Super Mario Kart was the first game in the popular
Mario Kart series. It was also the game that started the karting subgenre of racing video games, laying the groundwork for all of the features that have become the standard.
Super Mario Kart was released on the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System which, save for the Super FX and Super FX2 chips, only produced two-dimensional graphics. To give the illusion of three dimensions, SNES games had the option of employing a graphical technique known as Mode 7. With Mode 7, a flat image could be stretched and rotated around a flat sprite, making it appear to be traveling in a three-dimensional environment.
Super Mario Kart was a masterclass in Mode 7 programming. The flat image was the course map, and sprites represented the player kart, course walls, and power-up panels. It worked within the limits of Mode 7, which restricted the size of the flat image to be manipulated. This led to courses being small and tight. There are three speeds of play, 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc, and the latter needs to be unlocked by playing through the courses. Even 150cc would seem slow if it weren't for the skillful track designs which make them feel much more fast-paced than they would have otherwise.
The kart racers encompass the entirety of the
Mario franchise at that point. Donkey Kong Jr. represents the
arcade era. Bowser (King Koopa), Toad, Koopa (Koopa Troopa), and Princess Toadstool (Peach) represent the
Nintendo Entertainment System era. Yoshi represents the SNES era. Mario and Luigi represent the franchise as a whole.
Each kart racer had its strength and weaknesses. Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. are heavy, starting off slow but they become the fastest racers when they get going. Their big drawback is that if they hit obstacles it takes them a long time to regain their speed. Toad and Koopa Troopa are the best all-around drivers. Their karts aren't the fastest, but they regain their speed quickly. The rest of the characters fall somewhere in the middle.
At certain points in the courses, there are question mark boxes on the ground. Like top-down racers such as RC Pro-Am, the boxes contain powerups as well as objects that can be left on the course. With the exception of the poison mushrooms that shrink upon contact, and the feather, all of these powerups have become series staples. Plus, other than the lighting which shrinks every other racer, all of them are from either the Mario or Donkey Kong series.
There are objects that can be dropped, including the banana peel which is dropped behind the kart, and the green Koopa shell which is shot in front of the kart and bounces off walls until it hits a driver, obstacle, or water. The banana can be shot in front of the kart by pressing up on the directional pad and the shell can be dropped, stationary, behind the kart by pressing down. There is also a red shell, which will hit the first driver it comes across unless it hits an obstacle or water.
There is the starman which turns a kart driver invincible, the feather which causes a kart to jump, and a ghost which steals an item from another driver. A mushroom causes the kart to do a boost, similar to the effect when you drive over a three-tiered arrow. Coins can also be picked up. Every time you get hit, you lose a coin. If you have no coins, you spin out, so it is imperative that you always have coins.
The one drawback between this game and future games is that the enemy characters don't pick up random objects, instead they use objects related to their character. Bowser uses a fireball that will spin in a small circle until it hits a driver, Peach and Toad use a poison mushroom, Donkey Kong uses a banana, and Yoshi uses an egg that acts like a banana. By far the worst, and most annoying, are Mario and Luigi. They use a starman to make them invincible. That means that it's likely they will activate it near the finish line to try to trip you up. It is a near certainty that you will be tripped up by one or both of the Mario Bros. at some point.
Super Mario Kart is a definite classic as it started a racing subgenre and set up the gameplay that would become commonplace. The two-dimensional graphics with graphical tricks to make it appear three-dimensional aren't nearly as technologically impressive as they used to be. In addition, the fact that enemy drivers use the same powerups rather than random pickups as the player means that they represent an irritant that is not in other Mario Kart games. That said, it still is a fun game, and it could be worth playing if you don't mind two-dimensional pixel graphics that imitate three dimensions on a two-dimensional plane.
Addendum October 8, 2025: There is also a pay-to-play version for the Super Famicom Box. This version is identical to the Super Famicom version.
Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5
