Mario Kart

***Mario Kart*** (stylized as **MARIOKART**) is a series of racing video games and media franchise, made by Nintendo. It began with _Super Mario Kart_ for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. To date, there are seven _Mario Kart_ games on home consoles, three portable games, and four Namco co-developed arcade games, making a total of fourteen. The latest game of the series is _Mario Kart World_.

## Gameplay

In the _Mario Kart_ series, players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters from the _Mario_ franchise. Up to eight participants can compete in each race, with the exception of _Mario Kart Wii_, and Mario Kart 8 which each hold twelve, and Mario Kart World with twenty-four. One of the features of the series is the use of various power-up items obtained by driving into item boxes laid out on the course. These power-ups include mushrooms to give players a speed boost, Koopa Shells to be thrown at opponents, and banana peels that can be laid on the track as hazards. The type of weapon received from an item box is random and often influenced by the player's position in the race. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items while the leader will only receive small defensive items. This gameplay mechanic–called "rubber banding"– allows other players or computers a realistic chance to eat up the leading player no matter how far ahead they are. As the series has progresses, each new title has introduced new elements in order to keep the gameplay fresh. Changes typically include new items, new stages, and new methods of obtaining speed boosts, but most games have also featured a new play mechanic as well. Changes new titles have brought to the series include: _Mario Kart 64_ introducing 4-player racing and bringing the series into the third dimension, _Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s_ introducing a partner system and the Double Dash!!, _Mario Kart Wii's_ use of motorbikes and twelve participants per race, _Mario Kart 7's introduction of_ hang gliders, underwater driving, and a new first-person perspective, as well as customizing karts, and the newest entry into the franchise, _Mario Kart World_, featuring 24 participants per race, rail and wall grinding, and an open world gamemode.

### Courses

Many course themes are repeated throughout the series. For example, most games have featured a circuit course, a desert course, a city or highway course with traffic, some form of a beach course, a stadium course, a jungle course, an ice or snow course, Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road. Each game in the series includes 16 original courses, with the exception of _Super Mario Kart_ and _Super Circuit_, which holds 20. Most races have three laps, while some games have more or less. There are also three to six original battle arenas in each game, designed exclusively for Battle mode. So far, there are 120 original courses and 30 original arenas spread throughout these seven games. Additionally, there are 48 Retro courses and 10 Retro arenas. These consist of older material recreated for newer games.

### Recurring items

- **Banana peel**: deployed as a hazard to other racers. Sometimes appears in a group of three.
- **Green/Red Koopa shell**: projectile fired at other racers. Green shells go straight and bounce off walls whereas red shells home in on other racers. Appears either as a single shell or as a group of three.
- **Spiny shell**: indestructible shell that homes in on the player in 1st place. In _Mario Kart 64_, _Mario Kart: Super Circuit_, and _Mario Kart 7_, it travels along the ground and also knocks down other karts in its path; in the other games it is airborne and damages the 1st placed racer only. Also known as **Blue Shells**.
- **Starman**: gives temporary invincibility and as well as an increase in speed. Knocks out other karts on contact.

- **Bob-omb**: A bomb that explodes after a set amount of time or on contact.
- **Lightning Bolt/Thunderbolt**: strikes all other racers with lightning, temporarily causing them to shrink and slow down.
- **Mushroom**: gives user a speed boost. Sometimes appears in a group of three.
- **Boo**: makes user temporarily invisible (to opponents) and invincible, as well as stealing another racer's item. This item has been dropped in later games.
- **Fake Item Box**: looks similar to a real item box, but is instead used as a hazard to trick other racers.
- **Bullet Bill**: Transforms the kart to an automated bullet which travels the course at a faster-than-usual speed, knocking out any kart in its path.

