It's a weird question for me, because Mario Kart is one of those franchises where I'll play a game until the next step comes along... then, if I ever play the old one again, it's for shits and giggles.
1. The original Mario Kart I played A TON of.
2. Mario Kart 64 - 1997 to 2008 But when Mario Kart 64 and its 4 player races and battle mode came along, that original became obsolete. I played this game a ton, even when the Gamecube and stuff came out, this was the game I was playing with people ALL the time. This was THE Mario Kart for a decade.
3. Mario Kart Wii 2008-2011/2017 - Mario Kart Wii is the first modern feeling Mario Kart. While Mario Kart DS had the handheld thing going for it, it just wasn't of a high enough quality to usurp Mario Kart 64, and I just never got into Mario Kart Cube or Advance since I never found either of them fun... and no one else seemed to play those ones for very long anyway,
4. Mario Kart 7 2011-2017 - While Mario Kart Wii stayed on the menu for at least a little bit, this one clearly replaced it in my book as my new main Mario Kart. It wasn't quite as advanced as Mario Kart Wii, but it felt modern and was high enough in quality that the handheld element made it a better game than Mario Kart Wii... at least for me. Mario Kart 8 on Wii U just didn't cut it, and I think I ended up playing that one less than 5 hours in the end.
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 2017-Present - Holy fuck! This one brought the best of Wii and 7 together to the next level of Mario Kart. And while the basis is the game on Wii U, the whole thing is a much grander experience thanks to the vastly superior local multiplayer, and the fact you can play it everywhere... also, all the additional content is icing. Battle Mode is back after confusingly missing on the Wii U version - also, split screen felt dated after Mario Kart 7, and online multiplayer Mario Kart lacks the magic of local multiplayer.
If we're talking about right now, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch, hands down. For those playing just the Wii U version and thinking "It's the same damn game" - you're really missing out on what MK8DX is all about, Mario Kart's always been at its best with the local multiplayer, this one can go up to 12 - plus, if you have only like 5-7 people, and an Internet connection, you can still fill out the remaining slots... and because you have everyone in the room for banter, the Internet play is actually loads of fun and interactive rather than that empty/depressing feeling Mario Kart online tends to bring out (at least with me).
In short, the ones I loved: Original Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch).
The ones I didn't like: Mario Kart Advanced, Mario Kart Cubed, and Mario Kart 8U.
So, in short - Mario Kart has always been getting better, and there are generally more hits than misses. Mario Kart DS is probably the only Mario Kart game I felt was a hit that didn't usurp a previous game, because 64 was still a more fun experience... I found DS was a constant struggle to get the 8 players connected, someone would get disconnected and the whole game would fall apart. Similar stuff happened with 7, but not nearly as often, and connection issues seem to be gone with 8DX... except when Internet is involved, and even then it's rare.
Last edited by Jumpin - on 11 September 2021I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
