Mario Kart: Difference between revisions
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[[File:mariokart_1.jpg|frame|Here we go!
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'''''Mario Kart''''' is a successful series of go-kart-style racing video games developed by [[Nintendo]] as a series of spin-offs from their trademark and highly successful ''[[Mario]]'' series of platformer adventure-style video games. Starting on the SNES, the series has graced every subsequent Nintendo console and handheld with at least one installment, with the exception of the [[Virtual Boy]] and the [[Game Boy Color]] (portable ''Mario Karts'' started appearing with the [[Game Boy Advance]]).
Unlike a serious racing game like ''[[Gran Turismo]]'' or ''[[Ridge Racer]]'', ''Mario Kart'' isn't just about driving technique, but mixes things up with items that racers can obtain from item boxes, while the tracks themselves can have a significant number of obstacles and hazards such as enemies from the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series of games. This kicked off the subgenre of fun racers or mascot racers as other companies have often imitated the concept with their own mascots to varying degrees of success.
As the name implies, the games draw major inspiration from the ''Mario'' platformers. Racers are characters like Mario, Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong and Bowser, items are Koopa shells and mushrooms, and stages often visit major locales like Bowser's Castle or a haunted mansion.
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Aside from racing for the finish line, all games in the series have also featured a Battle Mode, where the players drive around in a fixed area and attempt to burst each other's balloons with items or hunt for coins or Shine Sprites (from ''Sunshine'').
* '''''[[
* '''''[[
* '''''Mario Kart: Super Circuit''''' ([[Game Boy Advance]], 2001): Has 8 characters again and 5 cups with 4 tracks each. Went back to the Mode 7 flat courses. It also includes all the courses from ''Super'' (reordered into 5 cups of 4), beginning the tradition of including a set of [[Nostalgia Level|retro tracks]] to match the new ones. Developed by Intelligent Systems, the people that brought you ''[[Paper Mario]]'' and ''[[Fire Emblem]]''. ([[Nintendo 3DS]] Ambassadors also have access to this game on that system; notably, this means they can play every portable ''Mario Kart'' game on that system.)
* '''''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!''''' ([[Nintendo
* '''''Mario Kart Arcade GP''''' (Arcade, 2005): Developed by Namco, features 11 characters including Namco mainstays such as [[Pac-Man]], Ms. Pac-Man, and Blinky.
* '''''Mario Kart DS''''' ([[Nintendo DS]], 2005): Has 12 characters (4 of them hidden and unlockable) with 3 karts apiece. Also marks a landmark in Nintendo history as being the company's first foray into online multiplayer gaming.
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* '''''Mario Kart Wii''''' ([[Wii]], 2008): Allows a massive 12 characters per race (with 13 more unlockable characters, one of which is the player's Mii, while Baby Daisy makes her debut as well), features a selection of motorbikes in addition to the usual karts, a "Wii Wheel" attachment for motion-control steering, and fully-featured online multiplayer.
* '''''Mario Kart 7''''' ([[Nintendo 3DS]], 2011): Has 16 characters plus your Mii, but courses are reduced back to 8 racers for balance reasons. Courses now include underwater racing and launch ramps for gliding through the air, and the player can fully customize their kart with individual selections of driver, chassis, wheels, and glider. Co-developed by [[Retro Studios]] (the people who brought you ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]''), and includes improved online features even over ''Mario Kart Wii''.
* '''''Mario Kart 8''''' ([[Wii U]], 2014)
** '''''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe''''' ([[Nintendo Switch]], 2017)
{{franchisetropes}}
* [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]: Starting with ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'', nearly every Mario Kart game requires a gold trophy in each cup and/or in each engine class to unlock new tracks or characters. A few other games in the series cranks it up to eleven by requiring a star rank or greater and getting at least one star in every cup and in every engine class gets you a star next to your name.
* [[Airplane Arms]]: Wiggler in ''Mario Kart 7'' is almost constantly doing this with his upper two arms.
* [[All in
** The limited AI of early installments generally kept the AI in a close pack and following almost the exact same path each lap, to the point where a map display looks like they're following the leader like you'd see in an RPG (it is especially noticeable when attempting to catch up after getting taken out by, say, a Spiny Shell). A skilled veteran can even decide which AI to harass just by where they drop their items.
