Poll: What's your favorite Mario Kart?

[toptenmaterial]

Vote, comment!

[toiletunes]

I voted GCN, the only one I ever tried, one time twelve years ago, at a friend's house. I'd buy GCN or SNES, maybe GBA, depending on price and availability.

[Tanooki]

Voted for the SNES one, but I really do greatly enjoy the N64 and GBA releases too. (Gamecube is decent as well.) -- I've not played MK8 yet.

SNES wins it out for one reason alone -- it doesn't cheat like the others do so much. You can lap the cars on 50cc on the original game if you're good enough with speed, no accidents and cutting corners with the feather+boosting. The later games would pull some rubber band AI bs and throw you into an always close race even on easy (50cc) which I thought was bs. In more late games like the DS one being the highest offender, on the moderate and hard CCs they'd intentionally stuff some cart in 1st, you in 2nd, then have all the other 7 racers only attack you defying the point of the race just for the sake of un-creative cheap challenge.

[BillyHW]

Only the original for me, thanks.

[omegadot]

I loved the 64 version but if I'm honest 8 had such great race gameplay I give it the nod. I also loved double dash. 7 GBA and SNES were all good too. Wii was... Forgotten for me.

[+save2600]

Mario Kart 64 got my vote. Easily the one I spent the most time with and would still play today if I cared to keep a system around. Had the versions for the GameCube and original Wii too, but neither were as memorable, fun or as compelling to play for whatever reasons. Never liked the SNES version either and don't feel it aged very well. Graphically anyway.

[toptenmaterial]

Mario Kart 64 was a primary culprit in robbing me of a college degree. To me, the multiplayer has never been rivaled by any other game. The trigger on the N64 controller added so much functionality which is missing in subsequent versions- it's tough to hold a green shell with an L/R button.

 

Mario Kart DS scores second, the game feels like N64 and shine runners is sweet.

 

I'm playing 7 now on the 2DS and find 150cc to be frustratingly hard.

[Punisher5.0]

Tough call. For its time I'd say the SNES one. That game was ground breaking and all the kids in the early 90s were talking about it. Overall though (not really fair) I'd have to go with MK8. The game is super polished and feels like they took all the old games and made them better plus extras.

[D.Daniels]

Only played the Snes game, but probably deserves at least second or third place as it was ground breaking at the time

probably impressed me the most of any game ever for what it did at the time

Edited January 30, 2017 by D.Daniels

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I voted for Super Circuit on the GBA, not because I'm a GBA fanboy (which I admittedly am) but because it's been the only Mario Kart game that I thought was really challenging and kept me coming back again and again to try and A or S rank courses. Every other Mario Kart game has been a pushover for me and was really easy to beat with top ranks on every course, which kept me from coming back to play them very often over the years, but the increased difficulty of Super Circuit has kept me coming back to play it more times than I could count.

[JamesD]

Mario Kart #207 for me thanks.

[Reaperman]

The lack of blue shell means SNES is the only answer for me.

I also don't recall the SNES version punishing success nearly to the degree of the later ones, or relying on cheaty drift-boosting for its only viable gameplay strategy.

 

I love racing games, which is why I avoid what this series has become.

 

I think the GBA one is probably my second favorite. It has the blue shell, but for whatever reason I don't remember hating it quite as much in that one. I bet part of the reason I like it is because I stuck to single player.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Reaperman

[Tanooki]

^That's my beef with the series for a long time running now. The blue shell made the game less mario kart, and more mario party cheap AI on wheels. Do as nicely or not as you want, the game will always use the blue shell on the player to screw you in 1P mode. It's like landing on the Mario Party dice roll before the finish tile and it having that high probability of stuffing you back some or most of the way of the board lining up a sure fire loss. You are right about the GBA game, it's one of my top3 favorites too because it doesn't spam the blue shell, but it may use it. You're not so brutally punished for being a good driver without just gaming the system or other odd stuff.

 

The SNES one was item heavy as any, but they were balanced items. As you said there, it didn't rely heavily on lame drifting hop tricks to run a micro-turbo all over the place, or badly made coding that allowed abusers to 'snake' an entire course, and it didn't have the death dealing fail items so much as there were better chances at recovery. The stuff really post-N64 has strongly emphasized learning to keep a constant micro-boost going on much of the track and praying someone doesn't blue shell you a few seconds from the finish line. It's why I lost most my interest in playing or buying the series. I'm willing to give 8 a chance despite those things as I heard it has some solid balance returned to it, yet still with the crazy items so I'm curious to see how that plays out.

[NE146]

I was a fan of SNES Super Mario Kart even before it reached the states. I put countless hours in that thing.. was a tough call but I have to say TODAY.. I'd choose Mario Kart DS. There's just something about it. The course designs are great and the multiplayer races you can have in that thing are top notch. Lots of fun.

