Super Mario Kart
- "SMK" redirects here. For Super Mario-Kun, see Super Mario-Kun.
Template:Infobox Super Mario Kart is a racing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the first game of the Mario Kart series, as well as the game that sets precedents to fictional kart racing genre. It was first released in 1992 and re-released in 1996 as a Player's Choice title. It was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on June 9, 2009, in North America on November 23, 2009, and in Europe and Oceania on April 2, 2010. Super Mario Kart was re-released again on the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on June 19, 2013, Europe on March 27, 2014, Oceania on March 28, 2014, and North America on August 6, 2014, and exclusively for the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in Europe on March 17, 2016, Oceania on March 18, 2016, North America on March 24, 2016, and Japan on May 9, 2016, and will also be one of the 21 titles included on the Super NES Classic Edition. Part of this game is heavily based on Super Mario World, in terms of graphics and overall theme.
Modes of play
MarioKart GP
The MarioKart GP is the main mode in Super Mario Kart. Here players can race against seven (six if in two-player mode) other CPU-controlled opponents in a five-course cup. The top four players receive points based on their ranking: first place earns the player nine points, second earns six, third earns three, and fourth earns one, while fifth and below get zero points. Players who rank fifth or below, can try again using one of three lives. If they rank fifth or below four times, the game ends. A single extra life can be earned by placing in the same position three times. The maximum score in a GP cup is forty-five, obtained by winning five times. The three best drivers move on to the award ceremony where they receive their trophies. Third place gives the player a bronze trophy, second gives silver and first gives gold (the player can watch the ceremony only when they place first: however, a protoype version has animations for second and third). Each race is five laps long. If players beat all of the cups in the 150cc Class, the Message "Excellent driving, you are now a Super Mario Kart expert" pops up, thus officially telling players they have completed the game. If the player wants a harder challenge, they can hold 
and 
at the character selection screen. This will make the character permanently small as if under the effect of a Lightning or Poison Mushroom until the player presses the buttons again.
Match Race
This mode is two-player only: the players can race each other like if they were in a GP, only that CPU racers do not appear and they can freely choose the track to race in. Black objects slide around the courses as well, and coming in contact with one will result in the kart spinning out and the object disappearing as if it were a Green Shell. The game keeps track of wins and losses of each player.
Time Trial
This one-player mode have the player to race through five laps of the selected track the fastest they can without items. The five lap times are recorded which are then combined to make the total time, as well as the fastest lap time and the characters used, for each track.
Battle Mode
- Main article: Battle Mode
Another two-player mode, it is completely different from a normal race and adds some variety to the game. For this mode, there are four square-shaped tracks that are the only selectable. The player's goal is using the items to pop the opponent's balloons. Each player has three balloons that can't be recovered in any way. The first to pop all the opponent's balloons wins.
Button controls
SNES
- Accelerate, Rocket Start- - Use items, stop Item Roulette
- Pause/Select
- Switch view
- Change option during the Menus/Steer
- Switch view- - Brake
/ 
- Drift
Wii
- Accelerate, Rocket Start
- Use items, stop Item Roulette
- Pause/Select
- Switch view
- Switch view
- Brake
/ 
- Drift
Wii U
- Accelerate, Rocket Start
- Use items, stop Item Roulette
- Pause/Select
- Switch view
/
- Change option during the Menus/Steer
3DS
- Accelerate, Rocket Start
- Use items, Stop Item Roulette
- Pause/Select
- (while paused) Change Selected choice
Characters
The game features eight playable characters from the Mario franchise, such as Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser. However, some other characters from the series acts as obstacles in the game's tracks, like Thwomps, Monty Moles, Piranha Plants and Cheep Cheeps. Boos don't act as enemies, but both as item and as part of the Ghost Valley tracks' background.
As stated in the game's manual, Lakitu is the owner of all the racetracks, thus overseeing all races. It will appear on the track to start the race, to warn the player if they are going the wrong way on the course, and when they fall off the edge of the track or go out of bounds. If the latter happens, Lakitu will transport the racer back onto the course at the price of two Coins.
