Super Mario Kart

This article is about the game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. For the microgame from WarioWare Gold of the same name, see Super Mario Kart (microgame).

"SMK" redirects here. For information about Super Mario-Kun, see here.

Template:Infobox Super Mario Kart is a racing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was first released in 1992 and re-released in 1996 as a Player's Choice title. Unlike other racing games at the time, which focused on single player pure racing with more complicated tracks, Super Mario Kart had a development focused on two players and was designed to be an easy and intuitive "pick up and play" experience that heavily involves the use of acquiring weapons on an obstacle course-like track to impede another player's progress. The development of a one-on-one Battle Mode was invented as another way to enjoy the competitive system by another means. A notable aspect of the game is its Mode 7 graphics, where the game simulates a 3D plane by rotating and scaling a background graphic on a scanline basis, allowing players to simulate driving through a track. Part of this game is heavily based on Super Mario World in terms of graphics and overall theme, such as sprites reusing assets from Super Mario World and the game's soundtrack rearranging Super Mario World melodies.

The game's high success has created the hugely influential Mario Kart series, as well as being the pioneer of the kart-racing genre. Due to the game's success and creation of the Mario Kart spin-off, many elements from the game has found their way into multiple other Mario series, such as Super Mario 3D World receiving a level designed after one of its courses. The game's use of its wider cast of characters such as Bowser and Peach has likely influenced the creation of later multiplayer-oriented Mario spin-off titles that involved a playable, larger cast of Mario characters such as Mario Tennis and Mario Party. It has ranked among the greatest games of all time by various organizations due to its legacy and its well-designed gameplay.

It was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009-2010. Super Mario Kart was re-released again on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013-2014, and exclusively for the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2016, and is one of the 21 titles included on the Super NES Classic Edition and one of the 20 launch titles for Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online.

Gameplay

Title screen for Super Mario Kart.

Players pick a Mario character out of a cast of 8 characters to race against opponents; racers have their own stats which determine how they will control, though it is not displayed in-game. In a race, players must rank high in the opposition by completing a race around a racetrack first, which consists of five laps due to their short length. Integral to the gameplay is the item system, where players can pick up items from Question Blocks mostly clustered around parts of the track, where the item obtained is dependent on their position. For example, players further behind obtain stronger items such as the invincible, speed-raising Star or the Lightning that can shrink all racers while players in better positions receive the basic Banana Peels and Green Shells items. Question Blocks get depleted whenever a player runs over them, and they do not respawn their items until all Question Blocks in the track get used up.

At the start of the race, players can rev up for a boost, though if they rev up too much, they accelerate much slower. Players can hop if they press either and . If they hold the button after hopping, they can power slide, which will enable them to drive through harder turns while losing less speed than steering through them. While karts in this game can brake with , they cannot go in reverse: players need to hop around to go backwards. Some tracks feature water that players can fall into: if players fall into deeper areas, players can move around for a little while before eventually being picked up by Lakitu. Players immediately get rescued by Lakitu if they fall into pits or into lava, however.

In the course, coins are picked up, which increase the player's top speed as well as shield them from other racers: if a player runs into another racer while they have zero coins, they spin out. Having ten coins is the max speed a player can drive in, though players are able to collect extra coins. Players start out with a number of coins depending on their rank: first and second start with two coins, third and fourth start with three coins, fifth and sixth start with four coins, and seventh and eighth start with five coins. Players lose four coins if they are hit with an item, they lose two coins if they are picked up by Lakitu if they fall off the track, and they lose one coin if they bump into another racer.

Three speeds are available: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. 50cc is the slowest and therefore easiest difficulty while 150cc is the fastest and hardest engine class that much be unlocked by clearing all cups in the 100cc engine class. Vehicles in all modes outside of Mario Kart GP use 100cc engines.

The game is always split in two screens. The top screen is the main screen that players see the gameplay in while the bottom screen displays an overhead map, displaying progress of all characters. If players press or , they can switch the overhead map to a backwards view. When two players are playing, the bottom map is replaced by the second player's screen.

If players want to delete their save data, they need to press , , , and at the title screen. If players want to delete just Time Trial records, they can go to the course records they wish to delete and press the same button combination.

