I actually like Mario Kart 64's battle system. While Big Donut is "simplistic", it makes for some interesting battles based purely on dodging and blocking skills. The skyscraper, if you get skilled at it, can be quite interesting. Much like you can use a feather to avoid a weapon, you can hop over the gaps between the inner and outer area to avoid a red shell. The other two arenas I look at the other person's screen and find them by color. My dad doesn't fully agree with this, but he's welcome to do the same, and often he does.

As for the feather argument, you have the same choice with the items you carry with you. If I had a ? block bomb, I could use it to avoid a red shell or something of that nature, or drop it in favor of another item. It's really the same choice. Avoiding a weapon by using your surroundings is not what I'd consider cheap, because you have to fire at the right moment and at the right angle to hit them.

I can tell that you and I are not going to see eye-to-eye on this at all, Camira, since I hated Super Mario Kart but love Mario Kart 64. However, I'll agree with you on most kart games after MK64 were not up to scratch.