In the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64, instead of the announcer and menu options being voiced by Mario, they are instead voiced by the same VA who played the announcer in Wave Race 64: John Hulaton.

According to Hulaton in an interview with DidYouKnowGaming?, after recording his lines for Wave Race 64 he was handed a slip of paper and was then told to record the lines on it without being told what it was for. These lines ended up being for Mario Kart 64. Hulaton's agent was reportedly very upset, as Hulaton was not paid for these lines and on top of that his name was misspelled as 'John Huraton' in the credits.

The line he recorded saying "Congratulation!" would then later be used in both the Japanese and International versions of Mario Kart: Super Circuit, where he remained uncredited.