Favorite Mario Kart

[MessengerOfDreams]

Gotta give some love to Super Circuit. It had some of the greatest tracks.

[ChaosYoshi]

I own all of the Mario Kart games except Super Mario Kart, and since I've played the hell out of all of them, I think I have a pretty good grasp on each.

"This is a bit lengthy...": show

I played Mario Kart 64 a lot at first, but I had to play my friend's cartridge before I got it from the Wii Shop Channel. The game's control was, for the most part, great, and I liked how you could spin out by driving poorly, such as holding back while drifting. The items were almost useless (not all of them), but I wasn't bothered too much by this since it promoted skilled driving over item reliance . I haven't had too much experience with multiplayer on it, since my friend who owned it hated racing against me.

Super Circuit was okay at best. Some mechanics bothered me, like drifting too long, and turning in rough areas. What drove me up a tree was trying to get gold on all of the returning Super Mario Kart tracks, since they are all incredibly narrow in this version. That means you need to be driving pretty damn well if you don't want to find yourself hitting a wall or falling off the course.

Mario Kart Double Dash was the first Mario Kart game I ever owned (well, rented at first). I loved how each character had unique items in Double Dash, and you could drop stacks of items if you hit an item, but the driving is incredibly slippery. The courses were also very memorable for me.

DS did a lot of things right for me, but the online play was very limited and buggy. I like the mission mode as a side thing, and I've almost 3-stared all of those, but recent games have distracted me for years. Nitpicking a little, the computer players immediately place in whatever position they were in when the player finishes a race, as previous entries have done it.

Mario Kart Wii also did a lot of things right including functioning online play (or was... R.I.P. Nintendo Wi-Fi), but the bikes were pretty much better than karts in almost every aspect.

I felt rather mixed on Mario Kart 7. I was horrified when I heard that the coins were returning, but when I saw that they were pretty much only here for the speed (and that tiny-ass speed boost), I didn't mind all that much. The only thing I hate about it is that it makes recovering after getting hit with an item (especially with a blue shell in first place) more frustrating since you drop coins. The gliding and water mechanics were a nice little addition, though the water wasn't utilized all that much aside from slightly changing controls and making trick boosts happen when you enter water instead of the ground. All the items seemed to be given a buff of some kind, like the banana causing more damage than before, and the blue shell hits other racers again, making it a danger not only to the person in first place. The distribution, as stated many times, works well (except when there's 3 blue shells in one match), though I was fine with earlier versions, too. However, some of the items became a bit too powerful, especially the blue shell which can knock you in a random direction, which causes otherwise unavoidable falls or other damage. Back to a positive note, one thing I love about it is the communities and how customizable they are.

Mario Kart 8 surprised me in so many ways. When it was showed last year at E3, I didn't really see a lot of potential in the anti-gravity. However, the collision boosts added a new layer of strategy, as you could give yourself a boost by ramming into opponents, but you also give them a boost, too. The faster recovery times also help with the problems I had with coins in MK7, and it gives the game a faster pace overall. The game's visuals are stunning, and I was caught off guard at how much they put into the game's presentation compared to previous entries. Like I said earlier, I don't mind the new item mechanics (especially since the blue shell no longer knocks you in a random direction), with the exception of the coin. Mario Kart TV is also very interesting, and I was surprised at how much they put into the replay feature, but like almost everyone else, I wish there was some way to control the camera. Going onto the items, I understand that making it so that you cannot carry two items anymore is so that you have less defense against items, but getting a coin when you could have used anything else is like a slap to the face, and I wish that it stayed in only Super Mario Kart.

I still think that Mario Kart 8 is my favorite, but I still like all the rest a lot (with the exception of Super Circuit).

[KABOOM]

Gotta give some love to Super Circuit. It had some of the greatest tracks.

I really prefer the 3D tracks in the other Mario Kart games to the 2D ones used in Super Mario Kart and Super Circuit. Of course I haven't played through all the tracks in either game, so...

[MessengerOfDreams]

They aren't necessarily the best looking but there are some really fun tracks in SC, with some awesome layouts.

[Raz]

Mario Kart Wii definitely has the best tracks, IMO. They're so original and aren't just driving on a track, you drive on a giant tree, a mineshaft, a freaking halfpipe, or inside a mall.

[ChaosYoshi]

I will say that despite how I thought Super Circuit was O.K. at best, the track design for the new courses featured in it were pretty fun. It's mostly the Super Mario Kart courses brought back in Super Circuit that grinds my gears.

[Nwolf]

Never played Super Circuit but I disliked Super Mario Kart (cause I played the 3D games before this hur).

I can't really say which Mario Kart I liked most, all of them kinda have something that's really great and really ♥♥♥♥ imo

MK64: With the circuit music, Choco Mountain, Toad's Turnpike, snow courses, Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road this has the best music imo. Maybe it's also just the nostalgia idk.
MKDD: Actually had 3D courses that weren't 3 or 1 round which was totally awesome (especially since Wario Colosseum is like one of the best courses ever). Bad controls though
MKDS: Introduced mission mode and retro courses which was really great. Also had really cool courses like Delfino Square, Waluigi Pinball or Airship Fortress. Downside is its limitations being a DS game
MKWii: Has my most favorite courses ever: Maple Treeway (though it was somehow ♥♥♥♥ in MK7) and Moonview Highway. Can't say how much I love those. But it also has Mushroom Gorge.
MK7: Worst item management of all 3D mario karts imo, the blue shell is way too powerful (for the first place), they got rid of the Fake item box, thunderbolt+gliding section was ♥♥♥♥, Wuhu courses were horrible, Wario Shipyard was even more horrible, Bowser's Castle has no awesome music. And it also has Mushroom Gorge. Probably my least favorite 3D Mario Kart
MK8: I like what they did with items here, except adding the coin as item which was incredibly unnecessary. Some courses were really cool like Electrodrome and Cloudtop Cruise but I couldn't really enjoy the music in the courses, except a few. They also ruined Toad's Turnpike's mirror cup version ;_;

MKWii has best courses~

[Raz]

Toad's turnpike sucks in the first place. There's literally no good reason to convince me (or brando, i'm sure) otherwise.

[brandoprojectm]

Eh, you can't really reason with some people's nostalgia.

MK64 was pretty much my childhood, but even I can admit that it had a quite a few mediocre tracks, even without pitting them up against the more recent ones. Toad's Turnpike was only notable because of the unique stage hazards at the time, being the cars, but the track itself is just a boring series of curves, and any other subsequent tracks including cars has done it better. Also Rainbow Road had amazing music, sure, but the track was boring as ♥♥♥♥, and the point of Rainbow Road courses is that you should be falling off every 5 seconds if you're not at the top of your game.

[Harmless]

Toad's turnpike sucks in the first place. There's literally no good reason to convince me (or brando, i'm sure) otherwise.

...
How could you. :<