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.
**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
;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.

## References
## 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](http://www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Kart_(series))