48. Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
You won't find any racing simulators or 'serious' racers in this list, but this is the first appearance of the kart racer, and it won't be the last. Except Diddy Kong Racing isn't just a kart racer, there's also hovercrafts and airplanes, and there's even a story mode rather than simply focusing on the racing itself. The evil Wizpig has taken over and naturally the only way to defeat him is via a series of races before eventually facing off against Wizpig himself, but if you didn't feel like moving onto the next race in the story you could just drive/fly around the games island hub. Some crazy people out there rank this game above Mario Kart, but I wouldn't go that far. It's definitely the best kart racer around that doesn't feature that Italian plumber though.
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