Drivers
Super Mario Kart has eight available drivers, divided into statistically identical pairs of two. These four categories have no official name, but are referred in the manual as different classes. Later Mario Kart titles categorize characters into weight classes to organize their stats. The stats presented here are derived and inferred from the manual. [1]
Each pair of characters has different engine sounds for their karts, which reflect their appearances and characteristics
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Maximum Speed
The Japanese Official Nintendo Guidebook of the game lists the maximum speed in the 100cc engine class in various conditions.[2] This maximum speed is increased by 1 km/h per each coin collected, until 10 coins are collected.[3]
| Maximum speed in the 100cc engine class | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Maximum speed (km/h) | ||||||
| Normal road | Circuits' sand | Choco Island's rocks | Choco Island's mud | Donut Plain's grass | Koopa Beach's water | Vanilla Lake's snow | |
| Mario Luigi |
130 | 84 | 40 | 90 | 82 | 82 | 76 |
| Princess Yoshi |
125 | 88 | 44 | 94 | 86 | 86 | 70 |
| Bowser Donkey Kong Jr. |
135 | 86 | 42 | 92 | 80 | 88 | 74 |
| Koopa Troopa Toad |
120 | 90 | 46 | 96 | 84 | 88 | 72 |
Acceleration
Non-Playable
Courses
Race courses
The game has 20 race courses and 4 battle courses, the first being divided in four cups. Aside from Rainbow Road, all of the courses are numbered.
| Name | Terrain and obstacles | |
|---|---|---|
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Mario Circuit | Terrain: Pavement/Sand
Obstacles: Oil Slick - The player spins out upon contact (similar to a Banana). |
| File:SNES Donut Plains 1.png | Donut Plains | Terrain: Grassy
Obstacles: Monty Moles - They jump out of holes. If someone runs into one, they get caught on the kart and slow down racers until knocked off. |
| File:SNES Ghost Valley 1.png | Ghost Valley | Terrain: Wooden
Obstacles: Falling walls - Once hit, it falls, leaving the abyss below open. |
| File:SNES Bowser Castle 1.png | Bowser Castle | Terrain: Stone
Obstacles: Thwomp - They smash down on the floor. Anyone caught under them at that moment will be flattened and unable to move, costing time. |
| File:SNES Choco Island 1.png | Choco Island | Terrain: Chocolate
Obstacles: Piranha Plants - The player again spins out if they touch these. |
| File:SNES Koopa Beach 1.png | Koopa Beach | Terrain: Sand/water
Obstacles: Cheep Cheeps - The player spins out when touching these. |
| File:SNES Vanilla Lake 1.png | Vanilla Lake | Terrain: Icy
Obstacles: The terrain is icy, thus the player has less traction. |
| File:SNES Rainbow Road.png | Rainbow Road | Terrain: Rainbow tiles
Obstacles: There are not any walls, so the player can fall from anywhere. |
- Mushroom Cup
- SNES Donut Plains 1.png
- SNES Ghost Valley 1.png
- SNES Bowser Castle 1.png
- Flower Cup
- SNES Choco Island 1.png
- SNES Ghost Valley 2.png
- SNES Donut Plains 2.png
- SNES Bowser Castle 2 map.png
- SNES Mario Circuit 3 map.png
- Star Cup
- SNES Koopa Beach 1.png
- SNES Choco Island 2.png
- SNES Vanilla Lake 1.png
- SNES Bowser Castle 3 map.png
- SNES Mario Circuit 4.png
- Special Cup
- SNES Donut Plains 3.png
- SNES Koopa Beach 2.png
- SNES Ghost Valley 3.png
- SNES Vanilla Lake 2.png
- SNES Rainbow Road.png
Battle courses
- BC1SNES.png
- BC2SNES.png
- BC3SNES.png
- BC4SNES.png
Items
Items are obtained through ? Panels, scattered around the track. When the player passes over one, it will turn red (used) and not return orange (though in Battle Mode they did). Once a racer passes over one, with a few exceptions, they will receive an item in their box from the following:
| Item | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
  Banana Peel |
When a kart hits a Banana Peel, it will spin out. | Can be thrown backward and forward. Also used by Donkey Kong Jr. if he is CPU-controlled. |
 File:SMKGreenShell v2.pngGreen Shell |
The Green Shell will send an enemy into a spin if they are hit. Green Shells can bounce off barriers. Throwing it backwards will cause it to remain stationary. | Can be thrown backward and forward. Used by Koopa if CPU-controlled, but they will behave similar to Banana Peels even when thrown forward, and remain stationary. |
 File:SMKRedShell v2.pngRed Shell |
The Red Shell acts similarly to a Green Shell, but homes in on the target instead. It will not bounce off walls, however. | Can only be thrown forward. |
 Feather |
A Feather allows the user to perform a high jump, high enough to make shortcuts normally impossible and to sail over obstacles and other racers. | |
 Mushroom |
The Mushroom is a more common item than a Feather or a Star, and grants the user a slight boost. It can either be used to slam an opponent or drive over hazards such as sand and grass without losing speed. | |
 Star |
The Star provides two benefits, allowing the user to receive a small speed boost and to become invulnerable to everything. Contact with other racers will cause them to spin out. | Used also by Mario and Luigi if they are CPU-controlled. They will not receive a speed boost, however, and the effect does not last as long. |
| File:SMKGhost.png Ghost |
The Ghost turns the user transparent for a few seconds and steals an opponent's item. | Only appears in Battle Mode and Match Race. |
