What's the best Mario Kart game?

[Wavy]

Just wanted to make a thread to hear what Doomworld considers to be the best Mario Kart game.

 

For me, it's Mario Kart DS due to how it had the best handling as well as it being the one I grew up with. Close second would be Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Mario Kart 64.

 

What's yours?

[spineapple tea]

Mario Kart Wii because the chaotic nature of the power ups makes it feel like a bullet-hell at times. and because i'm like two years old or something

[famicommander]

You really can't go wrong. I probably spent the most hours on Double Dash, but Mario Kart 8 probably has the deepest mechanics. 

[Yandere_Doomer]

Mario kart 8, mainly because it is one of the only ones that i have played.

i have only played Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart 8

[Azuris]

Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario Kart.

 

Never liked Mario Kart 64, for coinsidence, yesterday i was giving it a try and i just don't like it.

Control of the Karts isn't very good, Tracks are often bad designed or boring (Rainbow Road).

 

Mario Kart 8 on the other hand is soooo good.

Control of the Karts is great, Music is great, Visuals so much better compared to the Wii one and the Tracks are great.

 

Super Mario Kart i chose because it is one of the best 16 Bit Racers.

 

[Teo Slayer]

The one from N64 will always be my favourite

[HavoX]

I have very fond memories of MK64. Will always be my favorite. SMK wasn't too bad, either...

 

Diddy Kong Racing was also great... except Wizpig was a prick. Hardest boss I ever had to deal with in my entire life.

[Avoozl]

I don't know about anyone else but 64 was really bare bones for me, I much prefered Diddy Kong Racing over it. My favorites are pretty much Double Dash and DS for the most part, Wii was pretty good as well. I never got to play 8.

[durian]

Best all round, I don't think there's any contest really - 8 has so much more content than all of the other games. It plays great, looks great, has some really fun courses, and an outstanding soundtrack. Some thoughts about the others:

 

64 is a significant entry in the series - the jump between SMK and 64 is so huge. But it's aged quite poorly I think.

 

Wii had some really good courses, and I really liked the soundtrack, but was a mess in a variety of other ways to the point that I couldn't sustain any interest in playing it 

 

Double Dash is my favourite - I time trialled the hell out of it. I still keep a WiiU around just to play Double Dash. 

[PsychEyeball]

On 11/2/2021 at 9:03 AM, Avoozl said:

I don't know about anyone else but 64 was really bare bones for me, I much prefered Diddy Kong Racing over it. My favorites are pretty much Double Dash and DS for the most part, Wii was pretty good as well. I never got to play 8.

My issues with MK64 is that most of the tracks felt really empty, the biggest offender being Wario Stadium. Also it marked the trend of the rubberband AI we all know and... uhh love? The AI would also rubberband in Super Mario Kart, but not as badly. If you played well on certain tracks, there was nothing the computer could do to stop you. But on MK64, you could lose your first place at almost any moment because the AI would always be right behind you and could get some item to knock you down.

 

Oh, and my favorite is the first game, Super Mario Kart. I had so many good memories with it.

[Denim Destroyer]

I have the most memories with DS but I will concede that the multiplayer and tracks were better in Wii.

[DannyMan]

Mario Kart DS in my opinion because of memories.

[Coopersville]

Mario Kart 64 always felt like it was the fastest to me, and I still play it fairly regularly. I've taken a shining to Mario Kart 8, and probably consider it my second favourite. Big gold star to Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.

[Wavy]

13 hours ago, PsychEyeball said:

My issues with MK64 is that most of the tracks felt really empty, the biggest offender being Wario Stadium.

Agree with this. Tracks felt kind of lifeless and kind of ominous as a result. I think the reason as to the emptiness is to keep a consistent framerate while in 4 player mode, but I don't know.

[durian]

One thing I do like and miss about MK64 is that the game allowed the player to pretty much forget about the race and explore the tracks - for example, visiting the palace in Royal Raceway, or the riding the rails in Kalimari Desert. In general, Lakitu is much less intrusive than he became after MK64 (for example, he doesn't stop you from completing backwards laps). For this reason, while it's true that the tracks do feel empty, they also - for me at least - feel a bit more real, and less simulated. 

[hybridial]

Real answer: F-Zero GX.

 

That comes from a very, very bitter heart. Long time to get over it that I could even buy a Nintendo console again and it took Shin Megami Tensei V.

 

Answer for the sake of the topic, it's... 64 just because I played it a fair amount and yeah, it was alright. The only one I explicitely dislike is Double Dash, I found it really really bad for some reason, probably to do with the handling. Wasn't the only Mario game on the Gamecube I took issue with, the Tennis game also kinda sucked (And I loved the N64 game). 

[HavoX]

1 hour ago, hybridial said:

The only one I explicitely dislike is Double Dash, I found it really really bad for some reason, probably to do with the handling.

Ironically, I own the game, but never got to play it...

[DuckReconMajor]

I have fond memories of MK64 but when I tried to play it again a few years ago it just felt off. Maybe I got too used to Crash Team Racing. I need to give it another shot.

Double Dash and DS were great but none have topped my fondness for the Super Nintendo original, so I voted for that.

I do need to get around to playing 8.

[Lippeth]

Played Super Mario Kart more than anything else just because that's what I had, so it's my favorite by way of familiarity. I remember playing DK 64 at the Wal-Mart kiosk and being awed by the graphics, but once I got the N64 I spent way more time playing F-Zero X. I think I've played most or all of them throughout the years at least once at friends' houses or something, and still help my mom beat races on whatever is on the 3DS when I visit, but they all sort of blend together for me since the one for Gamecube and makes me enjoy the first one that much more.

[P41R47]

Crash Team Racing!

[Wavy]

11 minutes ago, P41R47 said:

Crash Team Racing!

Crash is my favourite Mario character.

[FireballCaco]

MKDS, I grew up with it and all the mechanics feel balanced too.

[Quasar]

How is there no love for Super Circuit? That game helped get me through college. Best 2D MK (of the two), and better than any of the 3D ones which, to be honest, I kind of hate. All of them have worse item balance and really horrid AI rubber-banding. Also, the squid ink added in the newer ones is one of my uttermost pet peeves in anything - can't stand having shit blocking my view and feeling like it's in my face. It's really uncomfortable and ruins the whole game for me.

[Avoozl]

Super Circuit was pretty much my first Mario Kart and I loved it, it definitely improved over the previous 2D game Super Mario Kart.

[durian]

Super Circuit related: the Super Circuit tracks which were updated for MK8 - Mario Circuit, Cheese Land, Ribbon Road - are some of the best in the game, I think.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

For me, maybe Mario Kart 64, although I do enjoy Super Mario Kart.

[Wavy]

3 hours ago, durian said:

Super Circuit related: the Super Circuit tracks which were updated for MK8 - Mario Circuit, Cheese Land, Ribbon Road - are some of the best in the game, I think.

Agreed. Ribbon Road is probably my favourite from the 3 due to how it absolutely nails its theme.