From my perspective that’s when Mario Kart caught up with Crash Team Racing’s drivability from the PS1. Not even the successors to CTR got it right. Even the remake/remaster feels off (sewer speedway physics are horrible and the shortcut felt impossible on the newer versions). Mario Kart 8 feels similarly like an extension of what you want to happen and it just does. I do have more fate on Nintendo keeping it going in future iterations.