Mario Kart 64/FAQ

General

What is Mario Kart 64?

Mario Kart 64 is the second instalment in the Mario Kart series, and was originally released in 1996 on the Nintendo 64!

Is it the game for me?

Unlike most other releases within its own series, Mario Kart 64 is very pick and play, having only relatively minimal differences within its playable cast, on top of a smaller map pool and lesser reliance on items that makes this entry much less dependent on luck than the usual game.

Paired with unique systems that make this title both uniquely jank and surprisingly finessed in its own gameplay, MK64 can make for an enjoyable title if you are willing to look past its rougher edges.
Overall, if you like racing games that features elements of item strategy while putting fundamental driving skills first and foremost, this game is absolutely for you.

On which platform/emulator are you playing?

For offline play, using the original hardware is considered the norm, both for tournament play and speedrunning, though the Virtual Console and iQue versions are considered acceptable in the context of the latter case.
However, for emulated online play, both simple64 and Project64k had both been used for different reasons, with the former having stronger emulation accuracy all while being easier to setup, while the latter is essentially a legacy option nowadays.
Because of these factors, simple64 is usually considered more convenient overall for remote play.

Regional Name Variants

The Japanese and Western versions of the game features varying names for the maps and characters, though they are mostly easy to understand as these changes are directly localised from the Japanese naming conventions to a somewhat accurate translation to English.
A Chinese version also exists specifically on the iQue with its own subset of localisations, but since this build is incredibly unpopular, its naming schemes will not be showcased for convenience's sake.

VS. Maps
Western	Japanese	Western	Japanese
Luigi Circuit	Luigi Raceway	Mario Circuit	Mario Raceway
Moo Moo Farm	Moh Moh Farm	Peach Circuit	Royal Raceway
Koopa Troopa Beach	Noko Noko Beach	Bowser's Castle	Koopa Castle
Kalimari Desert	Kara Kara Desert	DK's Jungle Parkway	Donkey Jungle Park
Toad's Turnpike	Kinopio Highway	Banshee Boardwalk	Hyūdoro Lake

Battle Maps		Characters
Western	Japanese	Western	Japanese
Big Donut	Big Donuts	Toad	Kinopio
Block Fort	Block Toride	D.K.	D.Kong
Skyscraper	Matenrou	Bowser	Koopa

Gameplay

Picking Characters

I. Who should I start with?

While Mario Kart 64 is technically a very balanced game in regards to its roster, though its smaller cast also features minute, yet important statistical differences that will lead to some characters being obviously better than others to the trained eye. The general rule of thumb is that while any member of the cast can win games when played by an experienced player, only a select few will give you an easier time competing based on the format, so, in that sense, if you wish to play the game casually, anyone will do, but otherwise, feel free to check below!

II. Who should I pick if I play...

• Time Trials or 1-2 Player GP

Yoshi/Peach (For normal play, especially in 2P rulesets), Toad (For 1P Ultra Shortcuts)

• 3-4 Player VS

Yoshi/Peach/Toad (Meta), Bowser (Weight Counterpick)

• Battle Mode

Bowser (Meta), DK/Wario (Decent picks), Mario (Decent too if min-maxed weight ain't your thing)

III. Who should I avoid if I play...

• Time Trials

Any heavyweight or middleweight (Suboptimal speed and steering)

• 1-2 Player GP / 3-4 Player VS

Debatably speaking? Luigi.

• Battle Mode

Toad (He's way too light)

Tournament Rules

I. Time Trials

Rules used by the Mario Kart 64 speedrunning community are used as the universal standard, and can be seen by clicking the link here : MK64's Time Trial Ruleset

II. 2 Player GP / 3-4 Player VS

While there are no universal ruleset for multiplayer brackets, some recurring rules tend to be put in place:

• No 2P VS (Item luck is heavily skewed in favour of the underdog)
• No Ultra Shortcuts (Again, check the official Time Trial ruleset to know what counts as a "Ultra" and what doesn't)
• Rapid-Fire Buttons are banned
• ROMs shouldn't be modified beyond what should be provided by the tournament organisers.

