Mario Kart | |
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Genre(s) | Kart racing |
Developer(s) |
|
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Creator(s) | |
Platform(s) | |
First release | Super Mario Kart August 27, 1992 |
Latest release | Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit October 16, 2020 |
Spin-offs |
Mario Kart [a] is a series of kart racing games based on the 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 .
The series was launched in 1992 with Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), to critical and commercial success. [1] The Mario Kart series totals fifteen games, with seven on home consoles, three on handheld consoles, four arcade games co-developed with Namco, and one for mobile phones. The latest game in the series, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit , was released on the Nintendo Switch in October 2020. Over 178.19 million copies in the series have been sold worldwide.
In the Mario Kart series, players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters, mainly from the Mario franchise. Up to twelve characters can compete in each race (varying per game). Players can perform driving techniques during the race such as rocket starts, slipstreaming, drifting, and mini-turbos.
Gameplay is enhanced by power-up items obtained by driving into item boxes laid out on the course. These power-ups vary across games in the series, but generally include Mushrooms to give players a speed boost, Red and Green Shells to be thrown at opponents, Banana Peels, and hazards such as Fake Item Boxes. The game selects an item based on the player's current position in the race, utilising a mechanism known as rubber banding. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items such as Bullet Bills, which give the player invincibility while auto-piloting them forward at great speed, while the leader of a race may only receive small defensive items, such as Shells or Bananas. This gameplay mechanism allows other racers a realistic chance to catch up to the leading racer.
In the original game, Super Mario Kart, the player takes control of one of eight Mario series characters, each with differing capabilities. In single player mode, players can race against computer-controlled characters in 4 multi-race cups consisting of 20 tracks (5 in each cup) over three difficulty levels (50cc, 100cc and 150cc). Alternatively, players can race against the clock in a Time Trial mode. In multiplayer mode, two players can simultaneously take part in the cups or can race against each other one-on-one in Match Race mode. In a third multiplayer mode – Battle Mode – the aim is to defeat the other players by attacking them with power-ups, destroying balloons which surround each kart.
Each new game has introduced new gameplay elements, such as new circuits, items, modes, and playable characters.
Each game has a variety of modes. The following five modes recur most often in the series:
The debut game in the Mario Kart series was Super Mario Kart released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1992. Its development was overseen by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the Japanese designer of many successful Nintendo games including Super Mario Bros. Darran Jones of NowGamer suggests that the success of Super Mario Kart resulted from the Super Mario characters, and being a new type of racing game. [5]
1992 | Super Mario Kart |
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1993–1995 | |
1996 | Mario Kart 64 |
1997–2000 | |
2001 | Mario Kart: Super Circuit |
2002 | |
2003 | Mario Kart: Double Dash |
2004 | |
2005 | Mario Kart Arcade GP |
Mario Kart DS | |
2006 | |
2007 | Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 |
2008 | Mario Kart Wii |
2009–2010 | |
2011 | Mario Kart 7 |
2012 | |
2013 | Mario Kart Arcade GP DX |
2014 | Mario Kart 8 |
2015–2016 | |
2017 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Mario Kart Arcade GP VR | |
2018 | |
2019 | Mario Kart Tour |
2020 | Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit |
Year | Game | Platform | Virtual Console/ Nintendo Switch Online re-release | ||||
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Wii | Wii U | 3DS | New 3DS | Switch | |||
1992 | Super Mario Kart | SNES | |||||
1996 | Mario Kart 64 | Nintendo 64 | |||||
2001 | Mario Kart: Super Circuit | Game Boy Advance | [nb 1] | [nb 1] | |||
2003 | Mario Kart: Double Dash!! | Nintendo GameCube | † | ||||
2005 | Mario Kart DS | Nintendo DS | † | † | |||
2008 | Mario Kart Wii | Wii | ‡ | † | |||
2011 | Mario Kart 7 | Nintendo 3DS | ‡ | † | |||
2014 | Mario Kart 8 | Wii U | ‡ | ||||
2017 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Nintendo Switch | ‡ | ||||
2020 | Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit | Nintendo Switch | ‡ |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
Game | Year | Units sold (in millions) | GameRankings | Metacritic |
---|---|---|---|---|
Super Mario Kart (SNES) | 1992 | 8.76 [14] | 94% | 94/100 |
