New-Fashioned

New ideas may be hard to come by in the vid biz, but well-done variations of well-worn genres are often enough to hold over even the most discriminating gamers until the next Big Thing comes along.

For instance, two video-game staples--car racing and side-scrolling adventure--take on new levels of beauty, sophistication and just plain fun in Mario Kart 64 and Pandemonium. With designers finally hitting their stride on next-generation platforms, these two titles demonstrate how flawless quality games can be.

Mario Kart 64 for Nintendo 64 is as simple as they come. Pick a driver, pick a go-cart and scoot around 16 of the slickest tracks in digital racing. The N64’s thumbstick takes a little getting used to, but after a few practice laps, you’ll find the carts respond nicely to even the most gentle nudges.

Because the N64 relies on cartridges rather than CD-ROMs, the tracks load instantly and fill the screen faster and more smoothly than anything on PlayStation or Saturn. Don’t let the kiddy graphics fool you. Mario Kart 64 is a serious racer.

Among the features: the ability to veer off the tracks and find secrets that range from Peach’s Castle to a spooky railroad tunnel. Careless drivers can end up tumbling off the courses into canyons or rivers.

It’s that kind of attention to detail that makes Mario Kart 64 such fun. Despite some minor slowdowns in split-screen mode, the game works overtime to look seamless and simple. That’s tough to do.

Equally tough is delivering the kind of nonstop speed as in Pandemonium on PlayStation. At heart, Pandemonium is a good old-fashioned side-scroller that follows the exploits of a girl and her jester through ever-more complicated worlds.

But the execution excels. Detailed environments rotate at blistering speeds, and each scene is more beautiful than the last. Play is sufficient, but Pandemonium is the sort of game players enjoy exploring carefully simply because the levels are so detailed and so much fun to look at.

Control sometimes got a little confusing. Although the worlds constantly rotate, the controls stay constant. For instance, even if a player wanted to move what appeared to be forward on the screen, it would still require hitting right on the control pad--just like old two-dimensional side-scrollers.

It’s a minor beef, really--especially considering how well Pandemonium does everything else a game is supposed to do. Like Mario Kart 64, Pandemonium may not be new, but it sure feels like it.

* To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to Aaron Curtiss at The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.Curtiss@latimes.com