Mario Kart (series)
| Mario Kart | |
|---|---|
The current Mario Kart logo style, used since Mario Kart DS.
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| Genres | Racing |
| Developers |
Nintendo Intelligent Systems (Super Circuit) Retro Studios (Mario Kart 7) Namco/Namco Bandai (Arcade GP series) |
| Publishers | Nintendo |
| Creators | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| First release |
Super Mario Kart August 27, 1992 |
| Latest release |
Mario Kart Arcade GP VR July 14, 2017 |
Mario Kart (マリオカート Mario Kāto) is a series of go-kart-style racing video games developed and published by Nintendo as spin-offs from its trademark Super Mario series. The first in the series, Super Mario Kart, was launched in 1992 on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to critical and commercial success.
There have been six Mario Kart games released for home consoles, three portable games, and four Namco co-developed arcade games, for a total of thirteen. The latest title in the main series, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, was released on Nintendo Switch in April 2017. The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide to date.
The first title in the Mario Kart series is Super Mario Kart which was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. The development of the first game was overseen by Shigeru Miyamoto, the Japanese video game designer who helped create the original Super Mario Bros., as well as many other successful games for Nintendo. Darran Jones of NowGamer suggests that the original success of Super Mario Kart was the result of including characters previously seen in Mario Bros. games, while also being a new type of racing game.
In the Mario Kart series, players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters, typically from the Mario franchise. Up to twelve characters can compete in each race, the exact number varies between titles.
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 course as hazards. The type of weapon received from an item box is often random, though sometimes influenced by the player's current position in the race. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items while the leader will only receive small defensive items. Called rubber banding, this gameplay mechanism allows other players or computers a realistic chance to catch up to the leading player.
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Wikipedia