### Modes of play

Each _Mario Kart_ game features a variety of different modes. The following modes recur most often in the series:

- **Grand Prix** – players compete in various "cups," groups of several courses each. Players earn points according to their finishing position in each race, and the player with the most points at the end of the cup wins a trophy. In some games, a ranking system is also included to determine the player's overall performance.
- **Time Trial** – (single player) the player attempts to complete any course in the fastest time possible with three mushrooms to be used at anytime during the run. The best time is then saved as a ghost, in which the player can compete against in later runs.
- **VS** – multiple human players compete against each other on any course with custom rules. Also playable in single player mode since _Mario Kart DS_.
- **Battle** – players use race items to battle each other in a closed arena. Each player starts the battle with three balloons and loses a balloon with every hit sustained; the last player possessing at least one balloon wins the match. In later installments, other battles have been added including throwing Bob-ombs at opponents, collecting Shine Sprites (an object found in _Super Mario Sunshine_) and coins. In _Mario Kart Wii_ and _Mario Kart 7_, the battles have a time limit. Since _Mario Kart DS_, battle mode is playable in both single and multiplayer.

### Console games

- _Super Mario Kart_ (1992, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console)
- _Mario Kart 64_ (1996, Nintendo 64, Virtual Console)
- _Mario Kart: Super Circuit_ (2001, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console)
- _Mario Kart: Double Dash!!_ (2003, Nintendo GameCube)
- _Mario Kart DS_ (2005, Nintendo DS, Virtual Console)
- _Mario Kart Wii_ (2008, Wii)
- _Mario Kart 7_ (2011, Nintendo 3DS)
- _Mario Kart 8_ (2014, Wii U
- _Mario Kart 8 Deluxe_* (2017, Nintendo Switch)
- _Mario Kart World_ (2025, Nintendo Switch 2)

### Arcade games

- _Mario Kart Arcade GP_ (2005, Arcade) (Co-developed by Namco)
- _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_ (2007, Arcade) (Co-developed by Namco)
- _Mario Kart Arcade GP DX_ (2013, Arcade) (Co-developed by Namco)
- _Mario Kart Arcade GP VR_ (2017, Arcade) (Co-developed by Namco)

### Mobile games

- _Mario Kart Tour_ (2019)

## Other appearances

Several _Mario Kart_-related items appear in the _Super Smash Bros._ series, with _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_ in particular featuring a stage based on one of _Mario Kart DS_ courses. Certain courses from the series have also appeared in _F-Zero X_, _Itadaki Street DS_, _Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games_, _Fortune Street_ and _Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games_. Various items from the series can also be seen in games such as _Nintendogs_ and _Animal Crossing_.

