[thiagotomei]

It’s exactly as in Mario Kart 64! Remember, heavy characters have the higher top speed, but light characters have the higher acceleration!

[modeless]

I distinctly remember that the light characters had the highest top speed in Mario Kart 64. And according to this table, I'm right: https://tasvideos.org/GameResources/N64/MarioKart64#:~:text=...

[posix86]

That'd make the heavy characters completely useless, once you're behind, there's no way to catch up anymore!

[re]

Heavy characters in Mario 64 have tighter handling than lighter characters and can cause them to spin out when bumping into them.

[posix86]

How, if both your acceleration and your top speed is worse?

[re]

I'm not sure what exactly "how" is referring to, but by "tight handling" I mean having a smaller turning radius and losing less speed when turning.

[willcipriano]

It's not a big difference and you can't be at top speed for long.

[coryrc]

Yes, except for items and doing better in the pack.

[xtracto]

It was similar in the original Mario Kart of the SNES. I clearly remember always choosing toad or koopa because they "felt" the more average to me. Donkey Kong was difficult to handle and also had slow acceleration, same with bowser.