Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games and a spin-off Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses mostly from the Mario series as well as other gaming franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, Excitebike, and Splatoon.
Super Mario Kart is a kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The first game in the Mario Kart series, it was released in Japan and North America in 1992, and in Europe the following year in 1993. Selling 8.76 million copies worldwide, the game went on to become the fourth best-selling SNES game of all time. Super Mario Kart was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013, and on the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2016. Nintendo re-released Super Mario Kart in 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit is a 2001 kart racing game for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). It is the third Mario Kart game and retains its predecessors' gameplay: as a Mario franchise character, the player races opponents around tracks based on locales from the Super Mario platform games. Tracks contain obstacles and power-ups that respectively hamper and aid the player's progress. Super Circuit includes various single-player and multiplayer game modes, including a Grand Prix racing mode and a last man standing battle mode.
Mario Kart 64 is a kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 (N64). It is the second main entry in the Mario Kart series and is the successor to Super Mario Kart (1992) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan on December 14, 1996; in North America on February 10, 1997; in the United Kingdom on June 13, 1997; and in Europe on June 24, 1997. It was released for the iQue Player in China on December 25, 2003. It was released on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console in 2007 and 2016, and on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on October 25, 2021.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a 2003 kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube (GCN). This game is the fourth main entry in the Mario Kart series, succeeding Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001). It is the first game in the series to use 3D polygon graphics for the racers, as opposed to sprites, after Mario Kart 64 (1996) only used polygons for the environments, and 2D sprites for the racers.
Mario Kart DS is a 2005 kart racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 1 and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in November 2005 in North America, Europe, and Australia, and on December 8, 2005, in Japan. The game was re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in North America and PAL regions in April 2015 and in Japan in May 2016.
Sonic Drift is a 1994 racing game based on Sonic the Hedgehog developed and published by Sega for the Game Gear. Players control one of four characters as they race to the finish line, with 18 tracks themed after levels in 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic Drift 2, released in Europe as Sonic Drift Racing, is a kart racing video game by Sega for the Game Gear. The sequel to Sonic Drift, it was released in Japan and Europe in March 1995 and in North America in November 1995. It added three characters: Knuckles, Fang the Sniper, and Metal Sonic, and marked the first time the last two were playable characters. Sonic Drift 2 was later released worldwide as part of Sonic Adventure DX in 2003 and the compilation game Sonic Gems Collection in 2005. It was released again in 2023 as part of Sonic Origins Plus.
Mario Kart Arcade GP is an arcade sub-series of Nintendo's Mario Kart series, developed and published by Namco and later Bandai Namco Games under license from Nintendo. In all installments, for an additional fee, a player's data can be saved on a magnetic card which can be inserted into the machine again later to retain unlocked items and records. Nintendo had a limited role in development, mainly for quality control purposes. It has a camera to photograph the player's face. The photo can be customized and displayed above the player's character during multiplayer races.
Bomberman Land 2: The Biggest Theme Park in Game History is a 2003 video game developed by Racjin and published by Hudson Soft that was released in July for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. Part of the Bomberman franchise, it is the sequel and the second game in the Bomberman Land series.
Nicktoons Racing is a Nickelodeon crossover racing video game. The game was first developed by Pipe Dream and released for the Game Boy Color, while versions for different platforms were released in subsequent years. Most versions were developed by Software Creations with the exception of the Game Boy Advance version, which was developed by Crawfish Interactive, and the arcade version, which was developed by Chicago Gaming.
Mario Kart Wii is a 2008 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the sixth installment in the Mario Kart series, and was released in April 2008. Like its previous installments, Mario Kart Wii incorporates playable characters from the Mario series, who participate in races on 32 different race tracks using specialized items to hinder opponents or gain advantages. The game features multiple single-player and multiplayer game modes including two to four person split screen. Online multiplayer was supported until the discontinuation of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in May 2014. Mario Kart Wii uses the Wii Remote's motion-controls to provide intuitive and conventional steering controls. Each copy of the game was bundled with the Wii Wheel accessory to augment this feature and mimic a steering wheel.
Banjo-Pilot is a 2005 kart racing video game for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) and the fourth instalment in Rare's Banjo-Kazooie series. It plays similarly to the Mario Kart series by Nintendo: the player races one of nine playable characters around tracks, attacking other racers with bullets and collecting power-ups. The game features a number of single-player and multiplayer modes, such as time attack and item hunts. Unlike other kart racing games, characters control airplanes instead of go-karts.
Cars 2 is a 2011 racing game based on the 2011 film of the same name. Originally announced at E3 2011, the game was released by Disney Interactive Studios on all major platforms in North America on June 21, 2011, and in Australia two days later. The game was released in Europe on July 22, 2011. Versions for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Portable were released later that year in November. The game features an array of Cars characters competing in spy adventures, as well as racing. The game received mixed reviews from critics.
LittleBigPlanet Karting is a kart racing video game developed by United Front Games and San Diego Studio, in conjunction with series creators Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth game of the LittleBigPlanet franchise, and the third LittleBigPlanet game to be released on the console. The game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment and was released in November 2012.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012; for PlayStation Vita in December 2012; for Windows in January 2013; for Nintendo 3DS in February 2013; and for Android and iOS devices in January 2014. The PS3 and Wii U versions of the game were released in Japan on May 15, 2014.
Team Sonic Racing is a 2019 kart racing game and a spin-off from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series. Controlling one of 15 characters from the series' cast, players compete in races using sports cars. Gameplay is from a third-person perspective, with players performing tricks, drifting, and collecting power-ups. Team Sonic Racing differs from traditional kart racers because of its focus on cooperative gameplay, similar to the kind featured in Splatoon (2015) and Overwatch (2016)—players are part of a team of racers and win races through efficiency rather than speed. Game modes include competing to earn points, time trials, customizing the racing rules, and a story-driven tutorial campaign.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is a racing game developed by Bamtang Games and published by GameMill Entertainment in North America, Maximum Games in Europe, and Ripples Asia Venture in Japan. A sequel to 2018's Nickelodeon Kart Racers, it was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 6, 2020, and for Windows on December 1, 2020. Mobile versions for Android and iOS were later released on February 24, 2022. A sequel, titled Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, was released in October 2022.
Gensou SkyDrift is a racing Touhou Project fangame developed in 2019 by illuCalab for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch, by a development team who had previously worked on Mario Kart 8. In 2021, it was released for PlayStation 4.
Chocobo GP is a 2022 kart racing game developed by Arika and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo Switch. The game is a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series and is a sequel to 1999's Chocobo Racing. It was released in celebration of the series' 35th anniversary and features locales and characters from across the franchise.