Controls

Action(s)
Action(s)	SNES	Wii (Classic Controller)	New Nintendo 3DS	Wii U	Nintendo Switch
Change option during the Menus/Steer		/	/	/	Pad /
Use items, stop Item Roulette					A
Accelerate					B
Switch view	/	/	/	/	X / Minus
Brake					Y
Jump / Drift	/	/	/	/	L / R
Pause / Select					plus

Game modes

Mario Kart GP

The first race of the Mario Kart GP is about to begin.

The Mario Kart GP is the main mode in Super Mario Kart. Here, up to two players can race against seven other CPU-controlled opponents in a five-course cup; they first start out in eighth 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 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 lose one of three lives. If both players rank fifth or below, the race must be tried again. If the player ranks fifth or below without any lives left, 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 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 and 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.

Time Trial

This one-player mode have the player to race through five laps of the selected track the fastest they can without items or coins in the 100cc engine class. 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.

In all the versions of Super Mario Kart except the Japanese version, if the player enters the cheat code L, R, L, R, L, L, R, R, A on the cup selection menu in Time Trial, the Special Cup is unlocked. In the Japanese version, a "Boo" sound is heard instead.^[1]

Match Race

This mode is two-player only: the players can race each other like in GP, except CPU racers do not appear and players can freely choose the track to race in. Bullet Bills 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.

Battle Mode

Donkey Kong Jr. and Mario in Battle Mode

Main article: Battle Mode

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. Each player has three balloons that cannot be recovered. The first to pop all the opponent's balloons wins.

Characters

Character selection screen.

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, Gophers, Piranha Plants, and Flopping Cheep Cheeps. Ghosts do not 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. A Cheep Cheep balloon distributes the trophy to the GP winner.

Drivers

Super Mario Kart has eight available drivers, divided into statistically identical pairs of two. While subsequent Mario Kart games would classify characters based on weight class, in this game other criteria are used. The stats presented here are derived and inferred from the manual.^[2] The Bros are average drivers with a high top speed, The Dragon and The Lady have the highest acceleration with low handling, The Showdown have low acceleration and handling with the highest top speed and weight, while The Small Guys have high acceleration and handling, which makes them recommended for beginners. Each pair of characters has different engine sounds for their karts, which reflect their appearances and characteristics.

On a side note, this is only one of two Mario Kart games to feature Donkey Kong Jr. as a playable character (subsequent installments have replaced him with Donkey Kong), the other being Mario Kart Tour.

The Bros
SMK Mario Flag Artwork.png

Mario
CPU Item:
Star
SMK Luigi Alternate Artwork.png

Luigi
CPU Item:
Star

Acceleration	Top Speed	Weight	Handling
Medium	High	Medium	Medium

The Dragon and The Lady
SMK Peach Artwork.png

Princess
CPU Item:
Poison Mushrooms
SMK Yoshi Artwork.png

Yoshi
CPU Item:
Eggs

Acceleration	Top Speed	Weight	Handling
Very High	Medium	Medium	Low

The Showdown
SMK Bowser Artwork.png

Bowser
CPU Item:
Fireballs
SMK Donkey Kong Jr Artwork.png

Donkey Kong Jr.
CPU Item:
Banana Peels

Acceleration	Top Speed	Weight	Handling
Low	Very High	High	Low

The Small Guys
SMK Koopa Troopa Driving Artwork.png

Koopa Troopa
CPU Item:
Green Shells
SMK Toad Artwork.png

Toad
CPU Item:
Poison Mushrooms

Acceleration	Top Speed	Weight	Handling
High	Low	Low	High

Maximum speed

The Japanese Official Nintendo Guidebook of the game lists the maximum speed in the 100cc engine class in various conditions.^[3] This maximum speed is increased by 1 km/h per each coin collected, until 10 coins are collected.^[4]

Maximum speed in the 100cc engine class
Driver	Maximum speed (km/h)
Driver	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

A graph showing the speed as a function of time when accelerating from a standstill with various characters. The horizontal axis shows the time in seconds. The red line refers to Mario and Luigi, the green line refers to the Princess and Yoshi, the light blue line refers to Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr., the yellow line refers to Koopa Troopa and Toad.

Performance chart

The official instruction manual illustrates a chart that details how well characters perform on tracks and their stats. It notes that Toad and Koopa Troopa have the best steering while the Princess and Yoshi steer worse. Another point it mentions is that Toad and Koopa Troopa can get knocked aside by Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr.

