Without a doubt, Mario Kart is Nintendo’s most successful franchise. Since the Super Nintendo, the series has always managed to attract audiences of all ages regardless of gaming experience. In fact, there has been a Mario Kart for every Nintendo platform since 1992.
With incredibly smooth controls, a wide range of popular characters, and a bucketload of dazzling tracks, Mario Kart continues to reign supreme. It was co-created by Shigeru Miyamoto and offers a Grand Prix with varying difficulty levels, time trials, VS. races, battle mode, and local and online Multiplayer.
10. Mario Kart Tour
| Initial Release | September 25, 2019 |
| Developer | Nintendo EPD |
| Platform(s) | – iOS – Android |
Mario Kart Tour is the official mobile game of the franchise by Nintendo. In a similar vein to the company’s other titles on iOS and Android, Tour offers substantial value and play without the requirement of spending any money. For years, it featured biweekly, downloadable tours with various cups that included three courses and a bonus challenge.
It is meant to be played with one hand, using your smartphone’s gyroscope to tilt the screen in order to steer. Nintendo stopped releasing new content for the game back in October 2023, and now only offers reruns of previous events and tours.
9. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
| Initial Release | October 16, 2020 |
| Developer | Velen Studios |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo Switch |
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a toys-to-life mixed reality game, announced in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario series.
It allows players to build racing playsets around the interior of their home. It comes with radio-controlled cars that are equipped with video cameras and respond when controlled by the Nintendo Switch console.
8. Super Mario Kart
| Initial Release | August 27, 1992 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – SNES |
Super Mario Kart is the one that started it all. It was a technological marvel at the time of launch. It took advantage of the Mode 7 texture mapping that allowed a plane to be scaled and rotated freely to achieve a pseudo-3D appearance.
What’s more, it introduced the ability to allow two players to be on the same game screen simultaneously, in contrast to the single-player-only gameplay from F-Zero.
7. Mario Kart Super Circuit
| Initial Release | July 21, 2001 |
| Developer | Intelligent Systems |
| Platform(s) | – Game Boy Advance |
Mario Kart Super Circuit was the closest fans received in terms of a true successor to Super Mario Kart. It represents the very first handheld Mario Kart game and the only one to be developed by studio Intelligent Systems (Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, WarioWare).
6. Mario Kart 7
| Initial Release | December 1, 2011 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo 3DS |
Mario Kart 7 offers up to seventeen different characters to race across various tracks, and it introduced the hang-gliding attachments for karts as well as the ability to drive underwater, drive in first-person, and fully customize the vehicles’ builds. To this day, it remains the best-selling title on the 3DS.
5. Mario Kart 64
| Initial Release | December 14, 1996 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo 64 |
Even without true 3D racer characters, Mario Kart 64 offers 3D tracks with massive, undulating circuits with obstacles, inclines, items, and a four-player multiplayer mode.
4. Mario Kart Wii
| Initial Release | April 10, 2008 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo Wii |
Mario Kart Wii offers fully realized online multiplayer in addition to a wheel peripheral that came with the game to literally allow players to steer via motion control.
3. Mario Kart DS
| Initial Release | November 14, 2005 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo DS |
Mario Kart DS is the first 3D handheld entry and the first to offer online play, which was truly ahead of its time in 2005. It also introduced snaking, which is a technique that involves the use of power slide boosts.
2. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
| Initial Release | November 7, 2003 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo GameCube |
Mario Kart Double Dash!! is nearly tied in first place for our choice as the best in the series. No other entry before or after has offered the ability for players to enjoy racers with up to two characters at once, and the mixing and matching of unique Specials to use on the gorgeous tracks makes it as addictive as ever.
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
| Initial Release | April 28, 2017 |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD |
| Platform(s) | – Nintendo Switch |
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best-selling title on the Switch and is truly the peak of the series. While the original Mario Kart 8 came out on the Wii U back in 2014, Deluxe is an enhanced version for the modern Switch, offering anti-gravity sequences, the ability to drive on walls and ceilings, as well as perfected online multiplayer.
In addition to bringing back the original DLC, it offered other gameplay alterations and a revamped battle mode. Lastly, the Booster Course Pass introduced in 2022 offered 48 circuits with 8 characters.