When I first noticed this hack, my jaw dropped. Bots in Mario Kart 64? Really? The one thing that kept the battle mode of Mario Kart 64 from being infinitely played by friends and family was the lack of bots. I’m sure that those who have played enough competitive games can appreciate how sometimes such battles can lead to hurt feelings and real-life confrontations. It’s not always fun.

But having a computer for everyone to gang up on is always a crowd-pleaser. Take Perfect Dark (also on the N64) for example. This game heavily encouraged cooperative play, including awards for challenges that were bestowed based on how many players worked together! For a lot of people (myself included), that opened up playing together with others who would have otherwise never bothered to even try. Not everyone wants to best others - sometimes they just want to have a good time without the determination (sub-conscious or otherwise) about who is “better”.

Thus, seeing this hack made me giddy. I tried it almost immediately after I saw it. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much (if it even worked at all). This seemed like a pretty tall order. But having played it, I’ll admit - I’m very impressed.

Sure, it’s rudimentary. The opening screen feels like a debug program or something that developers would use rather than something slick for the playing audience. And the bots are complete buffoons.

But does that really matter? Someone actually put bots in the battle mode in Mario Kart 64! Let that sink in. This is a massive achievement. Think about the time and effort that must have been dedicated to accomplish such a feat. Think about all the other games that would benefit from having bots. It doesn’t matter if the bots are idiots - that’s entirely beside the point. The fact that bots exist at all means the door is now open to improving upon the foundation that has already been laid down.

And the different modes were brilliant! Even if the bots are wholly ignored and unused, the different modes have added a dimension to the battle aspect that breathed new life into an ancient game.

If you’re looking to play with bots and have a challenge, you’ll likely be disappointed. But to me, that’s not what this hack is about. We had fun just watching four bots beat each other up - it was hilarious. And even without the bots, the new modes are terrific and we all had a blast playing them.

I very strongly recommend this hack for those who can look past inferior A.I. and see what this means for Mario Kart 64 going forward. It’s very exciting what has been done here.