Editing Super Mario Kart

The Mario Kart GP is the main mode in ''Super Mario Kart''. Here, up to two players can race against seven or six other CPU-controlled opponents in a five-course cup; they first start out in 8th place and must make their way to the top position; players keep their position for the next race if they end in that position. The top four players receive [[point]]s based on their ranking: 1st place gives the player 9 points, 2nd place gives the player 6 points, 3rd place gives the player 3 points, and 4th place gives the player 1 point, while 5th place, 6th place, 7th place and 8th place give the player 0 points. Players who rank 5th or below lose one of 3 lives. If all players rank 5th or below, the race must be tried again. If the player ranks 5th or below without any lives left, the game is lost. A single extra life can be earned by placing in the same position three times. The maximum score in a GP cup is 45 points, obtained by winning five times. The three best drivers move on to the award ceremony where they receive their trophies. 3rd place gives the player a bronze trophy, 2nd place gives the player a silver throphy, and 1st place gives the player a gold throphy (the player can watch the ceremony only when they place first: however, a [[List of Super Mario Kart pre-release and unused content|prototype version]] has animations for second and third). If the player ranks 4th or below by the end of the cup, their character is placed at the side of the podium and cries with their back facing the screen which displays text that says, "(character's name) came in (number) place. Try again." Each race is five laps long (with Lakitu appearing on the left side of the player holding the start signal and the lap count signs).

If players beat all of the cups in the 100cc engine class, the message "Excellent driving! You are now a ''Super Mario Kart'' expert." pops up, thus officially telling players that they have completed all four of the cups. If the player wants a harder challenge, they can now replay through the game in the 150cc engine class. If players beat all of the cups in the 150cc engine class, the same message as before pops up. If the player wants a more difficult challenge, they can hold {{button|snes|A}} and {{button|snes|Y}} at the character selection screen. This makes the character permanently small as if under the effect of a [[Lightning]] or [[Poison Mushroom]] until the player presses the buttons again.

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A two-player exclusive mode where players combat each other with items in an arena. The goal is to eliminate the opposing player's balloons, which are represented by colored spheres rotating around the character (player 1 is blue, and player 2 is red). Each player has three balloons that cannot be recovered. The first to pop all the opponent's balloons wins.

The following tables are derived from the Japanese ''Nintendo Official Guidebook'' of the game and report the probability of obtaining each item in the various modes with letter codes ranging from '''A''' (most likely) to '''F''' (unlikely).<ref>{{cite|title=''Super Mario Kart Nintendo Official Guidebook''|page=142 and 143}}</ref>