** Later installments [[Averted Trope|give the AI much more variety]], especially in ''Mario Kart 7'' where if the track offers alternate paths, the AI will regularly split up between them.
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** In the Japanese version of ''Super Mario Kart'', if placed 1st overall in the Mario Kart GP, Bowser and Peach ''actually drink the champagne''. Peach's animation can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqCIGK8_zy8 here] at the 11:30 mark.
** The Japanese ''64'' featured an ad that parodied Marlboro cigarettes. This ad was replaced with a generic "Mario Star" ad for international releases.
* [[Bragging Rights Reward]]:
** Starting with ''Mario Kart 64'', beating the Extra/Mirror Special Cup unlocks a new title screen. <ref>In Mario Kart 64, mirror mode was known as "Extra" and mirrored left/right on every track, plus it made Toad's Turnpike [[That One Level]] by reversing the direction of the trucks on the track. In Mario Kart Super Circuit, there was no mirror mode, but there was a completely different "Extra" mode that consisted of [[Nostalgia Level|Nostalgia Levels]] from the original and was [[Guide Dang It|unlocked through a method nobody would think to do without looking it up or asking someone who has]]. To get all extra cups on one engine class (with the method being the same with each class), every cup has to have a gold trophy and the cups have to be done over again with the coin total at the end being at least 100; fortunately, getting another gold trophy is not a requirement (anywhere from fourth up when just playing through them to get the extra cup equivalent is OK). Beating the 150cc Extra Special Cup unlocked the first new title screen, and achieving a three-star rank on every cup unlocked the second. In Mario Kart Double Dash!!, there is a secret bonus cup known as the All-Cup Tour, consisting of [[Exactly What It Says
** Mii Outfit B in ''Wii'' is just a special costume for Miis to wear. It offers no benefits over Mii Outfit A.
** The golden parts in ''7'' are mostly for show, as they have no major bonuses.
* [[Bubbly Clouds]]: Sky Garden, a track from the GBA version; imported into the DS version as well.
* [[The Cameo]]:
** A Blue and Yellow Toad appear as floats in ''7'''s Toad Circuit. They previously appeared in ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'' and ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]''.
** If the player is racing as their Mii in ''Wii'', various statues and posters will be replaced with Miis from the Mii Channel. Miis also appear as spectators in both ''Wii'' and ''7''.
** Rally-X, a [[Dig Dug|Pooka]], and a [[Galaga]] appear as special items for the Pac-Man characters in ''Arcade GP''.
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* [[Camera Screw]]: Almost never happens in the series, but one case of it occurs frequently in the Rock Rock Mountain track in ''7''. When you start to climb the hill before the finish line, the camera, which is always behind your kart, has to shift to a different angle so you can get a better view on what's ahead of you on the climb. The problem here is that the camera shifts a bit slow and leaves you blind for a moment, which can screw you over if you can't see a banana peel or a boulder rolling down at you. This is avoided if you play in first person view.
** The camera can also a bit uncooperative around walls in ''7'', mostly in battle mode.
* [[Canon
* [[Car Fu]]: Battle modes are generally like this. So are many of the boss battles in the Mission Mode of the DS version.
* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: Got even bigger with ''DS'' and ''Wii'', the latter actually selling better than ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'', which would have been unthinkable the previous generation.
* [[
* [[Cheerful Child]]: Toadette (who debuted in ''Double Dash!!'').
* [[Chest Insignia]]: The series has used a vehicle variant since ''DS'', with each kart having two or three places on it for the driver's personal emblem. ''DS'' itself even let players design their own custom symbol.
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* [[Chrome Champion]]: Metal Mario in ''7''.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Whenever a character does not appear in the very next game after one they did, but a very notable one is Waluigi, who was in every game since Double Dash... before not getting into 7.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]:
** The playable Lakitu in ''7'' has a red shell. The usual announcer Lakitu has a green shell.
** Players are assigned different colored balloons in battle mode to help sort them out.
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* [[Comeback Mechanic]]: The series has been giving out more powerful items to racers falling behind since the start. This also applies to Battle Mode.
* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: ''The'' crowning example of this trope. The cheating is ''so'' bad...
{{quote|''"Don't you know? 'CC' in ''[[
** In ''Super Mario Kart'', while the AI can crash into walls if you make it happen, course obstacles do not apply to them as they will simply clip through the obstacle. The lead rival can also continuously use a certain item (depending on the character) ''infinitely''.
