The Top 5 Mario Kart Games
The Mario Kart series is 30 years old this year. It's had 12 games
Now, before I begin, I'll get a disclaimer out of the way: this list
is just my own opinions and thoughts about the games. I'll explain why
I placed each game in the order I did.
Anyway, let's begin the list.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Mario Kart Wii
It's time for the best-selling Mario Kart game of all time to appear on this list . This was also my first ever Mario Kart game. I remember playing it for the first time back in 2009 round a friend's house, and this game was what made me interested in buying a Nintendo Wii of my own. I played this game so much back in 2009-11. I played it so many times with friends, replayed through the grand prixs lots.
I think this game has a brilliant selection of new tracks, along with sixteen great remakes of older ones. However, one big problem with this game is that the item boxes tended to spawn blue shells more frequently (and often deep into the third lap) than other Mario Kart games, which makes the game a bit unfair and luck-based at times. But it's not a huge problem, and the Wii version is for sure a fun game.
4. Mario Kart Double Dash
Now, this GameCube Mario Kart game introduced the ability to choose to race in a different vehicle to your opponents, and has two riders per kart. One player drives the kart, and the other uses items. Each character has their own sepcial item in the game which all have different abilities. This is also the first game to have tracks with more than 3 laps (Containing one that has 7 laps) and less than 3 laps (Containing one that has 2 laps)
It was a cool feature to add two characters per kart, had some great tracks, and the gameplay has aged really well, in my opinion.
3. Mario Kart DS
This was the Mario Kart game that introduced the online play option, retro tracks being remade, and unlockable characters.
Now Mario Kart DS is one of my most nostalgic video games. I used to play it lots with friends and my brother back when the Nintendo DSi was the latest Nintendo system. I still enjoy playing this game every once in a while. I've actually written about this game before and what I'd like to see if it ever gets a remake:
https://greninlucarizardlupplace.webnode.page/a-mario-kart-ds-remake/
The mission mode, which had a series of various tasks to complete, was a great addition to this game and meant even more content available in this game. Unfortunately, this mode never appeared again in the series, which I think is a shame, since I enjoyed completing those missions when I first played it.
This was the second 3DS game I ever bought for the system. I got it back in 2011 and have had so much fun playing it through the years. It added some many new features, such as the ability to customise your kart completely, the ability to drive underwater, gliders so that you could glide through the air. It also introduced a powerful item called 'Lucky 7' which gave a player a banana peel, green shell, red shell, mushroom, star, blooper, and a bomb.
I thought it had some of the best selection of tracks ever in a Mario Kart game, containing Wahu Island, Melody Motorway, Piranha Pipeway, Waluigi Pinball, Airship Fortrest, Coconut Mall, and many others. And the online play was solid and a lot of fun too. It also had the ability to play in 1st person view, where you had to use motion control on your 3DS to steer, but I never liked playing it in that mode.
1. Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart Deluxe
This was the first Wii U game I bought (Buying it along with the console back in 2015) and what fun I had with this game. The latest feature to appear in this game was the 'anti-gravity' feature, which meant you could drive on walls and on tracks that could twist lots. It was an element that added a lot of fun to the game. But the 200cc grand prix option is my favourite, as it was a great challenge for the more experienced Mario Kart players to try.
Unfortunately, the battle mode didn't have its own tracks (containing sections of regular race tracks) but ignoring the poor battle mode, the game was super fantastic, and then introduced sixteen new DLC tracks later on, which I thought was a brilliant way to keep the game fresh. I used to play a lot of online races on this game too, back in the Wii U days.
Now, as for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Well, this is Mario Kart 8, but with improvements.
Firstly, the battle mode was fixed, meaning it had its own tracks for that mode. Secondly, the ability to use super turbo drifts, and the option of having two items at once. Lastly, you can play this game portably thanks to it being on the Switch. And much more DLC tracks are currently being introduced.
Not much more to say, since most of the stuff about this game is already mentioned in the bit about Mario Kart 8.