[Austin]

Mario Kart 64 for me. It has the greatest sense of speed, something that's pretty important for me in a racing game. I also don't feel the AI is extremely broken, and playing in multiplayer I feel that you still have to be skilled to win, not relying on freebie power-ups if you're down like you can in the modern versions. I also still dig some of the unintended shortcuts. Every game that came after this looks nicer, but I find the core gameplay and overall feel of MK64 to be the most enjoyable to me out of the whole series.

[TDIRunner]

This is actually pretty difficult for me to answer. I own all of the games, but I've only played 4 of them enough to beat them. Those 4 are Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8. I've never really enjoyed any of the portable versions, so those are out for me. I didn't own a GC during that generation, and even though I've played it a decent amount, I just never had the motivation to get into the 2 characters at once game play of Double Dash.

 

So, for the other 4 games that I have countless hours of game play under my belt, it becomes a difficult choice. The original is still great. So many childhood memories of that game, and probably the most difficult to beat in my opinion. I remember the first time I finished the Special Cup in 150cc. I honestly don't think I could beat that game today. Next, Mario Kart 64 is probably the one I have the most hours with. Even though it was pretty old by the time I was in college, we still played the hell out of this game, often into the morning hours. Lots of good memories there. Next for me was Mario Kart Wii. I had no interest in playing that game with motion controls, so thank god that you could use the classic controller. This game probably has the second most hours of game play for me, and it's the only game that I ever played a considerable amount online. It was also the first kart game with really beautiful graphics and the first for me to include tracks from past games. Getting to play some of the SNES or N64 tracks in the Wii graphics was a lot of fun. Lastly for me would be Mario Kart 8. I'm torn on this one because it took the Wii formula and improved on it in so many ways. Unfortunately, I find it to be the most frustrating of all the kart games I've played. The items selection seems to be pretty shitty regardless of where you are in the race. Many times I find myself near the back of the pack and I can't get anything better than a single mushroom or green shell. While I got a lot of enjoyment out of the game, I'm at the point where I doubt I will get many more hours out of it.

 

So for my favorite, it's a tough call. I have more memories with the SNES and N64 versions, but if I'm picking the BEST game out of the entire group, I probably have to go with Mario Kart Wii.

[Flojomojo]

7

Best handheld

Why am I the only one?

[NE146]

7

Best handheld

Why am I the only one?

 

I was actually preparing to give 7 a shot again.. initially I found it kind of dry, although tbh I never really tried muliplayer (as in challenging someone next to you.. not online).

 

<edit> I should add that I did play 7 through all classes and all courses, including mirror. That's my goal with every single Mario Kart since day 1.. it aint done until I complete everything.

Edited January 31, 2017 by NE146

[Omega-TI]

It's not listed in the poll, but it would have to be...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQIyD2Pcrsw

 

Free for downloading for the TI-99/4A << HERE >>

[Flojomojo]

 

I was actually preparing to give 7 a shot again.. initially I found it kind of dry, although tbh I never really tried muliplayer (as in challenging someone next to you.. not online).

 

<edit> I should add that I did play 7 through all classes and all courses, including mirror. That's my goal with every single Mario Kart since day 1.. it aint done until I complete everything.

Mario Kart is all about the multiplayer. It's the only 3DS game that really interests my kid, and then only when I play with her.

[toptenmaterial]

Mario Kart is all about the multiplayer. It's the only 3DS game that really interests my kid, and then only when I play with her.

My beef with 7 is that it seems genuinely impossible to beat at 150cc.

[Bilnick]

7

Best handheld

Why am I the only one?

 

My nephews and kids all had DS or DS lites plus some Acecards and we used to have 8 way multiplayer races and battles, was great fun. None of the kids ever upgraded to a 3ds though, they all got Ipads/tablets instead as they moved into their teen years.

[BillyHW]

Wow, I'm surprised how many of you are wrong and prefer a version other than the original SNES version.

[Tanooki]

My beef with 7 is that it seems genuinely impossible to beat at 150cc.

Really? I had it but stopped on 100cc as I got bored and moved to another game (even if it was fun I had no will to replay it much.) The DS one was setup to fail on 1P mode in 150ccs. The AI as I said in my other post was rigged to ignore the AI in #1 spot and have you in #2 while #1 and the other guys 3->back would spam any weapon against the player, not the leader like was normal in any other game, or even in 50 and 100cc in MKDS. That game infuriated the hell out of me for that, and then the hack/cheats on the online of it too, first Mario Kart I sold off, the second being the Wii one as I hated the bikes and found the courses just straight up boring.

[+save2600]

Wow, I'm surprised how many of you are wrong and prefer a version other than the original SNES version.

I'd rather play Jaguar Atari Karts than the original SNES Mario Kart. True story!