For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Peardian's Mario Kart 64 (N64) maps.
Mario Kart hardly needs an introduction. The title is pretty self-explanatory as it is. It's a kart-racing game series featuring Mario characters, items, and settings. If you've played a Nintendo console fom the Super NES onward, or a portable from the GBA and up, you've very likely played one of these. (There are also three Mario Kart GP arcade machines, too!) There's no story, no set up, no premise...just get in a vehicle and race! Even Bowser and the Koopalings get into the action, and the Mario Bros. appear to have no problem flinging Bob-Ombs at the princesses, or knocking their younger selves into lava.
Now, back in 1997 (or 1996 if you lived in Japan), Mario Kart 64 came onto the scene. While every Mario Kart game manages to introduce something new, this first "sequel" was a significant upgrade. Tracks were now rendered by polygons in three-dimensions, and four-player action was introduced! Four players has since been the standard for local multiplayer games - Mario Kart 64 can lay claim to being one of the first major multiplayer releases on the Nintendo 64 (the first major console to have four controller ports) and predates other multiplayer classics like Star Fox 64 and GoldenEye 007 by a few months. Mario Kart 64 also introduced the Blue Spiny Shell...so it has a claim to infamy as well.
Peardian, a mapping wizard who's tackled other Nintendo 64 games, and a fan of all things Mario, has used his expertise and passion to bring us overhead maps of the Mario Kart 64 tracks. You might not ever get lost in a racing game, sure, but obviously it pays to know the best route possible...in tracks like Yoshi Valley, especially!
So to recognize the effort put into mapping one of the first great party games, Peardian's Mario Kart 64 (N64) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for June 2014.
