Mario Kart Arcade GP DX: National Match (Kyushu and Okinawa)

The Grand Prix mode was just a warm up for this beast of challenge. Exclusive to the Japanese version, National Match allows you to race CPUs based on other accounts that are also in the same area of the mode as you. Each region contains their own pool of courses and you gain ranks as you conquer regions of Japan which makes it so higher ranked players will get pinned against you more often. It's not quite the same online as in other Mario Kart titles, but the progression system and matchmaking against CPUs of other accounts definitely makes up for it. As a side note, I'm not sure where the emulator is pulling from to pick the accounts of others for CPUs. Whether it's from the official servers, ones from the emulator's database, or none at all and just presenting random opponents, it doesn't matter in the long run as I still need to beat this mode anyway. Let's see if I can claim that special kart at the end...