* [[Continuity Nod]]:
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** Also in ''7'', there's DK Jungle, which is a track involving places and enemies found in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]''. Donkey Kong himself has been playable since ''64'', and Diddy and Funky have joined in at times.
** In ''DS'', [[Nintendo Entertainment System|R.O.B.]] the robot being a guest driver could be considered as one.
** ''[[
** Metal Mario's apperance is a (barely) borderline ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' crossover.
** [[
* [[Cyberpunk]]: Neo Bowser City has shades of this in ''Mario Kart 7''.
** [[Cyberpunk Is Techno]]: The music. It's pretty upbeat though.
** [[Cyberpunk
** [[Tron Lines]]
* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]: The only difference between 150cc and Mirror is that the tracks are flipped around to invoke this.
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** The [[Mighty Glacier|Heavy]] karts don't recover from failure as easily as lighter karts, but avoiding error allows them to be the fastest karts in the game. [[Rubber Band AI]] loves to counter this with light weight karts that can catch up to you on straightways.
** The Super, Beast/Ghastly, and Gold Gliders become this, especially in Time Trials, if you know about the game's hidden stats. Due to how the hidden stats are distributed, the gliders that don't boost anything (the aforementioned Super, Beast/Ghastly, and Golden Gliders) are [[Unskilled but Strong|quite fast in the air, but lack aerial handling]].
* [[Divergent Character Evolution]]: While he already got hints of it back in the original ''[[Super Smash Bros
* [[Do Well, But Not Perfect]]: With a combination of [[Golden Snitch]] and [[Rubber Band AI]], it gives most people a sense of being punished for simply being skilled. Truly skilled players, however, can consistently win races even with the deck stacked against them.
* [[Dub Name Change]]: An odd case in which the North American localization of ''Mario Kart Wii'' had many vehicle names different from the already-released European localization.
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** The Raceway tracks in ''64'' were called Circuits in the original Japanese version. This change did not occur in later installments except for [[Nostalgia Level|Nostalgia Levels]] that originally had the change (e.g. Luigi Raceway in ''7'').
* [[Dummied Out]]: ''DS'' had several unused tracks. Some were merely for testing, such as ones that actually have "test" in the filename and one that is simply an early version of Wario Stadium, but others include ''Double Dash!!'''s Mario Circuit, a Koopa Troopa track, a variant of DK Pass without snow, and an unused pinball track.
* [[Easter Egg]]: The results music in ''64'' plays a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqqsewbj5Qw different] piano solo after 64 loops, which takes about ''50 minutes''.
* [[Easy Mode Mockery]]: A very mild case in ''Mario Kart 7''. The [[Variable Mix|added bass percussion]] that plays when you have a sizable lead does not play when playing 50cc Grand Prix, no matter how much of a lead you have.
* [[Egopolis]]:
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** Toad's Factory in ''Mario Kart Wii''.
** Also, Tick Tock Clock in ''DS''.
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Excited Show Title!]]: ''Double Dash!!''.
* [[Fake Difficulty]]
* [[Fireballs]]: The special item for Mario and Luigi in ''Double Dash!!'', and made a regular item in ''7''.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: This is one of the most ripped off game series '''''ever'''''. [[Blur (
* [[Fragile Speedster]]: Averted. The Light vehicles, because of their lack of weight, are easily bumped aside by larger karts and bikes...and because they logically won't have very big engines, they're also the slowest weight class. <ref>They do tend to have much better acceleration and handling, though--the fastest light car in ''Wii'' handles better than almost any heavy car.</ref>
* [[Frothy Mugs of Water]]: In the Japanese version of Super Mario Kart, Bowser and Peach will drink their bottle of champagne if they get First Place Gold. This was censored out in the International versions.
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* [[Furry Confusion]]: One of the new characters in ''7'' is the Queen Bee from ''Galaxy'', but one of the battle arenas in the same game takes place inside a beehive, featuring the bee enemies from ''3D Land'' as obstacles.
* [[Game Mod]]: ''Wii'' has a pretty big modding community, especially in regards to remaking tracks from old games.
* [[Go-Karting
* [[Golden Snitch]]: Powerful items are usually obtained by players lagging behind. Some people purposely play horribly at the start so they can score a powerful item, catch up with good racing, and then blow past the last few people on the final lap. This also keeps them (relatively) safe from the genuine laggers behind who are using their items to mess with the players in first.
