
Mario Kart

 is a series of go-kart racing video games developed and published by Nintendo, as a spin-off from its flagship "Super Mario" series. Its characters include those from the "Mario", "The Legend of Zelda", and "Animal Crossing" series, competing in races while using various items to gain advantage.
The series was launched in 1992 with "Super Mario Kart" on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, to critical and commercial success.
The "Mario Kart" series totals fourteen games, with six on home consoles, three on handheld consoles, four arcade games co-developed with Namco, and one for mobile phones. The latest game in the main series, "", was released on Nintendo Switch in October 2020. To date, more than 150 million copies in the series have been sold worldwide.
History.
The first game in the "Mario Kart" series is "Super Mario Kart" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. Its development was overseen by 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.
Gameplay.
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; the exact number varies between games.
Gameplay is enhanced by 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, banana peels, and fake item boxes as hazards. The game chooses an item based on the player's current position in the race. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items, such as Bullet Bills which give the player a bigger speed boost depending on the place of the player, while the leader may only receive small defensive items, such as shells or bananas. Called rubber banding, this gameplay mechanism allows other racers a realistic chance to catch up to the leading racer. They can perform driving techniques during the race such as rocket starts, slipstreaming, and mini-turbos.
Each new game has introduced new gameplay elements, such as new circuits, items, modes, and playable characters.
Characters.
"Mario Kart" mainly features characters from the "Mario" franchise, such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Koopa Troopa, and Donkey Kong Jr. The "Mario Kart Arcade GP" series features Bandai Namco characters from the "Pac-Man" and "Tamagotchi" series. The DLC for "Mario Kart 8" added Link from "The Legend of Zelda", and Villager and Isabelle from "Animal Crossing". "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" has 42 characters, including the Inklings from "Splatoon".
Courses.
Many recurring course themes are based on the "Mario" franchise, such as Bowser's Castle. Unique courses inspired by the Mushroom Kingdom include Rainbow Road, above a city or in space. Each game after "Super Mario Kart" includes at least 16 original courses and up to 6 original battle arenas. Each game's tracks are divided into four "cups", or groups in which the player has to have the highest overall ranking to win and they are the Mushroom Cup, the Flower Cup, the Star Cup, and the Special Cup. Most courses can be done in three laps, except in the original game where all circuits required five laps to finish, seven in "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" when racing on Baby Park, and two in "Double Dash!!" when racing on Wario Colosseum as well as in "Mario Kart Tour". The first game to feature courses from previous games was "Mario Kart: Super Circuit", which contained all of the tracks from the original Super NES game. Starting with "Mario Kart DS", each entry in the series has featured sixteen "nitro" (brand new courses introduced for said game) and 16 "retro" tracks (reappearing courses from previous "Mario Kart" games), spread across four cups each with four races. The four Retro Grand Prix cups are the Shell Cup, the Banana Cup, the Leaf Cup, and the Lightning Cup. In "Mario Kart 8", sixteen additional tracks are available across two downloadable packages, eight for each package downloaded, including seven retro courses, four original courses, and five courses based on other Nintendo franchises, including "Excitebike", "F-Zero", "The Legend of Zelda", and "Animal Crossing" divided into four additional cups; the Egg Cup, the Triforce Cup, the Crossing Cup, and the Bell Cup. "Mario Kart Tour" introduced courses from around the world including New York City, Tokyo, Paris, London, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and variant courses raced in reverse, with additional ramps and elevation, and a combination of the two.
Modes.
Each game has a variety of modes. The following five modes recur most often in the series:
Merchandise.
The "Mario Kart" series has had a range of merchandise. This includes a slot car racer series based on "Mario Kart DS", which comes with Mario and Donkey Kong figures and Wario and Luigi are separate. 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 Item Box. A land-line 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 has released an animated sticker set with 24 stickers based on "Mario Kart 8" and "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe".
Nintendo's own 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, (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Shy Guy, Metal Mario, Rosalina, Bowser, and Yoshi) and a special die with power-ups.
In 2019, Hot Wheels released "Mario Kart" sets of cars and tracks.
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.
Reception.
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.
"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. "Super Mario Kart" was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2019.
Sales.
Like the "Super Mario" series, the "Mario Kart" series is a commercial success with more than 150 million copies sold in total. 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. "Mario Kart 64" is the second best-selling game for the Nintendo 64 (behind "Super Mario 64"), at 9.87 million copies. "" is the second best-selling GameCube game (next to "Super Smash Bros. Melee") with 6.96 million copies sold. "Mario Kart Wii" is the best-selling in the series and is the second best-selling Wii game (next to "Wii Sports") at 37.38 million copies. "Mario Kart 8" is the best-selling Wii U game at 8.45 million total copies sold. 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". 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. It is the highest-selling Nintendo Switch game with a total of 28.99 million copies worldwide, outperforming the Wii U version. Both versions have a combined total of 33.22 million copies sold, making it the second best-selling game in the series.
The handheld games are commercial successes. "" is the fourth best-selling Game Boy Advance game at 5.9 million copies. 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 23.60 million copies. "Mario Kart 7" is the best-selling Nintendo 3DS game as of September 2020 at 18.92 million copies.
Legacy.
"Mario Kart" elements are a staple of the "Super Smash Bros." series, such as the Figure-8 Circuit based on "Mario Kart DS", a Rainbow Road stage based on "Mario Kart 7", a Mario Circuit stage based on "Mario Kart 8", Spirits, and songs.
"Mario Kart" courses are in "F-Zero X", "Fortune Street", the "Mario & Sonic" series, ', ', and the "WarioWare" series. Items are in "Nintendogs" and "Animal Crossing".
Rental go-kart dispute.
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. MariCar's English website warned customers not to throw "banana peels" or "red turtle shells". The service is popular with tourists.
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".
In February 2017, Nintendo sued MariCar over copyright infringement for renting unauthorized costumes of Nintendo characters and using their pictures to promote its business. In September 2018, MariCar was ordered to stop using the characters and pay Nintendo ¥10 million in damages.
Theme park.
Universal Parks & Resorts and Nintendo have a "Mario Kart" themed ride within Super Nintendo World at the Universal Studios Japan theme park. This is also to be installed at the Universal parks in Singapore, Orlando, and California. "Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge" is at Universal's Epic Universe in Florida.