I first heard of this game a couple years ago. It was late at night, I had my trusty cup of pepsi by my side, and was surfing the net, learning information about the NES. It just interests me that when the NES was selling, people made pirated games; most just stole a game, such as super mario bros. 3, and changed Mario and Luigi to. . .lets say Link and Samus. Doesn't take much skill. But sometimes, as in this instance, they took the Nintendo Characters from Super Mario Kart, and made them fight. The game is at least somewhat original, its not just a hacked game.

Encore Introduction:

Yes, I am having a second introduction. Since this is a pirated game, I will tell you what happens when you turn it on. When you first turn it on you see the same start up as on Super Mario Kart, just with degraded graphics, and instead of it saying Super Mario Kart, it says Kart Fighter. Then when you click start it brings you to a selection of the characters, the selection screen does look different then in Super Mario Kart. Like most pirated games the characters names have been changed. Some are just basic changed, like Mario is Mari, but Koopa Troopa is called NokoNoko.

Story:

I have no idea if this has a story, I don't think the pirates who made this game made a beautiful instruction manual. I would say its pretty obvious, the characters from Super Mario Kart are having a fighting tournament for fun. They seem to do this alot; have tournaments.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is that of classic 2-d fighting games. Street Fighter 2 seems like a perfect example of what this game compares too. You pick your character, and then battle. You have a few moves. You can kick, and punch and do some others; with a button and d-pad combination. Each character also has a special ability. Dk can throw a banana, Bowser blows fire, Toad shoots mushrooms, etc. The scoring system is the same of most 2-d fighting games. Whoever wins the best out of 3 fights wins. And there is a health meter at the top of the screen for each character. After you beat a character you go on to face another character. When you beat that character, you go onto another, and eventually you battle your own character. I played as Yoshi at first, which was cool because he would whip his tail to attack enemies, but then I tried DK, and found him to be awesome. So I battled through all the characters with DK, and then got to another DK. I battled the other DK and won. I was then expecting a screen saying something like "Congratulations!". But you know what happened? It brought me to battle Bowser again. This game will go in an infinite loop. Ok, it would have been nice to see a finish screen, but what do you expect from a pirated game. The gameplay is actually kind of fun. You can get right into this game, and get all tense when your trying to defeat a character. The AI is good, you don't really think of it, but the computer responds differently each time you play. Unlike most NES games where an enemy is the same every time, where it has a certain route it has to follow on the screen. Its a game you can sit down and play for 10 or 20 minutes, and pass the time.

I give the gameplay: 6/10

Graphics:

The graphics in this game are weird. They are kind of good, but then at the same time, kind of bad. Each character looks more adult, and angry then the real Nintendo Characters. Its actually kind of funny the first time you see. Besides the characters not looking like they should, they look ok. There are a few different backgrounds in this game; which is nice. I would of liked to see a different background for each character, then them share a background, but its ok. The graphics of the backgrounds are pretty basic, but actually kind of good. They seem to have a Nintendo feel.

I give the graphics: 6/10

Sound:

The sound is repetitive and kind of annoying. When you turn the game on, you hear the same start up music that is on Super Mario Kart, just degraded. But it also seems maybe changed a little bit, I'm not sure, but it starts to hurt your ears, its just not that good. The in game music is annoying too, but when you start to get into the fighting you kind of phase it out. The sound fx. . .what sound fx. There is like 2 slightly different sounds when you hit another character, and they both suck, but it's better to have it, then nothing.

I give the sound: 3/10

Replayability:

This game is actually replayable. As I said above, you can just turn this game on and play it for 10 or 20 minutes. It's just a fun little game.

I give the replayability: 6.5/10

Challenge:

This game is challenging. You will lose a few battles before you defeat a character. You will see that some characters are better at defeating another character than another would be. Like rock, paper, scissors. DK may be better able to defeat Toad then Yoshi, but Yoshi may defeat the Princess easier than DK. Well, at least that's what I found. Also, when you start the game up there is an option menu, that will let you select 5 levels of difficulty.

I give the challenge: 7/10

Overall:

Overall this game is surprisingly fun. The graphics and sound are quite bad, but the gameplay is simple and fun. The challenge is good; as well as the replayability. You can just sit down and play this game for a few minutes and have some fun. It's just a cool little game.

I give Kart Fighter: 6/10

Conclusion:

This game is better than most pirated games. Probably just for the fact its not a hacked game. It's a fun little game to play. I myself just find it interesting how there were pirated games back in the NES day, not that I condone it, I just find it interesting to read about.
The premise of the game is a good one; Nintendo characters coming together to fight. Actually, it's a great premise, Nintendo did the same thing in Super Smash Bros., and people liked it so much it got a sequel.
To bad Nintendo didn't make a game like this back in the NES day. They could have had great graphics, made the characters look like they should, and have cool backgrounds. The sound would have been amazing, and the gameplay would have probably been alot better too. Well, this game seems to be a classic pirated game, if I do say so myself.

Written By: Joey Anderson

Date Written: November 11th, 2004