[Author’s Note: NO IMAGES ARE MINE]

The sound of the karts racing past me is never pleasant on DK’s Jungle Parkway. Especially when I only have dumb fire green shells instead of the homing red shells. Things can get dire fast in Mario Kart 64. And my wife is a ruthless competitor—she takes this game seriously.

Mario Kart 64 (1996)

Platform Played: Nintendo 64

Price: It was a gift a long, long time ago.

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Background: When I six years old this game was released. Back then my younger brother and I would spin out at the starting line due to not knowing about the risks of holding the accelerator down for too long. I would always pick Yoshi or Mario as I was a little conceited back then and wanted to be the star of the series. And I also was intrigued by Yoshi.

As I got older I grew to really not enjoy racing games. I instead invested my energies in FPSs and strategy games. When I started dating my wife though I discovered this racing game again. As she loves it!

Present Day: My wife got me back into this game. Now I know not to rapidly use the mushroom (afterburner) power ups too quickly. And most importantly I know not to hold the accelerator down too long before the race begins. I enjoy this game now more as an adult.

Nowadays I play as Yoshi or Luigi.

The Nintendo 64 is one of the greatest gaming consoles ever made. I treasure it and Mario Kart 64 is one of the games that helped made it great.