Mario Kart 64 is a kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo in 1996. Within Mario Kart 64 the player controls one of eight selectable Mario characters who race in karts in different race tracks that vary in shape and theme. During a race, the players can obtain random items from special boxes placed in different areas of the track that are used to impede the opposition and gain the advantage. Production of the game began in 1995 under its original title Super Mario Kart R (the "R" stood for "rendered"), and was intended to be a launch game for the Nintendo 64, but more resources were given to Super Mario 64's development. The prototype featured the Feather item from Super Mario Kart and a Magikoopa as one of the eight playable characters, who was replaced with Donkey Kong in the final game. While Mario Kart 64 features tracks that are fully rendered in 3D, the game uses billboarding to display the characters and items. Konno stated that, while rendering the characters as 3D models was not impossible, the limited processing power of the console would not have allowed all eight characters to appear on the screen at once. Instead, the characters are composed of pre-rendered sprites that show the characters from various angles to simulate a 3D appearance. Download Mario Kart 64
