains. This one caught me off guard as I was completely unaware of its existence. Here the Mario characters are replaced with icons such as Jason, Freddy, Chucky, Ghostface, Pennywise, Leatherface, Michael Myers and Regan (Exorcist, I believe).
The various creatures of horror also feature audio clips that could be rather unsettling. They also feature course language so, while this looks like a kid’s game, it might not be one to let younger players play without parental consent.Still, it must be someone’s dream to verbally slap Freddy with Chucky.
Next, I am going to look at Super Smash Kart 64. This one is much like the Super Smash Bros franchise, adding in characters from other Nintendo games. Namely, you can now play Link, Samus, Falcon, and Kirby as you race around 4 new tracks.
For the most part, the powerups have not changed as far as I can tell. Also, Samus and Falcon seemingly tower over their karts, on the same level in size as Donkey Kong who just barely edges them out.As the name suggests, this hack makes the playable roster more “Smash” like.
Fourth on the list is Konami Krazy Racers, a title I only know from the Game Boy Advance. From what I can tell, this hack mainly focuses on changing up characters for Konami ones. Even the Lakitu at the start of the race is the same (he is changed in Simpsons and Slasher Kart). Also, tracks have received little, if any, modification.
This strictly being a character hack still could be a lot of fun for players that are familiar with Konami characters. This also could be an early version of the hack and we might see more changes in the future.
Finally, Dragon Ball Kart 64 brings eight characters from the Dragon Ball universe to battle it out in karts. You can play as Goku, Frieza, Trunks, Krillin, Piccolo, Beerus, Vegeta, and Cell. The modders behind this one really put in the work bringing in custom voices, a new title screen and menus, even retexturing courses to better fit the DB universe. Additionally, if you are going t play this one on your Nintendo 64, please note you will need the 8MB Memory Expansion to play.