Of course, each TO is free to chalk up unique rulesets as well, at the discretion and convenience of the participants.

III. Battle Mode

Similarly to GP/VS tournaments, no universal ruleset is put in place for Battle Mode, but again, a few rules tend to be recurring:

• No Stalling
  • This rule is mostly defined by intent, and is put in place to prevent games from dragging on for too long.
  • As an example, tying to play patient cannot instantly form grounds for stalling, while deliberately driving away from the opponent for a prolonged of time can.
  • Sometimes, an external timer is put in place as a safety measure.
  • Once that timer reaches 0, the winner will be decided by who has the most ballons left (and in case of a tie, who was the last to lose his balloon).
• When playing on emulators with a standard copy of the game, Skyscraper is prone to be banned or left as a counterpick option in 4 Player rounds (due to hardware acceleration).
  • This can however be fixed by playing a tournament build of the game.

Tournament Build

I. Overview

Since 2018, Mario Kart 64 has a tournament build that features unique modifications that generally enhances the overall experience, no matter the hardware on which you can play the game.
Notably, the ability for multiple players to pick the same character, on top of having access to gameplay settings on the title screen are among the key features that this build does offer.
This makes it an easy choice to pick for anyone that wishes to organise a tournament for this game, since this hack effectively improves on the overall playability that Mario Kart 64 has to offer in a more competitive environment.

II. Settings

Now, while there are no universal parameters that are used for tournament play, a good understanding of the settings can however be key to find what would be the most fitting modifications to employ for an organiser.
Here is a screenshot of the tournament title screen with modified options, all of which could be deemed fit for online tournaments.

Now, while this interface may appear to be kinda sketch at first glance, it is however quite easy to understand and pick up the pieces from there.
Below, you will find what each option does, and the different modifiers that can be applied to it.

