Summary
TheMario Kartseries has carved out a unique identity for itself within the racing genre. On the one hand, it is designed with casual fun in mind, allowing anyone to jump into a game regardless of prior experience, but it can also become a hotly competitive arcade racer when skilled veterans jump into the same match. Alongside the core gameplay are small quirks and systems that help to giveMario Kartthe infectious charm that it’s become so admired for.
These “traditions” are baked into the core gameplay loop ofMario Kart, and are ultimately what make it such a blast to play, both casually and competitively. With Nintendo teasing a brand-new entry in the franchise for the Nintendo Switch 2, it seems like the perfect time to take a closer look at the trends and traditions that have shown up in most, if not all, of theMario Kartgames.
1Rainbow Road
This Recurring Track May Be Difficult To Navigate, But It’s Jawdropping To Look At
Rainbow Road is aniconic trackthat first made its debut as the final course for the Special Cup inSuper Mario Kart, which was released back in 1992. Since then, it has become a track fans always expect to show up for every new entry, and while it’s gorgeous to look at with its multicolored road and vibrant aesthetic, it’s also become infamous for its difficulty.
Unlike a lot ofMario Karttracks, Rainbow Road doesn’t tend to feature any walls to bump into, and while that ensures the pace never slows down, it also makes falling off the track an extremely simple task. The design of Rainbow Road may be tinkered with every now and again, but it’s still become the most recognizable stage in the entire series, which is always a joy to race on.
2Item Boxes
Anxiety Fills Every Racer As They Approach An Item Box, Wondering What Powerful Tool They’re Going To Get
As players cruise around a race track in aMario Kartgame, they’ll be able to grab a few item boxes along the way which will gift them with a random item. There’s a massive variety of items up for grabs, from shells and banana peels, to raccoon tails, fire flowers, and super stars. Needless to say, nobody can ever guess what they’re about to get upon crashing into one of these shiny collectibles.
Item Boxes help to add a little chaos to a race, giving everyone on the track a chance to cause some carnage to get one-up over the competition. After all, nobody ever said you needed to play fair to win a match ofMario Kart, and with item boxes scattered around each corner of a track, who wouldn’t want to deal a little bit ofcollateral damagealong the way?
3Character Tracks
Each New Game Will Feature At Least One New Track Named After A Character
With theMariofranchise containing such arich and colorful cast of characters, it only makes sense that the tracks seen inMario Kartwould feed into this aspect of the series. Ever since the very first game with Mario Circuit, eachMario Karthas introduced new tracks that are named after members of the cast. Some of these unique tracks will explore an aspect of the character never seen before, such as Waluigi’s supposed pinball hobby, or Daisy’s fancy cruise ship.
In terms of who has the most, Bowser is currently at the top with a total of fourteen, all of which are iterations of Bowser’s Castle; courses known for being some of the trickiest tracks in their respective games. While much of the main cast has already earned at least one of their own self-named tracks, they have now started being gifted out to some of the side characters, such as Rosalina, whose Ice World was only introduced on the 3DS.
4Rubber Banding System
“Rubber Banding” Is What Makes The Mario Kart Games So Accessible
Rubber banding is a term that references a hidden gameplay system that is at the core ofMario Kart’s accessibility. The way it works is that if a player is lagging behind and struggling to get out of 11th or 12th place, their items will have a much higher chance of being powerful so that they can get back into the race as quickly as possible with aStar or Bullet Bill.
On the other hand, the racer leading the charge will only be given shells and horns to ensure they don’t gain a lead big enough to call off the entire race. With this mechanic in place, even if someone feels that they’re struggling with the core gameplay, they still have a chance of keeping up with their fellow racers.
5CC Difficulty
EveryMario Kartgame, in keeping with the accessibility of the franchise, offers players a difficulty system in the form of “CC” which dictates the speed of the karts. At 50cc, the easiest difficulty in the games, most races play like a casual drive where players don’t need to be too competitive and can simply enjoy the tracks while knocking out a few racers with shells along the way.
The CCs go up by 50 for each difficulty, butMario Kart 8would be the first to introduce 200cc, a difficulty so chaotic that players not only need to drift but also use their brakes just to get around corners, due to the immense speed of the karts. This system is an easy way to ensure players can enjoy the game at their own pace, without ever feeling overwhelmed by the competitive AI.
6Themed Cups
All The Mario Kart Cups Pay Homage To Items In The Series
Cups and grand prix tournaments may not be anything new in racing games, but theMario Kartslike to put their unique spin on the tradition. SinceSuper Mario Kart, every game has featured cups that resemble the design and name of a classic item, including Mushrooms, Bananas, Stars, and Spiny Shells.
Nintendo cleverly uses each item to represent the difficulty of a cup, so while the everyday Mushroom is always the easiest, the Star and Spiny Shell cups tend to include some of the harder tracks. There have also been some outliers, such as the Triforce Cup making an appearance inMario Kart 8, but this only occurs on rare occasions when there’s eithera tie-inor Nintendo simply decides to get a little creative.
7Battle Modes
The Bonus Battle Modes Allow Players To Get Even More Competitive
Outside of the Grand Prix races, theMario Kartgames also feature Battle modes, which essentially play likeopen area PVPlevels which, initially, could only be played in local multiplayer. When choosing the Battle option, players can choose from a range of game modes, including Balloon Battle, which is an all-out free-for-all, and Coin Runners, where the player with the most coins at the very end takes the gold.
Up untilDouble Dash, these modes were only available as local multiplayer, but since then, the games have allowed players to jump in as a single-player mode, with the other slots being filled up with AI racers. These modes help to add some gameplay variety, while also just adding a ton of extra content for players to enjoy, either with a few buddies or while riding solo.
8New Gimmicks
Nintendo Test Out A New And Creative Gimmick With Each Mario Kart
While everyMario Kartgame will feature cleaner graphics and more tracks than the previous installments, they also all come withunique gimmicks. This has been a recurring trend sinceMario Kart 64introduced 3D graphics. Whether it’s the Wii’s motion controls and the dual-screen of the DS, or in-game gimmicks like having two characters in a single kart withDouble Dash, there’s never any guessing what weird and wacky features Nintendo is cooking up for each new entry.
The most recent game,Mario Kart 8, featured anti-gravity karts that can stick to any surface, leading to plenty of wonderfully creative tracks. Many fans suspect that the nextMario Kartgame may incorporate the mouse motion sensor feature that was shown off in the Switch 2 reveal trailer, though only time will tell what Nintendo has in mind for the hotly anticipated entry.