| File:SMKCoin.png File:SMKCoin v2.png Coin |
The Coin adds two coins to the total coin count, increasing the user's overall top speed. | Doesn't appear in Battle Mode. Maximum benefit is achieved with 10 coins. |
 Lightning |
The Lightning Bolt shrinks all the racers except for the user, making them slower and vulnerable to being squashed by normal sized racers. The effect will wear off after a brief period of time. | Doesn't appear in Battle Mode. |
| File:SMKEgg.png Egg |
Works similar to a Banana Peel. | Usable only by Yoshi if he is CPU-controlled. |
 Fireball |
Similar to a Banana Peel, but oscillates from left to right on the spot, making them harder to pass safely. | Usable only by Bowser if he is CPU-controlled. |
 Poison Mushroom |
A stationary item. If one is run into, the victim shrinks as if hit by a Lightning Bolt. The racer who is already shrunk and runs into it returns to normal size. | Usable only by Princess and Toad if they are CPU-controlled. |
Probabilities
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).[4] In the races, the probability of obtaining an item depends on the track theme, on the current lap and on the rank of the driver, while in Battle Mode the probability is not affected by any factor.
Mario Kart GP
In Mario Kart GP races, during the first lap all the drivers receive items with the same probabilities they would obtain if they were in first place, regardless of their rank.
| Track theme | Rank |
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File:SMKGhost.png | File:SMKCoin.png |
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| Mario Circuit | 1st | C | F | F | B | C | B | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | F | F | A | B | E | A | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | F | D | E | E | A | F | E | ||
| Ghost Valley | 1st | C | B | F | D | C | D | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | E | F | A | C | E | A | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | B | C | E | E | D | F | E | ||
| Donut Plains | 1st | B | F | F | C | C | B | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | F | F | B | A | E | A | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | F | C | E | E | A | F | E | ||
| Bowser Castle | 1st | D | D | F | C | C | D | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | E | F | C | A | E | A | E | ||
| 5th-8th | A | D | C | E | E | B | F | E | ||
| Choco Island | 1st | B | E | F | C | C | C | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | E | F | A | A | E | C | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | E | D | E | E | A | F | E | ||
| Koopa Beach | 1st | B | E | F | F | C | C | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | E | F | A | A | E | C | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | C | D | E | E | C | F | E | ||
| Vanilla Lake | 1st | C | C | F | C | D | C | D | F | |
| 2nd-4th | E | E | F | A | A | E | C | F | ||
| 5th-8th | A | C | D | E | E | C | F | E |
VS Races
| Track theme | Lap/Rank |
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File:SMKGhost.png | File:SMKCoin.png |
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| Mario Circuit | 1st lap | C | F | F | B | B | C | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | F | F | A | A | E | F | B | F | |
| 2nd place | A | F | D | E | E | A | E | F | E | |
| Ghost Valley | 1st lap | C | B | F | B | E | D | F | E | F |
| 1st place | E | D | F | B | B | E | B | B | F | |
| 2nd place | B | B | E | E | E | D | E | F | E | |
| Donut Plains | 1st lap | B | F | F | B | C | C | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | F | F | B | A | E | F | A | F | |
| 2nd place | B | F | C | E | E | B | E | E | E | |
| Bowser Castle | 1st lap | C | F | F | C | C | D | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | E | F | C | A | E | F | A | F | |
| 2nd place | A | E | D | E | E | B | E | F | E | |
| Choco Island | 1st lap | C | D | F | C | C | C | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | E | F | A | B | E | F | B | F | |
| 2nd place | A | E | D | E | E | B | E | F | E | |
| Koopa Beach | 1st lap | C | D | F | C | C | D | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | E | F | A | B | E | F | B | F | |
| 2nd place | A | E | D | E | E | D | E | F | E | |
| Vanilla Lake | 1st lap | C | C | F | C | C | D | E | E | F |
| 1st place | E | E | F | A | B | E | F | B | F | |
| 2nd place | A | D | D | E | E | D | E | F | E |
Battle Mode
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File:SMKGhost.png | File:SMKCoin.png |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | D | E | E | A | A | E |
Rivals
Super Mario Kart has a different rival system from the rest of the series; the rivals contain one very fast driver, one fast driver, one medium driver, one slow driver and three very slow drivers. It is notable that when one of the three slower drivers gets hit, that kart will keep its place, while when one of the faster cars gets shot, it will usually resume its previous place very quickly unless unable to catch up fast enough before the race ends. For this reason, the drivers (except the human racer) will (if unaffected) always finish in the exact same order. Also, if the player tries to hit an opponent, the opponent jumps over the item a majority of the time.
