'Mario Kart 8' is almost here, so let's run down the best kart racers to date.
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "10 years. It’s been almost 10 years since the last mainline release in the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart 8 came out for the Wii U in 2014 and became the best-selling game for the system by a sizeable margin, and later pulled the same magic trick on the Nintendo Switch under the stage name Deluxe. All in all, it's sold nearly 70 million copies over the last decade and is still selling like hot cakes to this day, so it’s no wonder Nintendo has been in no rush to replace it. However, with rumors of a new system being just around the corner, and reports a few years back that a new Mario Kart is indeed under way, it seems the era of 8 might very well be drawing to a close. It’s an exciting prospect to be sure, but after two Nintendo systems with Mario Kart 8 at their heart, a lot of questions remain about how Nintendo will choose to follow it up."
I hope they just keep building on Mario Kart 8; Add a track-creation tool, and probably open it up to more Nintendo IPs with new tracks and characters, so Metroid, Punch Out, Starfox, Animal Crossing, etc etc.
there wont be a new one until the switch 2 comes out.
nintendo needs their bangers early on
Mario Kart DS still plays a fine game of handheld Mario Kart more than 20 years after its initial release.
I really liked the Mission Mode. They had you doing crazy stuff like driving backwards, or collecting all the collectibles as quick as you can between a litter of enemies.
They should add it to Mario Kart 9 for sure, along w online leaderboards for the mission stuff. That's how they could expand on the already excellent Mario Kart 8, bc track quality it's hard to imagine them getting much better beyond slightly tighter graphics and 4k on the Switch 2. Maybe more Diddy Kong Racing-esque adventure layout w more emphasis on boats and planes.
It's hard to say that Mario Kart DS is the best "handheld Mario Kart" though, bc Mario Kart 8 is handheld. It's definitely got some uniqueness that I appreciated. The 2 merged together would be amazing.
I don't think Mario Kart 8 (and Deluxe) rank too highly for me, personally. There's just not as much life in them.
Mario Kart Double Dash, MKDS and Super Mario Kart are the only three that are actually fun to play. Sure MK8 is pretty but its just that. It lacks the soul of double dash. the DS one controls really really well and the orignial with the feather power up is cool.
Hard to disagree with that, really how can all the other games (especially after it) have less single player content?
DKR managed a better game on the 64 and Mario Kart gets away with literally the bare minimum all the time.
While the genre may currently be an oversaturated one, it’s interesting to look back on how the Donkey Kong franchise even got a racer to begin with, and what stopped Nintendo from ever releasing more entries.
Man, this would be the perfect title to bring next to the Nintendo 64 lineup on Nintendo Switch Online. This game was so good back in the day.
GOAT, best game of all time, never got the updated version / sequel is so much deserved,
sometimes though, as they say "never meet your heroes" to avoid disappointment,
so I look at it as, best left in the past and just enjoy the memories.
Really was a phenomenal game. I still remember being at my cousin's house and unlocking the spaceship, our minds were blown lol
Also hated that damn blubber the octopus boss.
This was better than Mario Kart 64 but far for me. I loved the different vehicles and adventure aspect.
The single player was by far better than MK64, not sure about the multiplayer as I don't recall playing DKR with someone else.
The thing I noticed with DKR was that the enemy racers seem to hardly use power ups against you, but they are pretty aggressive in keeping pace or passing you so maybe that's why they made them use power ups less than MK.
I always remember DKR being hard as a kid compared to MK64, but I mostly played MK64 as a multi-player game, whereas DKR had a satisfying single player mode.
Absolutely loved DKR. Mario Kart, as much as I love it, has yet to really capture the magic of DKR. Better in some ways, worse in others.
Horrible list
Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed at 9! CTR getting beaten by Double Dash that's a joke.
5 pages for a top 10 list. Almost tempted to put the entire list in the comment section.
Crash Team Racing is pretty much why I want Sony to get the rights to Crash again
It means they can do a sequel to the game and this time it will have an online mode.
Hell even the single player story was great, I liked how you had a huge hub and you could select the courses, defeat bosses then move onto a new section of the hub...something I've not really seen from a Mario Kart game.
Super Mario Kart? Seriously? Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash are much better games. My favorite kart game is LBP Karting. So, I'm not in love with this list. Lol.
Crash Team Racing was so fun. I played it a lot as a kid.
No love for Speed Freaks on PS1? I used to love that game!