Non-Playable

Characters and elements
Character/element	Location	Description
Bullet Bill	N/A	Appears in Match Races where they bounce back and forth between two walls and causes racers who drive into them to spin out.
Flopping Cheep Cheep	Koopa Beach	Out-of-water fish that spins players out if they come in contact with them.
Ghosts	Ghost Valley, appears as an item	Background elements in the Ghost Valley courses. They also appear as an item in Match Race and Battle Mode.
Gopher	Donut Plains	Gophers attach themselves onto racers if ran into, which cause them to lose speed and coins. Players must hop repeatedly to get them off.
Lakitu	N/A	A helpful track manager who oversees the race. He starts the race up, pulls racers out of lava, water, and pits, tells players that they are going the wrong way, and waves a checkered flag for a racer who has finished.
Piranha Plant	Choco Island	A carnivorous plant that acts like a stationary obstacle. Players who run into them spin out.
Thwomp	Bowser Castle, Rainbow Road	A hovering rock that stays stationary in the first lap of a course. In subsequent laps, they slam onto the floor in a pattern, and any racer caught in them get flattened. Flashing variants of Thwomps appear in Rainbow Road and act identically to Thwomps, though touching them causes racers to spin out, unlike regular Thwomps.

Courses

The game has 20 race courses and 4 battle courses, the former being divided in four cups.

Race courses

Aside from Rainbow Road, all of the courses are numbered. In the credits, each character is assigned a course.

Some common hazards include the following:

Water: Racers who fall in have a few seconds to drive out, before Lakitu picks them up. Koopa Beach contains shallow water that is safe to drive through. In Vanilla Lake, racers appear frozen when they are fished out.
Lava: Racers who fall in immediately get picked up by Lakitu.
Abyss: Racers who fall immediately get picked up by Lakitu.
Destructible blocks: Walls that get destroyed when struck in Ghost Valley and Vanilla Lake.
Dirt: Decreases traction when driven on in Donut Plains.
Chocolate Mud: Decreases traction and slows speed when driven on in Choco Island.

	Name	Terrain and obstacles
	Mario Circuit	Terrain: Pavement/Sand Slipperiness: 1 Obstacles: Oil slick, Pipes Assigned character: Luigi
	Donut Plains	Terrain: Grassy Slipperiness: 2 Obstacles: Gophers, Water, Pipes Assigned character: Princess
	Ghost Valley	Terrain: Wooden Slipperiness: 1 Obstacles: Falling walls Assigned character: Yoshi
	Bowser Castle	Terrain: Stone Slipperiness: 1 Obstacles: Thwomp, Lava Assigned character: Bowser
	Choco Island	Terrain: Chocolate Slipperiness: 3 Obstacles: Piranha Plants, Chocolate Mud Assigned character: Donkey Kong Jr.
	Koopa Beach	Terrain: Sand/water Slipperiness: 3 Obstacles: Flopping Cheep Cheeps, deep water Assigned character: Koopa Troopa
	Vanilla Lake	Terrain: Icy Slipperiness: 4 Obstacles: Icy water, destructible blocks, Pipes. Assigned character: Toad
	Rainbow Road	Terrain: Rainbow tiles Slipperiness: 1 Obstacles: Super Thwomps Assigned character: Mario

Course features and obstacles

Feature	Description
Coin	These are scattered throughout the course and increase the player's speed as well as give them durability against opponents. They do not respawn once taken.
Jump	Players hop if they drive over this. Driving over it at high speeds causes racers to jump higher and further.
Oil Slick	Located in the Mario Circuits, players spin out if they drive over them.
File:SMK Warp Pipes.png Pipe	Stationary obstacles found in Mario Circuit, Vanilla Lake, and Donut Plains that act as walls and slow players down when struck.
Question Block	These panels gives players an item if driven over. Once they are driven over, they are depleted until all Question Blocks in the course get depleted, in which they will respawn.
Zipper	Zippers give a burst of speed for players who drive over it.

Battle courses

Items

Items are obtained through ? Panels scattered around the tracks. When the player passes over one, it will deactivate until all other ? Panels are used. 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.
Green 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 Troopa if CPU-controlled, but they will behave similar to Banana Peels even when thrown forward, and remain stationary.
Red 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 take normally impossible shortcuts and to sail over obstacles and other racers.	Can be used by every CPU.
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.
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.
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.
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. Shrunken racers who run into it revert 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).^[5] 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.