The rivals for each driver are always the same, the list will be in the order the line up for the first race. It is possible to change the order if the rivals can't recover their place at the end (Eg. If someone is playing as Luigi and Yoshi finishes last, Yoshi will then become one of the three slower drivers while everybody takes the next position up). It happens mostly on 100cc and 150cc.
The rivals are determined by the current points standing, meaning that if Yoshi was still only second to the player, he will boost back to first position from the start.
| Character | Rival Order | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very Fast | Fast | Medium | Slow | Very Slow | |||
| Mario | Donkey Kong Jr. | Princess Peach | Yoshi | Luigi | Toad | Bowser | Koopa Troopa |
| Luigi | Yoshi | Mario | Bowser | Koopa Troopa | Princess Peach | Donkey Kong Jr. | Toad |
| Princess Peach | Bowser | Toad | Mario | Donkey Kong Jr. | Luigi | Yoshi | Koopa Troopa |
| Yoshi | Koopa Troopa | Donkey Kong Jr. | Princess Peach | Bowser | Mario | Toad | Luigi |
| Bowser | Mario | Luigi | Princess Peach | Yoshi | Donkey Kong Jr. | Toad | Koopa Troopa |
| Donkey Kong Jr. | Toad | Bowser | Koopa Troopa | Luigi | Princess Peach | Mario | Yoshi |
| Koopa Troopa | Luigi | Yoshi | Princess Peach | Mario | Bowser | Donkey Kong Jr. | Toad |
| Toad | Princess Peach | Donkey Kong Jr. | Mario | Yoshi | Luigi | Koopa Troopa | Bowser |
Development
Super Mario Kart was born out of the idea of making a two-player racing game following F-Zero, which was exclusively single-player.[5] The prototype initially only featured a generic "guy in overalls". The decision to include Mario characters and concepts was made three to four months in development, when the developers added Mario driving one of the karts because they were curious about how the game would look, and decided that it looked better.[5] The battle mode was implemented because the developers thought it would be a good idea to include a form of one-on-one battles that didn't involving competing for ranks during the races.[5]
Pre-release and unused content
- Main article: List of Super Mario Kart pre-release and unused content
In addition to the above, a prototype cartridge of the game features several differences, such as the presence of animations on the podium screen when the player ranks 2nd or 3rd place, a music track for Vanilla Lake 1 that does not appear in the final build and a different Battle Course 3 set in Choco Island.
Reception
Super Mario Kart met with very favorable reviews. The game was placed 32nd in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997.[6]. In the book, Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition for 2009, Super Mario Kart was placed as the #1 best console game. The game was placed 33rd in the 200th issue of GameInformer's "Top 200 Games of all Time" in December 2009. The game was awarded the Most Critically Acclaimed Mario Kart Game by Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition 2009 - 2014.
Super Mario Kart is the 4th best selling game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, selling 8.76 million copies worldwide as of December 31, 2009.
Staff
- Main article: List of Super Mario Kart staff
References to other games
- Super Mario Bros.: The music that plays during Mario's ranks is an arrangement of part of the overworld theme from this game.
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: The computer-controlled Toad and Peach are able to throw Poison Mushrooms, which are not usable by the player.
