Kart up about it

Recently I've been having a go at the classic game Super Mario Kart for the first time in years.

I remember this game when it was first released in 1992 - it was a big deal as it replicated the Mario formula into a racing game and was a blast in multiplayer (the Halo of it's day if you will).
What I also remember was that Super Mario Kart pretty much established the Karting genre of gaming which pretty much followed the same formula: A cast of colorful characters engaged in wacky racing. I do recall seeing so many clones throughout the rest of the nineties and they grew so numerous and so detestable: It was blatantly obvious that the makers of these games were trying to replicate the success of Mario Kart but there was little to improve on: Super Mario Kart was one of those rare kind of games where the formula worked so well the first time that no one - not even Nintendo themselves in the subsequent Mario Kart sequels -  has been able to better it (although I did enjoy Diddy Kong Racing when it was released).

So to come back to Mario Kart now is a bit odd seeing as what it inspired. Now I did recall playing Mario Kart during the glory days of the SNES but, surprisingly, I didn't enjoy it. I found problems with the computer AI being difficult to catch up with, trying to handle turns whilst maintaining a decent speed and the powers up doing....ermm.... not much. Plus, considering the many clones this game has inspired, Super Mario Kart has a lot to answer for.

And what did I think of it this time around? The same problems I had before have arisen again - but at least this time around I've managed to place well against the computer - as opposed to consistently coming last. I did play with some other people this time and I had some success there.
Still, I did enjoy Super Mario Kart this time around then compared to when I did some sixteen years ago. Not sure why though - maybe it was playing against real people, maybe I knew what to expect, maybe the whole Kart genre has kinda dried up at the moment. I'm not sure at all.
Still, I found Super Mario Kart now to be more fun than when i did back in the nineties. And I suppose that's what counts.