''Mickey's Speedway USA'' is a

kart racing game A kart racing game, also known as cart racing game or go-kart racing game, is a subgenre of Racing game, racing games. Kart racing games have simplified driving mechanics while including unusual racetrack designs, obstacles, and Vehicular combat ...

developed by Rare and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

and

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

. It is Rare and Nintendo's second collaboration with

Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it w ...

following '' Mickey's Racing Adventure'' (1999), and features characters from the

Mickey Mouse universe The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Donald and ...

racing across the United States. The Nintendo 64 game released in November 2000 to mixed reception, while the Game Boy Color version followed in March 2001.

Gameplay

''Mickey's Speedway USA'' features various characters from the Mickey Mouse universe racing in karts to complete three laps around a track as quickly as possible. Scattered along each track are tokens that increase racers' maximum speed, boosters which will give racers a quick burst of acceleration, and items that can be used to interfere with opponents, such as baseballs and paint cans. The Nintendo 64 (N64) version features gameplay similar to Rare's previous N64 racing game ''

Diddy Kong Racing ''Diddy Kong Racing'' is a 1997 kart racing game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizard pig named Wizpig, through win ...

'' (1997), while the Game Boy Color (GBC) version uses the same isometric perspective as its predecessor, '' Mickey's Racing Adventure'' (1999). Both versions of the game include a Grand Prix mode, a time trial mode, and

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

racing modes. Each Grand Prix is playable at three difficulty levels; earning a gold trophy for each one will unlock new characters, cheats and other features. The N64 version includes a practice mode and a multiplayer battle mode with four arenas, while the GBC version includes " driving school" tutorial missions and a gallery of unlockable images, which can be printed out using the Game Boy Printer. The game features 20 different race tracks spread across five Grands Prix, all themed after famous American cities and locations such as

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

. The selection of tracks differs between versions. The final Grand Prix can only be unlocked in the N64 version by finding four vehicle parts hidden in different race tracks. An additional bonus track can be unlocked in the N64 version via a cheat code and in the GBC version by connecting to a copy of ''Mickey's Racing Adventure'' via the system's

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

port. Six playable characters are included in both versions of the game. These default characters are paired in statistics: Mickey and

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

have average statistics, Minnie and Daisy focus on handling and acceleration, and

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

and Pete have a concentration in speed and weight. Three additional characters, consisting of Dewey, Louie, and Ludwig Von Drake, can be unlocked in the N64 version through completing objectives in Grand Prix mode; a fourth character, Huey, can only be unlocked by connecting to the GBC version through the

Transfer Pak The Transfer Pak is an accessory for the Nintendo 64 (N64) controller. It features a cartridge slot compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color (GBC) games. When plugged into the controller's expansion port, it allows for the transfer of data bet ...

Synopsis

Mickey discovers his dog,

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

, has been kidnapped by the Weasels for his diamond collar. He calls Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy to help search for Pluto, while Pete intercepts the phone call and follows behind. Professor Ludwig von Drake builds race cars for the group to help them search faster, and they travel across America following a series of postcards left by the Weasels. After a final race, the Weasels are found, caught, and sent to jail. Mickey happily reunites with Pluto, revealing the supposed diamonds on his collar are simply glass beads from one of Minnie's old necklaces, and the group heads home.

Development

In May 1999, Nintendo announced plans to publish several ''Mickey Mouse'' games for its consoles over the following three years, to be developed by Rare. The company confirmed in November of that year that ''Mickey's Speedway USA'' would be released during the 2000 holiday season. The game had a marketing budget of $5 million.

Reception

} The Nintendo 64 version received "average" reviews according to video game

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. Matthew Byrd, writing for

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...

in 2017, said that ''Mickey's Speedway USA'' could not compete to other similar titles like ''Diddy Kong Racing'', ''Mario Kart 64'', or '' Crash Team Racing'', due to its courses being not nearly as "inventive" (only basic recreations of US locations), its power-ups as "little slim", its "problematic" artificial intelligence, and its roster of karts and tracks as "thin". Despite its flaws, he thought that Rare managed to produce an engagingly charming and functional kart racing title.

References