What is the Best Mario Kart Game of All Time?

The original Mario Kart is a true classic, but it has not held up well over time. While it was truly cutting edge at the time, many of its finest achievements feel dated in a way that can border on being unplayable.

From its wild physics to its jerky controls, the game feels awkward at best. Couple that with its odd UI, complete with the “mini” map taking up half the screen, and you have a dated experience. It’s a classic for those who played it back in the day, but it will be alienating for any latecomers.

Mario Kart Wii was a generally solid game, but it stands as one of the most forgettable entries in the series. Compared to the frenetic Double Dash for the GameCube, Mario Kart Wii felt like a more conservative offering from Nintendo.

The game sought to set itself apart with the introduction of motorcycles and its use of motion controls. While motorcycles were welcomed by fans, that wasn’t really the case with motion controls. Though they’re a staple part of the series at this point, only a small minority would say they’re the preferred way to play.

Mario Kart returned to 2D on the Game Boy Advance with Mario Kart: Super Circuit. The game is very good in its own right, but was seriously hampered by the limitations of the GBA.

In terms of gameplay, Super Circuit is about as good as a racing game can get on a 32-bit piece of gaming hardware. It felt fast, had a fairly long list of tracks, and had very good visuals. The big issue is that Mario Kart is a multiplayer-first franchise, and the multiplayer experience on the Game Boy Advance was inherently suboptimal.

Mario Kart 7 was reminiscent of Mario Kart Wii in many ways. The game was a “safe” installment in the series, making some significant but not transformative additions to the gameplay. Glider sections and occasional dips underwater have remained in successive entries, but much of the emphasis went elsewhere.

Like Mario Kart Wii, too much emphasis was put on highlighting the features of the platform rather than the gameplay itself. Gyroscopic controls and a 3D screen-friendly first-person perspective didn’t ultimately add much. Still, the game offers an overall better experience than its predecessor and stands as a very strong title for the 3DS.

Mario Kart World is one of the more transformative installments of the series. The game lifted open-world and off-roading elements from competitors like Lego 2K Drive, while introducing new ways to traverse tracks like grinding on rails and jumping off walls. Its

heaping helping of unlockables

makes it highly playable as both a single-player and multiplayer game.

The game itself is a rock-solid entry, but wound up in an awkward spot. It was lambasted by fans for its high price tag relative to industry norms and was tasked with carrying the

Nintendo Switch 2’s launch lineup

single-handedly. Though it’s an objectively strong game that brings a lot to the table, its legacy was tarnished before it even launched.

Mario Kart DS can make a strong case for being the best Mario Kart game, despite landing fourth on this list. The gameplay was rock solid on its own but, unlike Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Wii, the game actually made the most of its platform.

DS Download Play allowed four players to hit the track together with just one cartridge between them. Not only that, but it was the first game to introduce online multiplayer.

The one big knock on it? Snaking was wildly overpowered and wasn’t particularly fun to execute on the Nintendo DS’s directional pad.

Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U was the definitive Mario Kart experience in many ways. Alongside strong fundamentals, it added loads of new features and items to the equation. The original release may not have ranked this highly, but the enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch brought enough to the table to place in the top three.

Its improved battle mode would’ve been enough on its own, but guest characters and a slew of DLC tracks offered loads of content. All this helped propel it to astronomical sales figures, with Nintendo stating in 2024 that the game had sold over 64 million units.

Mario Kart 64 established many of the norms for Mario Kart games, but it’s not just good in a nostalgic sense. It offers a unique experience.

The limitations of the era and “janky” gameplay made for rewarding exploration and experimentation as players tried to figure out unintended shortcuts. That made for fun situations where players needed to weigh risk and reward, like taking a flying leap into space on Rainbow Road to shave off seconds.

The game isn’t as fast as many of its successors, but the experience was unlike anything else in the series. While games of that era aren’t inherently better by any means, these are the things that get patched out of games.

Some games aren’t fully appreciated in their day. Mario Kart: Double Dash was regarded as a somewhat underwhelming follow-up to Mario Kart 64. It reviewed well enough, but was seen as uninspired by some.

Perception has skewed over time in favor of the game, and for good reason. The game has well-balanced driving mechanics with a quick, sharp feel. This is made even more fun by the “Double Dash” of having one character driving and another handling the items. Players were tasked with both driving and swapping their drivers to take advantage of their characters’ exclusive items.

Mario Kart: Double Dash has somewhat been lost to time at this point, never being ported, remastered, or re-released through digital storefronts. That’s set to change with the Nintendo Switch 2’s ability to emulate select GameCube games, alongside

some other forgotten gems

.