Rush 2049 has a great feel, and lots of tracks. The entering of a personal pin to save progress/scores is great. I don't care much for the futureristic style/theme though. More classic cars and and a traditional landscape would be cooler in my opinion. But outside personal feelings on the art, the driving feel is awesome. Auto is great for the average user and shifting with a clutch is a fun gimmick for more advanced players. Having a pair is a must. If room isn't an issue, I think having 3 or 4 linked is ideal only because you can bump into cars, so the head to head jockeying is a little more interactive vs. 2 drivers where one is more experienced than the other.

I don't like the modern fast and furious games because the car flipping is so outrageous it just seems ridiculous. The newer Cruisin series looks amazing graphics wise, but driving Rush 2049 is waaaaaaay better. Rush 2049 comes appart in 2 pieces and you can gut it and fold it rather easily so the profile is pretty standard in terms of getting through doors and stuff. It's easy to convert to lcd/led, but I think keeping the crt is preferable. Don't think someone converting it to a modern monitor is a premium modification. It's worth less to me than a stock game? Because it's much easier to go to lcd than go back to crt in terms of finding a monitor and often people cut the bezels or get rid of the original trim when they switch from a 4:3 to 16:9... plus there is the noticeable image stretch if you are a perfectionist. But otherwise you don't lose image quality with a modern TV as it has a vga out...

I haven't played a modern Mario cart, so I can't compare to more go cart style game play. Good luck!