Option		Modifier
Name	Function	Name	Function
Tracks	Modifies the track order.	Default	Order is unmodified.
		Random	Order is randomised.
Scaling	Modifies the scale between in-game time and framerate when playing a track. For more information, check this page out.	Default	Time scaling will change based on the map. On the original hardware, this doesn't make an effective difference, and could be considered the norm because of it. However, when the game is played on emulators (or the Virtual Console), maps with lower framerates will run at a much faster speed, which severely affects their playability.
		30FPS	Time scaling will be locked to 30 frames per second. Since the game natively runs at this framerate, this parameter is ideal for emulator play, since it will let all the maps play out at their intended speed, regardless of hardware. For this reason, 30FPS is both the norm for emulated play, and a popular option on real hardware as well.
		60FPS	Time scaling will be locked to 60 frames per second. This experimental parameter only functions when the game is played under certain circumstances, and seems to only apply on real hardware. Since the game normally never run at this framerate, and the parameter lacks consistency anyway, it is surprisingly avoided in tournament play.
Widescreen	Changes the aspect ratio.	Default (4:3)	Aspect ratio will use its default values. It's the standard for tournament play.
		Enabled (16:9)	Aspect ratio will become wider. It's an experimental feature that only functions through certain modifications, and since the game will render its assets in the same kind of perimeter a 4:3 environment would, visuals can get a bit messy as a result of it. Typically avoided.
Trophies	Enables the trophy cutscene upon completing a Grand Prix.	Default	Trophy cutscene is enabled.
		Skip	Trophy cutscene is disabled. Since the cutscene is both unskippable and unreasonably long, this option is an absolute must for any tournament that runs a Grand Prix bracket.
MP Music	Enables the music during 3P/4P races.	Default	Music is disabled.
		Enabled	Music is enabled. Usually preferred for VS, since the game's performance doesn't seem to be aversely affected anyway. In Battle Mode, it can also be a nice parameter to use, though winning will have the benign side effect of playing two tracks at the same time.
MP Train	Enables the carriages seen on the train from Kalimari Desert.	Default	Carriages will be enabled for singleplayer, and disabled for multiplayer.
		Enabled	Carriages will be enabled, no matter what. Absolutely avoided for tournament play, since carriages both affect the framerate (on real hardware) and gameplay to an unfair extent.
MP Boat	Enables the boat seen on DK's Jungle Parkway.	Default	Boat will be enabled for singleplayer, and disabled for multiplayer.
		Enabled	Boat will be enabled, no matter what. Usually avoided for tournament play, since the boat can affect visibility on an already cramped screen.
VS Tracks	Determines the next track to pick for VS Mode.	Default	The same track will be repeated over and over.
		All Cups	Tracks will be played in order, from first to last. It's a great quality-of-life feature for tournaments, since it shaves some time on manual selection.
VS Timer	Enables the timer for VS Mode.	Default	Timer is disabled.
		Enabled	Timer is enabled.
Gold Shroom	Replaces the Super Mushroom with a different item.	Default	The Super Mushroom remains unreplaced. It's the norm for tournaments.
		Feather Small	Replaces the Super Mushroom with a weak Feather. Its an experimental feature that only exists as a fun novelty.
		Feather Big	Replaces the Super Mushroom with a stronger Feather. Much like its smaller counterpart, this feature is only a fun, yet experimental novelty.
Items	Modifies the probabilities of an Item Box.	Default	Probabilities remains unchanged. It's the standard for most tournaments, and should only ever be modified as part of a novelty ruleset.
		Player X	Probabilities for all pilots will be made equal to that of a specific standing, ranging from 1st to 8th, relative to the odds found in Grand Prix.
Stats	Modifies the statistics of the playable cast.	Default	Stats are unmodified. It is enabled in most tournaments, especially at lower levels of play, since the ability to select the same character already eliminates the balancing issues that the game has with its uneven roster.
		All Yoshi	Each character will have the same stats as Yoshi. Technically evens the entire cast to the same level of viability as Yoshi and Peach, the two strongest characters in the game, though this comes at the cost of character distinction. It is the norm for the Summer Kart Invitational tournaments.
VS Scores	Enables the rendering of uniform scores for VS Mode.	Default	Uniform scores are disabled.
		Enabled	Uniform scores are enabled. Being an excellent quality-of-life feature, as uniform scores leads to much easier maths for the standings of each concurring player, this feature is an absolute must-have for tournament play.

Software

simple64

I don't know how to set up my inputs!

First of all, feel free to check the Controls page to know how the game would normally be bound on a traditional N64 controller. Then, on the upper tab of Simple64, check on Settings > Controller Configuration.

There, you will get a new window, but fret not! All you have to do is to go to the "Manage Profiles", and make a new profile here. Once you are done with your key bindings, just save it under a named profile, and select that new profile on the "Controller 1" pad.

Filling all these steps should normally make you more than ready to tackle online play!

How do I host a game?

On the upper tab of Simple 64, select Netplay > Create Room.

Here, you will be able to set a name and password for your room, while the ROM itself can be selected from any folder you choose to store your game within. A custom server can also be configured, but for convenience's sake, if you are playing in European, American or North African regions, any of the default options should fit your position like a glove.

How do I join a game?

On the upper tab of Simple 64, select Netplay > Join Room.

A server browser will open, which will give you the option of choosing both a nametag and an online region. Finding whatever lobby you're looking for should be easy with that information in mind.

Mario Kart 64
General	FAQ • Controls • HUD • Systems
Characters
	Mario	Luigi	Peach	Toad	Yoshi	DK	Wario	Bowser
Items
	Mushroom	Triple Mushroom	Super Mushroom	Banana	Banana Bunch	Super Star	Thunder Bolt	Boo
	Green Shell	Triple Greens	Red Shell	Triple Reds	Spiny Shell	Fake Item Box	Item Box