Mario Kart Super Circuit (2001)
Game Boy Advance
It might have the highest score of any game in the franchise on Metacritic, but that’s not a big enough smokescreen to keep us from putting Mario Kart Super Circuit where it belongs: at the bottom of the barrel.
Released for the Game Boy Advance, props has to be given to Super Circuit for being the very first title players could play on the go on a portable system, and the game runs fine enough for its time, but this is really the best example of a game in the series being made increasingly redundant the longer the series goes on.
The graphics are poor, the character selection is limited, the drifting controls are impossible to use and, besides porting over all of the original Super Mario Kart’s tracks, there was nothing really new brought on by Super Circuit to have it rank higher.
Super Mario Kart (1992)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Mario Kart was born out of a desire from Nintendo to showcase the technical power and capabilities of the SNES system in a way that wasn’t as full on and intense as titles like F-Zero which were popular at the time.
Super Mario Kart is what the series owes all of its success to, essentially birthing the entire subgenre of party games for all of Nintendo’s main franchises going forward.
With that being said, there’s not much reason to play this game save for the curiosity you might feel in wanting to see what the series looked like back in the 1990s and where it has come from. The computer-controlled characters cheat, the controls are nowhere near as smooth or refined as other titles and the tracks feel painfully bland after a while.
Mario Kart 7 (2011)
Nintendo 3DS
Mario Kart 7 brought with it three new innovations: gliding, underwater driving and kart customisation, all three being great additions, but three additions that would continue on throughout the series and again leave this entry just struggling for its only identity and reasons to return to and play.
Mario Kart 7 just feels like a continuation of what had come before and really does struggle to stand out as its own entry.
There’s no VS mode, the battle modes are pretty stale, there are some baffling character inclusions (looking at you Honey Queen), the unlockables all revolve around completing Grand Prixs and don’t encourage much in the way of replayability and the kart customisation just doesn’t enhance things as much as you might think.
Mario Kart Double Dash!! (2003)
Nintendo Gamecube
Arguably the most divisive entry the series has ever produced, Double Dash!! is certainly not a game struggling for its own identity. The most wacky game in the series with its pushed in camera and overpowered special items constantly flying around, Double Dash!! is also one of the few games in the franchise to really capture an element of skill gaming thanks to the strategy and game-changing mechanics introduced with its two players per kart format.
Nevertheless, in comparison to other games in the series that followed this, there’s maybe not enough here to justify a higher spot on this table. Just sixteen tracks to play through and six battle courses split across three modes leaves this feeling like a great party game, but not necessarily something you could really get much value out of on your own.
Mario Kart 64 (1996)
Nintendo 64
The first game to make the bold jump to the world of 3D graphics, Super Mario Kart 64 is a game that has some of the most fiercely loyal fans in the whole franchise. The people who like this game, REALLY like this game.
Built almost exclusively for multiplayer parties, there’s no denying the appeal the game has for groups of people. That does, however, mean that it’s one of the weakest entries for single players with every track and cup unlocked right from the very get go.
Nevertheless there are plenty of iconic tracks here and a plethora of reasons to be grateful this game exists still to this day.
Mario Kart DS (2005)
Nintendo DS
Coinciding with arguably Nintendo’s most successful period in terms of handhelds, Mario Kart DS is still the second highest selling title in the series with nearly 25 million units shipped and really marks the series going in a more commercial mainstream direction.
The wackiness of Double Dash!! was stripped back, but Nintendo made sure to cram in more content here than any other title in the series before. Unique mission modes were introduced, unlockables held a nice balance, online multiplayer became an accessible feature, battle mode was well handled and even nifty side features such as the emblem creator were thrown in for good measure.
Mario Kart 8 + 8 Deluxe (2014)
Nintendo Wii U / Nintendo Switch
Whilst it took some time to get the right characters and battle modes introduced properly, there’s no denying just how impressive the latest main title in the series has been so far.
Introducing HD graphics, the sheer visuals on show in Mario Kart 8 are enough to see it rank highly on this list, but that wouldn’t be doing all the crossovers, redesigns of retro tracks and anti-gravity mechanics that are individual to the game enough justice.
In short, gravity is no longer holding Mario Kart back and this is the most vibrant looking, jam-packed and let loose title in the franchise to date.
Mario Kart Wii (2008)
Nintendo Wii
However, in terms of commercial impact, replayability, appeal to single and multiplayers and its sheer longevity, there’s no beating Mario Kart Wii.
With over 35 million units sold, it is still the most successful Mario Kart game to have ever been released and introduced a new level of mainstream influence following its release in 2008. The introduction of bikes and the tricking mechanic were some of the best introductions made over the franchise’s history, and the game is still enjoying a healthy amount of player bases around the world, even over a decade on from its initial release.