Mario Kart games are some of Nintendo’s most popular titles. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold nearly 70 million units and is the best selling Switch game. Over the years, Mario Kart has evolved. This guide looks at five of the most popular Mario Kart games from past years and compares them. The games are listed in no particular order.
Mario Kart Super Circuit
When Super Smash Bros was released on the 3DS in 2014, everyone was impressed with how they made a full Smash Bros game for a handheld that ran at a blisteringly fast frame rate. However, there was a similar unbelievable conversion of a top Nintendo franchise. The conversion was achieved a couple of generations before, on the GBA, and involved Mario Kart. I’m talking about the release of Mario Kart Super Circuit on the GBA in 2001. This title was truly the Smash Bros for 3DS of its era. Gamers had been dreaming of a Mario Kart game on the humble Game Boy for many years. The GBA was a surprisingly powerful console. It was great at 2D graphics, and could even do some 3D. Super Mario Super Circuit blended 2D and 3D visuals and ran at a decent frame rate. The result was a great-looking Mario Kart that looked more like Mario Kart 64 than the SNES Mario Kart.
I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart Super Circuit on both original hardware and on Nintendo Switch Online. The game is fun and addictive. The drifting is more subtle than in the later games, and there’s more of a focus on keeping on the track at a solid speed, and knowing when to cut a corner or use a boost. It is just as deep an experience as newer Mario Kart games, and needs just as much tactics and strategy.
Mario Kart DS
One cool thing about retro handhelds in 2025 is that you can get a device that plays 32-bit games for less than 60$/£50. That is ridiculously cheap, and it means people can gain entry to hundreds of fun PS1/Nintendo DS level titles for a lot less than a week’s paycheck. Saying all this, the next Mario Kart game one the list is great for handhelds and is the classic DS entry, Mario Kart DS. This title is more graphically impressive than the GBA entry, and uses fully 3D environments and characters (however, some assets, such as the weapons, are 2D). The game has a great feel to it in terms of control, and it feels like the car has a lower center of gravity compared to the GBA and N64 entries. Perhaps due to this, drifting and boosting from drifting is easier to accomplish in the DS entry. However, this means that players are likely to snake, which is the frowned upon practice of drifting even on straight parts of courses to gain boosts constantly.
Snaking is a lot harder to achieve in other Mario Kart games. So, if you are not a fan of snaking, Mario Kart DS may not be your favourite Mario Kart. The game brings in retro courses for the first time, and despite snaking, Mario Kart DS is one of the most player-friendly and fun Mario Kart experience out there.
Mario Kart 7
The next handheld Mario Kart that was released chronologically was Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS. This title was a lot more graphically impressive than Mario Kart DS. Mario never looked better until the HD era. The gameplay is built on the drift-focused gameplay of Mario Kart DS while adding gliding and underwater capable crafts (not so much in the choice of craft but in the graphical/gameplay element). While credited as one of the best Mario Kart games, the simplicity and charm of the early games are superior for me. However, Mario Kart 7 is still a worthy entry, and those smooth polygons go a long way to make Mario Kart 7 some people’s favorite Mario Kart. In Mario Kart 7, retro courses are included, and this brings a new type of nostalgia as some courses from older games are given a decent visual upgrade which breathes new life into the experience.
Mario Kart 64
The N64 Mario Kart was released at a time when Mario Kart was a relatively new franchise and hadn’t built a defined identity yet. Because of this, it was heavily influenced by Super Mario 64 rather than other Mario Kart games (as in later entries). It is a game less reliant on the drift mechanics of later games. The ‘jump’ ability is crucial in whipping around tight corners. Of all the Mario Kart games, Super Mario 64 is one of the games with the least amount of gimmicks. The classic podium finish to cups was introduced in Mario Kart 64, along with a lot of things that are iconic of Mario Kart. Mario Kart 64 introduced innovative new track designs and features such as racing in traffic, and having secret shortcuts that were difficult to find and even more difficult to execute. The game was ideal for the N64’s four player mode, and along with Goldeneye and F-Zero X, was one of the min reasons to play multiplayer on the N64.
Mario Kart Double Dash
Mario Kart Double Dash released at the height of Gamecube popularity in 2003 and was as bright and polished as the other big Gamecube first party games. This era was full of colorful 3D games that pushed graphical and gameplay conventions. Titles like Zelda: Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros, and Super Mario Sunshine brought new ways to play or a shiny new lick of paint to the table. Mario Kart Double Dash’s gimmick was that it was a racer with two player characters. One drove the kart, the other threw items at fellow racers. This meant one player could focus on driving while the other threw items and it was a fun experience, especially if you had a younger co-driver who could focus on throwing items rather than the more important task of driving.
The game has recevied criticism as being too focused on the ‘two driver’ gimmick, and it has been said that the title focused too much on this gimmick, and less on the driving. The gameplay is solid, and the racing is another Mario Kart where drifting is key to success (although snaking isn’t as common as in Mario Kart DS). Mario Kart Double Dash is a great racer but at the time left people wanting a more Mario Kart 64-like experience.
Conclusion
Nowadays, it is possible to pick up a cheap handheld and play old Mario Kart games. For this reason, I feel this article could be valuable as many people have a lack of knowledge regarding old Mario Kart games. The simplicity of Mario Kart 64 makes it one of the most popular, as the snaking mechanics of Mario Kart DS often attracts criticism. Yet, the GBA version was a technical marvel for such a humble console to produce a great racer. Or, your favorite might be Double Dash because of the slick graphics and co-op gameplay. Overall, no matter your choice, the chances are that with technology as advanced as it is today, you can play your favorite with no issue. Mario Kart is a great and addictive franchise that many of us have happy memories of. Happy Gaming!
