Super Mario Kart

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Template:Infobox Super Mario Kart was a 1992 racing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the first game in the spin-off Mario Kart series, and the game that popularized the kart racing style of video game. It spawned many imitators that tried to emulate the Mario Kart formula of simple, fast paced racing with a focus on traps and items, but none have been as successfull as the original series.

Drivers

Super Mario Kart has 8 available drivers. In Super Mario Kart, unlike later games, there is not the usual Lightweight/Middleweight/Heavyweight distinction, but instead there are four categories. These categories have no official name, but are refered in the manual as different class names.

The Drivers
The Small Guys These characters have very good steering, but only average acceleration and average top speed. They also get bumped around alot, because of their low weight.	File:MKTroopa.PNG The Koopa Troopa is one of the basic enemies introduced in Super Mario Bros., Koopa Troopa is arguably the most popular driver in the game. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes throw Green Shells towards the player. Super Mario Kart is, apart from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Wii, the only game where the player or the CPU can drive with a Koopa Troopa.	File:MKToad.PNG Toad is also another character introduced in Super Mario Bros, and one of few friendly characters from those events. When the computer uses Toad, he will sometimes throw mushrooms in front of the player that make the player shrink if the player collides into them.
The Dragon and the Lady These characters have excellent acceleration, average handling, and medium weight, but suffer from poor top speed.	File:MKToadstool.PNG Princess Peach was again, one of the characters introduced in Super Mario Brothers. She was refered as Princess Toadstool in this game. She is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. When the computer users her, she will sometimes throw mushrooms at that the player and it will shrink them.	File:MKYoshi.PNG Yoshi is a friendly green dinosaur-like creature, first introduced in Super Mario World. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes throw eggs at at the player.
The Bros. These characters are average in all areas.	File:MKMario.PNG Mario is the main hero of the Mario series, first introduced in the wildly popular arcade game Donkey Kong. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes use Star power (invincibility)	File:MKLuigi.PNG Mario's much less famous brother, who first appeared in the game Mario Brothers as a pallete swap for use as a second player in multiplayer games. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes use Star power (invincibility).
The Showdown These characters have the highest top speed and heaviest weight, but suffer from poor acceleration and poor control.	File:MKBowser.PNG Bowser is another character introduced in Super Mario Brothers, and the game's main villain, as well as the villian of most games in the Mario series. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes throw lava balls at the player.	File:DKJRMK.PNG Donkey Kong Jr. is the son of Donkey Kong and one of the more obscure characters in the series. He made his debut in his self-titled game. When the computer uses him, he will sometimes throw bananas at the player.

Final comparison

Drivers		Acceleration	Top Speed	Weight	Handling
Koopa Troopa	Toad	Medium	Medium	Low	High
Princess Peach	Yoshi	High	Low	Medium	Medium
Mario	Luigi	Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium
Bowser	Donkey Kong Jr.	Low	High	High	Low

Courses

File:SMK Screenshot.JPG

The very first Mario Kart Track in the series, Mario Circuit 1.

• * Represents a course that reappeared in Mario Kart DS's retro cups.
• ** Represents a course that reappeared in Mario Kart Wii's retro cups.

Mushroom Cup

• Mario Circuit 1*
• Donut Plains 1*
• Ghost Valley 1
• Bowser Castle 1
• Mario Circuit 2

Flower Cup

• Choco Island 1
• Ghost Valley 2**
• Donut Plains 2
• Bowser Castle 2
• Mario Circuit 3**

Star Cup

• Koopa Beach 1
• Choco Island 2*
• Vanilla Lake 1
• Bowser Castle 3
• Mario Circuit 4

Special Cup

Only availible in 100cc and 150cc

• Donut Plains 3
• Koopa Beach 2*
• Ghost Valley 3
• Vanilla Lake 2
• Rainbow Road

Rivals

Super Mario Kart had a different rival system from the rest of the series; the rivals contain one very fast driver, one fast driver, one medium driver, one slower 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 resume its place.

The rivals for each driver is 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)

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
Mario	DK Jr, Peach, Yoshi, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, Koopa
Luigi	Yoshi, Mario, Bowser, Koopa, Peach, DK Jr, Toad
Peach	Bowser, Toad, Mario, DK Jr, Luigi, Yoshi, Koopa
Yoshi	Koopa, DK Jr, Peach, Bowser, Mario, Toad, Luigi
Bowser	Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, DK Jr, Toad, Koopa
DK Jr	Toad, Bowser, Koopa, Luigi, Peach, Mario, Yoshi
Koopa	Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Mario, Bowser, DK Jr, Toad
Toad	Peach, DK Jr, Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, Koopa, Bowser

Trivia

• In the manual, the picture for Mario Circuit 1 is upside down.
• All 20 of the courses appeared in Mario Kart Super Circuit.