Mario Kart 64 (N64) | 1996 | 9.87 [14] | 87% | 83/100 |
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA) | 2001 | 5.90 [14] | 92% | 93/100 |
Mario Kart: Double Dash (GCN) | 2003 | 6.96 [14] | 87% | 87/100 |
Mario Kart DS (NDS) | 2005 | 23.60 [15] | 91% | 91/100 |
Mario Kart Wii (Wii) | 2008 | 37.38 [16] | 82% | 82/100 |
Mario Kart 7 (3DS) | 2011 | 18.98 [17] | 85% | 85/100 |
Mario Kart 8 (WiiU) | 2014 | 8.46 [18] | 88% | 88/100 |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS) | 2017 | 60.58 [19] | 92% | 92/100 |
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (NS) | 2020 | 1.27 [20] | — | 75/100 |
The Mario Kart series is critically acclaimed. Nintendo Power named it one of the greatest multiplayer experiences, citing the diversity in game modes and the entertainment value. [21]
Guinness World Records listed six records set by the Mario Kart series, including "First Console Kart Racing Game", "Best Selling Racing Game", and "Longest Running Kart Racing Franchise". Guinness World Records ranked Super Mario Kart number 1 of the top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy. [22] Super Mario Kart was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2019. [23]
Like the Super Mario series, the Mario Kart series is a commercial success with 178.19 million copies sold in total. [24] It is currently the most successful racing game franchise of all time. Super Mario Kart is the fourth-best-selling Super Nintendo Entertainment System game with 8.76 million copies sold. [14] Mario Kart 64 is the second-best-selling game for the Nintendo 64 (behind Super Mario 64 ), at 9.87 million copies. [14] Mario Kart: Double Dash is the second-best-selling GameCube game (next to Super Smash Bros. Melee ) with 6.96 million copies sold. [14] Mario Kart Wii is the second-best-selling in the series and is the second-best-selling Wii game (next to Wii Sports ) at 37.38 million copies. [16] Mario Kart 8 is the best-selling Wii U game at 8.46 million total copies sold. [18] It was the fastest-selling Wii U game with 1.2 million copies shipped in North America and Europe combined on its first few days since launch, until Super Smash Bros. for Wii U . [25] [26] The enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is the fastest-selling game in the series with 459,000 units sold in the United States in one day of its launch. [27] It is the highest-selling Nintendo Switch game [28] with a total of 57.01 million copies worldwide, outperforming the Wii U version. Both versions have a combined total of 65.47 million copies sold, making it the best-selling game in the series, and also the best selling Mario game as a whole.
The handheld games are commercial successes. Mario Kart: Super Circuit is the fourth-best-selling Game Boy Advance game at 5.9 million copies. [14] The second portable game, Mario Kart DS , is the third-best-selling Nintendo DS game and the best-selling portable game in the series with a total of 23.6 million copies. [15] Mario Kart 7 is the best-selling Nintendo 3DS game as of March 2023 at 18.98 million copies. [17]
The Mario Kart series has had a range of merchandise. This includes a slot car racer series based on Mario Kart DS: one set of which comes with Mario and Donkey Kong figures, with Wario and Luigi available separately. A line of radio-controlled karts are controlled by Game Boy Advance-shaped controllers, and feature Mario, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. There are additional, larger karts which are radio-controlled by a GameCube-shape controller. Many racer figurines have been made. Sound Drops were inspired by Mario Kart Wii with eight sounds including the Spiny Shell and the race start countdown. A landline telephone features Mario holding a lightning bolt while seated in his kart. K'Nex released Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and Mario Kart 8 sets. Line released an animated sticker set with 24 stickers based on Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Nintendo's customer rewards program, Club Nintendo, released a Mario Kart 8 soundtrack, a Mario Kart Wii-themed stopwatch, and three gold trophies modeled after those in Mario Kart 7. Before Club Nintendo, a Mario Kart 64 soundtrack was offered by mail. In 2014, McDonald's released Mario Kart 8 toys with Happy Meals. In 2018, Monopoly Gamer features a Mario Kart themed board game with courses from Mario Kart 8 serving as properties, ten playable characters as tokens (pingas) and a special die with power-ups. In 2019, Hot Wheels released Mario Kart sets of cars and tracks. In commemoration of Mario Day celebrations for March 10, 2021, Hot Wheels also released a Mario Kart track set based on Rainbow Road on June 24, 2021. [29] In 2020, for the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, Cold Stone Creamery released Mario themed desserts including a Rainbow Road themed ice cream cake, from September 30 to December 15. [30]