## Characters

|style="width:7.69230769%;"|Driver|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #7D0A0F;"|_<span style="color: white;">Super</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #D8090F;"|_<span style="color: white;">64</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #FF0B84;"|_<span style="color: white;">Super Circuit</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #FD86C0;"|_<span style="color: white;">Double Dash‼</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #ED6F08;"|_<span style="color: white;">Arcade GP</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #DDB805;"|_<span style="color: white;">DS</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #289842;"|_<span style="color: white;">Arcade GP 2</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #094C2D;"|_<span style="color: white;">Wii</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #161F4A;"|_<span style="color: white;">7</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: #183060;"|_<span style="color: white;">Arcade GP DX</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%; background: purple;"|_<span style="color: white;">8</span>_|style="width:7.69230769%;"|Total appearances|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Baby Daisy**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Baby Luigi**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Baby Mario**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Baby Peach**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Baby Rosalina**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Birdo**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Black Shy Guy**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Black Yoshi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Blinky**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Blue Shy Guy**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Blue Yoshi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Bowser**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Bowser Jr.**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Cat Peach**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Diddy Kong**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Don-chan**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Donkey Kong**||||||||||||**10**||||||||||||||
|**Donkey Kong Jr.**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Dry Bones**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Dry Bowser**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Fire Mario**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Funky Kong**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Honey Queen**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Ice Luigi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Iggy Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Isabelle**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**King Boo**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Knight Don-chan**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Koopa Troopa**||||||||||||**5**||||||||||||||
|**Lakitu**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Larry Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Lemmy Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Light Blue Shy Guy**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Light Blue Yoshi**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Link**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Ludwig von Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Luigi**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Mametchi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Mario**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Metal Mario**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Mii**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Morton Koopa Jr.**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Ms. Pac-Man**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Orange Shy Guy**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Orange Yoshi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Pac-Man**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Paratroopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Petey Piranha**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Pink Gold Peach**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Pink Shy Guy**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Pink Yoshi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Princess Daisy**||||||||||||**5**||||||||||||||
|**Princess Peach**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Red Yoshi**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**R.O.B.**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Rosalina**||||||||||||**4**||||||||||||||
|**Roy Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Shy Guy**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Strawberry Don-chan**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Tanooki Mario**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Toad**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Toadette**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Villager**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Waluigi**||||||||||||**6**||||||||||||||
|**Wario**||||||||||||**10**||||||||||||||
|**Wendy O. Koopa**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**White Shy Guy**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**White Yoshi**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Wiggler**||||||||||||**1**||||||||||||||
|**Yellow Shy Guy**||||||||||||**3**||||||||||||||
|**Yellow Yoshi**||||||||||||**2**||||||||||||||
|**Yoshi**||||||||||||**11**||||||||||||||
|**Total**|style="text-align:center;"|**8**|style="text-align:center;"|**8**|style="text-align:center;"|**11**|style="text-align:center;"|**20**|style="text-align:center;"|**11**|style="text-align:center;"|**19**|style="text-align:center;"|**13**|style="text-align:center;"|**25**|style="text-align:center;"|**19**|style="text-align:center;"|**20**|style="text-align:center;"|**51**|style="text-align:center;"|**--**||
- Notes

## Merchandise

_Mario Kart_ has had a range of merchandise released. This includes a Scalextric style _Mario Kart DS_ Figure-8-Circuit. It comes with Mario and Donkey Kong figures, while a Wario and a Luigi are available separately. It also includes CD soundtracks. A line of remote-controlled karts are available in stores. Each kart has a Game Boy Advance-shaped controller. It features forward driving and rotates when put in reverse, instead of steering. The current line-up of karts is Mario, Donkey Kong and Yoshi. There are three large karts that depict the same trio. These karts are controlled by a GameCube controller shape. Japanese figurines of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser are also available for purchase as well as for _Mario Kart 64_, figures of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi were made by Toybiz. There is also a land-line telephone featuring Mario holding a lightning bolt while seated in his Kart,  as seen here.
K'Nex has released _Mario Kart Wii_ sets, with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Bowser in karts and bikes. Club Nintendo also released merchandise with a platinum soundtrack from _Mario Kart Wii_ and three gold trophies from _Mario Kart 7_.

## Reception

_Nintendo Power_ listed the _Mario Kart_ series as being one of the greatest multi-player experiences, citing the diversity in game modes as well as the entertainment value found.

Guinness World Records awarded the _Mario Kart_ series with five world records in the _Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008_, including "First Console Kart Racing Game" and "Best Selling Handheld Racing Game."  Guinness World Records ranked the original _Super Mario Kart_ number 1 on the list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.

## Other websites

- Official Nintendo sites:
    - North American _Mario Kart 7_ site
    - UK _Mario Kart DS_ site
- Mario Kart Wiki
- _Mario Kart_ at the Super Mario Wiki)

## Infobox (video game series)

- **title**: Mario Kart
- **creator**: Shigeru Miyamoto
- **state**: Ongoing
- **image**: Mario Kart 2025Logo.png
- **caption**: Logo used since Mario Kart DS
- **publisher**: Nintendo
- **genre**: Racing video game, Racing
- **first release version**: _Super Mario Kart_
- **latest release version**: _Mario Kart World_