Then & Now
Super Mario Kart came out for the SNES more than 15 years ago, and though there have been many challengers since, the venerable Mario Kart franchise it spawned has remained the undisputed king of kart racing games.
The series has changed remarkably over the years, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. While the original laid the foundation by introducing many of the core items and characters, it wasn't until Mario Kart 64 that the series would take shape as we know it today--blue shells and all.
Join us on an odyssey through time as we look at the long history of console Mario Kart games and examine how the characters, items, and tracks have visually transformed over the years.
The Characters
Mario Kart began with a cast of eight, all of whom have (mostly) gone on to appear in every game since. This number has gradually swelled up to the current 25-character roster, but we took a look at the original eight to see how time has worked in their favor.

The magnificently mustachioed plumber always leads the pack. Is he supervising Bowser and making sure that kidnappings aren't on the agenda? Maybe he just wants another win to add to his savior-complex wall? Nah, he's more likely just stuck fulfilling endorsement deals for the next hundred years!

The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom has never been one to skip out on an adventure or one of the annual sporting events around her demesne. There are protocols in place to discourage the royals from participating in such vulgar, lowbrow happenings, but Peach's fiery personality and clear disregard for the rules allow her to freely mix with the common folk. Her people love her for it, but few approve of the sizeable expenditure necessary for proper rescue operations. When you put yourself at risk so recklessly and so often, don't be surprised if they only send a plumber to save you.

It takes a lot of self-confidence to go shirtless with a vest, but Peach's royal underling has managed to work it well enough that you've probably never noticed. He worked his way up to become an unlockable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash, but fell back into the common ranks after Nintendo realized that unlocking Toad was the reward equivalent of receiving socks for Christmas.

Yoshi driving a go-kart makes about as much sense as Sonic hoverboard racing. We're more interested in why Mario's always-faithful mount has chosen to participate in the competition: to get a chance to be the rider instead of the beast of burden, or to get revenge on Mario for dropping him down that pit in the Star World? Perhaps a little bit of both.
Next: More Characters»




