Mario Kart 64 - Play Online Free

About Mario Kart 64

Racing went fully three-dimensional here while the drivers stayed flat: the eight characters are pre-rendered sprites that rotate to face the camera, riding on polygonal tracks. Released in Japan in December 1996 and in North America in February 1997, it runs a Grand Prix of sixteen courses across four cups at 50cc, 100cc and 150cc with eight karts on the road, Time Trials that record ghost data to a Controller Pak, and a Battle mode that drops up to four players into arenas with three balloons each.

Weight class decides how you drive. Toad and Peach accelerate quickly but get shoved off the racing line by anything heavier, while Bowser, Donkey Kong and Wario hold their ground and carry more top speed. The real skill is the power slide: hop into a corner with R, hold the drift, and work the stick against the turn and back to build a mini-turbo — at the risk of spinning the kart out completely if you hold it too long.

Why play Mario Kart 64

This is where the spiny blue shell, the fake item box and four-player split-screen kart racing first appear, and several of its courses have been rebuilt as retro tracks in later Mario Karts. Its courses are also unusually large for the series: a single Rainbow Road lap runs for minutes, Wario Stadium is an enormous dirt circuit, and Yoshi Valley forks so heavily that the game hides your position behind a question mark.

Tips for new players

Power slide by tapping R into a corner and holding it, then pushing the stick against the drift and back until the smoke turns yellow and then orange before you straighten out.
Trailing a banana or a held shell behind you blocks an incoming red shell, so save the last one for the final lap instead of throwing it.
Toad's Turnpike has live traffic and the trucks are solid obstacles — pick a lane early and use them as cover rather than weaving between them.
Yoshi Valley's branching paths hide the position display, so drive a consistent route instead of reacting to standings you cannot actually read.
Lakitu's respawn costs several seconds, so on Rainbow Road and Wario Stadium take the safe line when leading and only gamble on jumps when behind.

Platform

Nintendo 64 (N64)

Released

1996

Genre

Kart Racing

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

Nintendo EAD

Players

1 player

Price

Free

Default Controls

You can play with keyboard, gamepad, or touch (on mobile). The default keyboard layout is below; remap any key inside the emulator settings.

↑↓←→D-Pad

WASDAnalog

ZA

XB

CC↑

VC↓

QL

WR

EnterStart

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you power slide in Mario Kart 64?

Hold R entering a corner to hop into a drift and keep holding it through the turn, pushing the control stick against the direction of the slide and then back again. The smoke turns from white to yellow to orange, and releasing R at that point gives you a mini-turbo. Holding the drift too long spins the kart out instead.

Does Mario Kart 64 have shortcuts?

Yes, and several are famous. Wario Stadium has a wall hop near the start that skips most of a lap, Royal Raceway can be cut by using a mushroom to jump the water instead of taking the big ramp, and Rainbow Road has a well-known jump over the track border.

Which characters are fastest in Mario Kart 64?

Bowser, Donkey Kong and Wario are the heavyweights, with the highest top speed and the ability to shove lighter karts aside on contact. Toad, Peach and Yoshi accelerate and turn faster but lose most collisions. Mario and Luigi sit between the two groups.

Is Mario Kart 64 really free to play?

Yes. Every game on OldGames.Games is free to play in your browser. There are no downloads, hidden fees or account requirement for single-player games.

Can I save my progress?

Yes. The emulator supports save states — you can save the exact moment you're at and resume later from any device by signing into a free OldGames account.