- Super Mario World: Several sound effects from this game are reused. The music in the Ghost Valley and Bowser Castle courses are remixes of the music from the Ghost Houses and final boss theme, respectively, in this game. Most of the races take place on Dinosaur Land. Also, sprites such as the Lakitu bear a resemblance to their Super Mario World sprite. The Cape Feather returns, with a different function.
References in later games
- Mario Kart 64: The title music from Mario Kart 64 is a slower and elongated remix of the title music from Super Mario Kart. Also, part of Banshee Boardwalk's music is a remix of the music used for the Ghost Valley courses in Super Mario Kart.
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit: All twenty courses appeared in this game, but all of their track hazards have been removed, Item Boxes are at different places than where ? Panels laid and some tracks changed a little. The music for all tracks is redone for the Game Boy Advance. Also, part of the music used for Boo Lake/Broken Pier and Rainbow Road is a remix of the music from the Ghost Valley and Rainbow Road courses in this game, respectively.
- Mario Kart DS: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Koopa Beach 2, and Choco Island 2 all return to this game.
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Mario Circuit appears as a stage in this game, along with a remixed version of its music. The Banana Peel and Lightning Bolt appear as items in this game.
- Mario Kart Wii: Ghost Valley 2 and Mario Circuit 3 return as retro tracks and Battle Course 4 returns as a retro battle stage.
- Mario Kart 7: Collecting coins also returns from this game. Mario Circuit 2 and Rainbow Road return as retro tracks. Also, the rival system returned in this game. The kart now called Pipe Frame, returns in this game as an kart body, however it uses the dual exhaust design from Mario Kart 64 instead of the single exhaust from Super Mario Kart.
- Super Mario 3D World: The level Mount Must Dash is based on the Mario Circuit courses from this game. Also, the music from the Mario Circuit courses is remixed.
- Mario Kart 8: Part of the main theme is an orchestrated version of the main theme of Super Mario Kart. The Pipe Frame returns with the single exhaust design. Also, the Coin item returns with the same function as it did in this game. Donut Plains 3 returns as a retro track. The design of N64 Rainbow Road and Rainbow Road for this game are very similar to Rainbow Road, which also appears in this game in the DLC cup, Triforce Cup.
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: The Feather item returns with the same function. Battle Course 1 reappears as a retro battle stage; a billboard in the course background is modeled after the player select screen from Super Mario Kart.
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: Super Mario Kart appears as a masterpiece in this game.
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Super Mario Kart.
- MKMario.PNG
- BattleSMK.jpg
Mario and Bowser
- LakituSMK.png
- SMK Logo.png
The game's logo.
Media
- Main article: List of Super Mario Kart media
Glitches
- Main article: List of Super Mario Kart glitches
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | スーパーマリオカート[?] Sūpā Mario Kāto |
Super Mario Kart | |
| Korean | 슈퍼 마리오 카트[?] Syupeo Mario Kateu |
Super Mario Kart |
Trivia
- In Super Mario Kart, every character has a winning animation that involves a bottle of champagne. In the Japanese version, Bowser and Princess Peach drink champagne in their animations, which goes against Nintendo of America's policy on the depiction of alcohol, as it was considered inappropriate for younger children.[7][8][9] In the Western releases of the game, Bowser merely poses happily and Peach tosses and catches her bottle.
- This is the only game in the Mario Kart series to have five courses per cup, as opposed to four in later games.
- Yoshi, Bowser, and Donkey Kong Jr. are the only drivers in this game to have their own taunts when surpassing other racers regardless if they are being used by the player or CPU. The others do not have their own taunts and instead the standard beep is heard when surpassing other racers but can only be heard when used by the player.
- This is the only game where the Mushroom Cup has two Mario Circuit courses. They both share the same background and theme.
References
- ^ http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_SNES//Manual/formated/Super_Mario_Kart_-_1992_-_Nintendo.pdf
- ^ Super Mario Kart Nintendo Official Guidebook, page 17.
- ^ Super Mario Kart Nintendo Official Guidebook, page 15.
- ^ Super Mario Kart Nintendo Official Guidebook, pages 142 and 143.
- ^ a b c Iwata Asks: Mario Kart Wii (accessed March 22 2012)
- ^ http://www.gamekult.com/communaute/forum/voirmessage.html?foid=13000909, retrieved 6/4/2009
- ^ https://youtu.be/hNZfd3JDFOA
- ^ https://youtu.be/2VjWfW6XCN
- ^ http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/smk_j2e.shtml