* [[Gravity Barrier]]: At the edge of some Rainbow Road courses.
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** Many of the Mario Circuits throughout the series are also pretty standard-fare.
** ''Mario Kart 7'' features Toad Circuit as the opening course, with nary a Luigi course in sight in the Mushroom Cup. The original Luigi Raceway does return.
* [[Guest Fighter]]: The ''Arcade GP'' games, developed by Namco, gave us [[
* [[Hoist
** This can also happen to you with items that are supposed to help you, such as mushrooms and stars. Use these speed boosting items at the wrong time and you'll fling yourself off the track.
* [[Homing Projectile]]: Red Shells and (brr!) Spiny Shells.
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** The results music in ''7'' is the results music from ''64'', just with a differently-pitched melody line.
** The Rainbow Road music tracks from ''Double Dash'' and ''7'' include part of the ''64'' Rainbow Road theme.
** The ''Wii'' Rainbow Road music includes part of the Good Egg Galaxy theme from [[
** The ''7'' Bowser's Castle music includes part of the ''Double Dash!!'' one.
** Neo Bowser City contains three nods, to Toad's Turnpike, Wii's Circuits, and N64's Raceways.
** DK Jungle's music in ''7'' contains the jungle theme from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''.
** Rock Rock Mountain's music bears resemblance to "It's a Dead Heat" from ''[[Mario Party]] 8''.
** The Results music for Mario (and to an extent, Bowser) in ''Super Mario Kart'' is based on the [[Super Mario Bros.]] theme.
** Piranha Plant Slide's music in ''7'' contains nods to the Above Ground and Underground themes of [[Super Mario Bros.]]
** The Title themes of ''DS'' and ''Wii'' contain part of ''Double Dash'''s. The Title theme of ''7'' makes a nod instead to ''Mario Kart 64''.
** Bowser's Castle of ''Wii'' is actually a slowed-down Maple Treeway theme.
* [[My Rules Are Not Your Rules]]: Especially in early installments like the SNES, the AI definitely is a cheating bastard. The AI plays more fair in later installments, but still gives the impression of [[Gang Up
* [[Mythology Gag]]: As mentioned in the main text at the top of the article, the games are heavily influenced by Mario platformers. However, ''Super Circuit'''s Rainbow Road instead has a reference to a Mario [[RPG]] (specifically, the original ''[[Paper Mario (
** The drivers from ''64'' make the Pipe Frame match the color they originally used in ''64''.
*** Koopa Troopa's Pipe Frame matches the color in ''Super'', which is the only game before ''7'' that both have appeared in together.
** N64 Luigi Raceway and SNES Rainbow Road in ''7'' stick to the classic formula from their respective games, as they don't have gliding or underwater driving.
** The rival system in ''7'' pairs most of the drivers from ''Super Mario Kart'' with their old rival from said game.
** Piranha Plant Slide is one big mythology gag to the original ''[[Super Mario Bros.]].'' The cardboard Goombas are also one to ''3D Land''.
* [[Nerf]]: The gimping of power sliding and the removal of "snaking" in ''Wii.''
** In ''DS'', a very simple technique called "snaking" allowed karts with very certain drift and acceleration stats being balanced to each other to attain very high speed via the speed boosts from repeated drifting, even on straightaways. The developers of ''Mario Kart Wii'' and ''7'' took note of this and completely overhauled the mini-turbo system, making it truer to ''Super Mario Kart'' and ''Super Circuit'' in how the boost was attained by drifting for a longer time around a corner.
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** ''Super Circuit'' offers us all twenty tracks from the original SNES game. Later iterations took this up another level and devoted ''entire cups'' to the concept, with the retro cups in ''7'' being the first to end with a Rainbow Road (in this case, the one from ''Super Mario Kart'') like the standard cups.
** ''7'''s DK Jungle is practically a love letter to ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'', since Retro Studios designed it.
** The level Shy Guy Bazaar is a major shout out not only to ''[[Super Mario Bros
** Airship Fortress, which is based off of the airship levels from ''[[
*** Also, Figure-8 Circuit contains platforms from ''SMB3'' in the background, while Desert Hills is based off of World 2, aka Desert Hill, from ''SMB3''.