In September 2016, Nintendo filed an objection against the Japanese company MariCar, which rents go-karts modified for use on public roads in Tokyo along with costumes resembling Nintendo characters. [31] MariCar's English website warned customers not to throw "banana peels" or "red turtle shells". [32] The service is popular with tourists. [31]
Nintendo argued that the MariCar name was "intended to be mistaken for or confused with" Mario Kart, citing games commonly known by abbreviations in Japan, such as Pokémon (for Pocket Monsters) and Sumabura ( Super Smash Bros. ). In January 2017, the Japan Patent Office dismissed the objection, ruling that MariCar was not widely recognized as an abbreviation of Mario Kart. [31]
In February 2017, Nintendo sued MariCar over copyright infringement for renting unauthorized costumes of Nintendo characters and using their images to promote its business. [31] In September 2018, MariCar was ordered to stop using the characters and pay Nintendo ¥10 million in damages. [32]
Universal Destinations & Experiences' immersive Super Nintendo World areas in Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood feature the Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride as their primary "anchor" attraction. Utilizing innovative augmented reality technology and dark ride set design, guests travel through several environments from Mario Kart 8, including Rainbow Road. The Japan version of the attraction includes a Mario Kart themed shop called "Mario Motors", and a nearby "Pit Stop Popcorn" food stand. [33] The Bowser's Challenge ride is also expected to be built in Epic Universe's version of Super Nintendo World. [34]
Starting with its 2018–19 season, electric open wheel racing series Formula E added a so-called "attack mode", which allows a driver to gain a temporary speed boost if they take an alternate lane (highlighted on television via augmented reality computer graphics). The concept has been described by members of the press and by series CEO Alejandro Agag as inspired by Mario Kart. [35] [36]
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.
Koopa Troopas are a fictional turtle-like race of characters from the Mario media franchise. They are commonly referred to as Koopas, a more broad classification of creatures that includes Bowser, his Koopalings, and Lakitu. Predecessors to Koopa Troopas, Shellcreepers, first appeared in the 1983 game Mario Bros., while Koopa Troopas themselves debuted two years later in Super Mario Bros. (1985). Koopa Troopas are a common staple in most Super Mario and spin-off games. When defeated, they may flee from or retreat inside their shells, which can usually be used as weapons. Koopa shells are a recurring weapon in the franchise, particularly popularized in the Mario Kart series, in which they can be fired as projectiles against other racers. Despite making up the bulk of Bowser's army, Koopa Troopas are often shown to be peaceful, sometimes even teaming up with protagonist Mario.
Mario Kart 64 is a 1996 kart racing 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, and in North America and Europe in 1997. It was released for the iQue Player in China on December 25, 2003. It was released on the Wii's and Wii U's 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. It is the fourth main entry in the Mario Kart series. Similar to previous titles, Double Dash challenges Mario series player characters to race against each other on 16 Mario-themed tracks. The game introduced a number of gameplay features, such as having two riders per kart.
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Mario Kart DS is a 2005 kart racing game developed 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. The game is the fifth main entry in the Mario Kart series, and the first to be playable via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service. Like other games in the series, Mario Kart DS features characters from the Mario series and pits them against each other as they race in karts on tracks based on locations in the Mario series.
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Mario Kart Arcade GP is a sub-series of arcade games in Nintendo's Mario Kart series developed specifically for arcades in collaboration with Namco. To date, four entries have been released—Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005), Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007), Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013), and Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017). The first three entries are considered to be relatively rare outside of Japan, with the fourth title not seeing a release outside of Japan at all. The games have been generally been well-received by critics, who have praised the game's transition of traditional Mario Kart gameplay into an arcade game format, while lamenting that none of the entries have been released outside of the arcade format onto any of Nintendo's home video game consoles.
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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.
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