185 Comments
@athenian29:
Yeah, I hope they bring back the history series. I read every article at least twice already.
And yeah, blue shells are for jerks. The best you could do when you're about to get hit is either cross the finish line before it touches you (which always manages to raise my blood pressure) or find a collateral to take with you.
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Bump
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They should have included the DS version.
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I love all mario kart games because you will always have fun in a go kart. but i gotta say zip zip sure is the best cycle. And yoshi is my main man
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Mario Kart Double Dash will alwaws be my favorite, i miss the dual cart riding buddies and their hilarious sounds.
And what is wrong with Donkey Kongs voice in mario kart Wii, he sounds like goofy or something.
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Mario Kart Wii uses less shadowing and shading making everything look flat as a pancake. The lighting is more defined, but the shadowing is worse with no shadows of the characters on the bikes. The textures are better, but some of the characters and karts look low-poly compared to double dash at times. Double Dash's Mushroom City would have been a better highway level to compare. Rainbow Road has better textures, but is not much else. Double Dash has better shadowing, shading and character models, while Mario Kart Wii has better lighting and textures. The graphics of both are comparable.
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Whatever happened to the DS? I've played all of the Mariokart games and I've gotta say... DS is the best.
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no mention of Mario Kart DS?
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I dont own a wii so i dont know exactly how well the game plays out, but i've started to notice that once they switched off to different style of cars the game started to loose its fun as a game. I had no desire to play double dash after i played for awhile cuz i was hoping to get into it, but never did. Mario kart 64 was amazing but i still feel never beat out the snes version. Now with the add on of bikes and different style of kart, i'm feeling i won't be going near it ne time soon. It's just not mario kart, ever game needs change to keep going, but the original kart i feel is what made it fun as weird as that sounds. But you gotta love mario kart whoever you are lol.
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lol!!! donkey kong looks better in N64
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I hate the foggy-like appereance of the colors in the Wii version! It´s ok that the light effects are way better than Double Dash, but why did they made the color palette so pale! A characteristic of this series was always its vivid colors on the characters and the race tracks, but now it looks... like, joy-less, kinda sadder. Also the HUD´s were better on the later games. And the menus are also very serious, like in the normal wii setup menu... I´m disappointed with the graphics on this game. Miyamoto says that gameplay is much more important than graphics, and he is partially right, developers must prioritize gameplay, that´s ok, but that doesn´t mean to totally discharge the visual aspect of a game. I think a good presentation is important in every aspect of life... I was hoping to see the same graphic quality as in Mario Galaxy. However this game is as fun as I expected, not better than MK64 which I think is the best in the series, I was hoping to see Wario Stadium on the classic courses... but no 'sigh'... Well, this is only my opinion.
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I love mario kart! It's the best multiplayer, 'cause friends who don't like fighting games sure like this ones!
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Well. That was just a big middle finger for Mario Kart DS, now, wasn't it?
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Wow, there really is a big difference here (between Double Dash!! and Wii), in the characters, textures, and effects. I wouldn't have noticed that without the comparison, though; partially because it's been so long since I've played Double Dash!!.
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Havent played MKWii yet, but I already see a big graphics difference, for those whom disagree are just being ignorant.
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i know
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There are obvious improvements graphics wise to the game since Double Dash, I think you people are just blind or have never even played the Wii version.
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For u Douches saying double dash looks like mkart wii u are stupid. theres a huge noticeable differences So grow a brain
Double dash drifting is soo crap im glad they fixed it on the wii version
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Hmmmm. The graphics on the Wii and GC versions are almost the same. The N64 version didn't look much worse.
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A decent way to waste time,
just like writing this comment.
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That was actually so boring I think I want to cry. I don't know why I rifled through the lot of it, probably for the pictures.
Don't get me wrong, I'll buy this game. It's just, the comments were so boring/not funny that I had to stop reading them.
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cool feature i enjoyed it thoroughly!
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that was fun! thanks for the feature GS!
sonic0491, your opinion may upset the "kids", but your attitude upsets the rest of us. do your part to make gaming FUN, and not a competition: stop intentionally provoking people. grow up.
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Such a sweet game, enjoying those online battles and whoopin on everyone out there
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There wasn't a Mario Kart for the NES...
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I wonder why they didn't post the first mario cart for the nes?
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you can use the classic controller delcidanddarth (sp?) i wish i had it lol
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Very interesting history piece.
Speaking of history pieces, what happened to the old "History of..." features? I MISS THEM!!!!!!!!!!!
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Great feature GS!
Was very interesting
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YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! Mario kart is awsome
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n64 is the best
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Mario Kart is the best racing game. Why is DK's voice retarded in the DS and Wii one?
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@CodingGenius "Is is wrong that whenever I see Mario Kart for any platform, I want to pop in the SNES version?"
Yes. In fact, you are so wrong... it's right.
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Is there a way to use the controller in an old school snes format? The wheel is sometimes extremely unresponsive, which is terrible for driving on cliff levels. Or am I doomed to using the nunchuk?
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mario kart is great
. I had the N64 version and now I have the wii version. both are great. but is it just me or has the game gotten easier? rainbow road on the N64 was difficult, but on the wii version its not nearly as hard.
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sweet! Each version shows tha better results. Mario Kart Wii rocks!
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ZWarrior006 ZELDA IS ALWAYS A NEW AND INNOVATIVE GAME
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similar stuff for me.. but not the SNES one (never played that)
my first 3D game was Mario Kart 64... I wasted lots of hours on that.. none of the other mario karts really kicked in for me that much
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Is is wrong that whenever I see Mario Kart for any platform, I want to pop in the SNES version? I can't even get into Mario Kart DS because I just want to play the SNES one instead.
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The new rainbow road. Its to scary. I cant take it.
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Okay, let's face it. This game hasn't changed much over its entire lifetime. Comparing graphics might be the only reasonable comparison between the games, though the Wii certainly does not offer the graphical power to make much of a difference. The real story here, or indeed, on any Wii game is the control scheme. ZWarrior006, I was in agreement with you, up until that fairly racist comment at the end.
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I agree whole heatedly with Megregor. It really is ashame. I have owned them all, and the first 2 were the best by far.
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McGregor, you really have to be blind not to see the differences between the games from a graphics standpoint. You say Double Dash only looks slightly better then the N64 version of Mario Kart?! Please go play that game again and then Double Dash, there is a HUGE upgrade in graphics. Your comparison is like saying Super Mario Sunshine only looks slightly better then Super Mario 64....
Mario Kart Wii and Double Dash do look similar but the difference is there. The textures are better in Mario Kart Wii , the character/car models are a bit better in Mario Kart Wii and the lighting is vastly improved which adds a lot to the graphics. You'll have to play Mario Kart Wii in person to really see the differences between it and Double Dash as screenshots don't give you the full picture.
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Mario Kart is a great game and will buy it on the wii (when it's cheap) but please no more Mario kart games...
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great feature!
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is it me . but if you look at toad mario and peach . they are all driving the same car in the new version . the only difference is the colour .. they all have the same exaust pipes.. comon they could of put some imagination and made a girly car for peach .. a shroom one for toad.. i donno . but not all the same .. the graphics are nice tho . but this is pretty deciving
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I agree with {{barkera0}}. Nintendo had the opportunity to make new addictions to Mario Kart Wii that would make it stand out from all the others. Nintendo should have made chat available with the Wii by now much like the Xbox live so you can chat and play. Now i would like to see Nintendo bring the DS version of New Super Mario & Zelda Phantom Hour Glass to the Wii. But not just a remake but with new levels and more challenging adventure.
And the other much needed improvement for the Wii is for those with HD Tv's. It would be awesome to play these games in 1080i. Some of the older games for the Wii from other consoles can not be played on HD TV'S and that is a pain.
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