* [[Numbered Sequels]]: The [[Nintendo 3DS]] installment, ''Mario Kart 7''.
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* [[Ominous Pipe Organ]]: The Bowser's Castle music from ''Double Dash!!'' has this.
* [[Outrun the Fireball]]: Starting with ''DS'', it's entirely possible to dodge a Spiny Shell. However, doing so in ''Wii'' and ''7'' requires a well timed mushroom boost, making some luck needed and being [[Difficult but Awesome|hard]] to pull off.
* [[Palmtree Panic]]: The various beach-themed tracks. Notable obstacles are shallow and deep water (though in ''7'' deep water can typically be driven through instead of being an obstacle), Cheep-Cheeps, and crabs (which in ''7'' look like Sidesteppers from ''[[Mario Bros.]]'').
* [[Pinball Zone]]: Waluigi Pinball in ''DS'' and ''7''.
* [[Poison Mushroom]]:
** ''[[
** An actual Poison Mushroom appears in ''Super Mario Kart'' as Peach and Toad's item.
* [[Power-Up Letdown]]: The speed boost provided Super Mushroom in ''Mario Kart 64'' is barely even noticeable, as a result of the development team nerfing the Super Mushroom due to complaints that it was a [[Game Breaker]] in the SNES original. Subsequent games have generally hit the right balance in terms of how much boost it provides.
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* [[Retraux]]: The music for the retro courses in ''7'' was remastered less thoroughly than in the previous two games, so the music tends to sound very similar to how it originally sounded, aside from possibly having clearer audio depending on the original system.
* [[Rewarding Vandalism]]: In ''Mario Kart DS'', destroying boxes reveals mushrooms which give an instant speed boost. ''Mario Kart Wii'' keeps the boxes and adds leaf-piles on one of the stages that may also reveal mushrooms or other items.
* [[A Riddle Wrapped in
* [[The Rival]]: A feature that debuted in ''Super Mario Kart'', and then returned in ''7''. Depending on who the player drives as, there will be certain characters that perform better and be more persistent. For example, Mario's two rivals in ''7'' are Bowser and Metal Mario.
** If people are tagged with ''7'''s [[Nintendo 3DS|StreetPass]] feature, their Mii may show up sometimes in Grand Prix mode to be an extra rival. Their Mii will also act as a rival in their customized Grand Prix.
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** One of the possible driving styles in ''7'' is [[Skyward Sword|Loftwing]] Aviator.
* [[Skill Gate Characters]]: The [[Fragile Speedster|Light]] karts can easily recover from error, but they're the slowest karts in every entry.
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: Vanilla Lake in ''Super Mario Kart'', Sherbet Land in ''Mario Kart 64'' and ''Double Dash!!'', the aptly titled Snowland in ''Super Circuit'', Donkey Kong's courses in ''Wii'' and ''DS'', and Rosalina's Ice World in ''7''.
* [[Smug Smiler]]: Metal Mario in his promotional art.
* [[Spiteful AI]]: If a CPU has an item, they'll almost always try to hit the player with it.
** Mario Kart 7 takes it up a few notches by having the AI always drift into your path so they can steal every coin and item box in front of or your just bump you off the road. They take it a step further by going out of their way to hit ''two'' item boxes so you'll be even less likely to pick one up.
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* [[Wacky Racing]]: To the point that the game becomes part racing game and part vehicular combat game.
* [[Your Size May Vary]]:
** ''Mario Kart 7'' adds [https://web.archive.org/web/20210319125642/http://img.imgcake.com/
** In ''Mario Kart Wii'', giant Wigglers stomped around on Maple Treeway. In ''Mario Kart DS'', a giant Wiggler is raced as the [[Final Boss]]! Wigglers come in a variety of sizes in all the games; a small one played tennis in ''[[Mario Tennis
** Petey Piranha in ''Double Dash!!'' He's a heavyweight character, but he's nowhere near as big as he was when he appeared in ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (or his guest appearance in ''Super Smash Bros Brawl'', even).
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[[Category:Nintendo Gamecube]]
[[Category:Super Mario Bros (Franchise)]]▼
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[[Category:Wii]]
[[Category:The New Tens]]
[[Category:Racing Game]]
[[Category:Nintendo (Creator)]]▼
[[Category:Mario Kart]]▼
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[[Category:Video Games of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 2000s]]
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