Guessed by Darashiva
Putting the old 'Mario Kart 64' in this list as the top representative, or in my case, the only representative of this series might be a bit unorthodox. Of course, I couldn't prefer this game over a newer one because of its story, or because I like its art direction better. No, objectively, the greatest game of the Mario Kart series would be 'Mario Kart 8', but Mario Kart 64 has special meaning. Still, there is some merit to choosing this game as the best one; it for example is a bit more skill based than newer entries and luck is a bit less of a factor. The Blue Shell can be dodged more easily, it doesn't feature auto-drive power-ups like the Bullet Bill and there's plenty of shortcuts that require the player to know what they're doing.
But like I said, for once, this game earns its spot this high in the list in large part due to a nostalgia factor. Not only memories with good endings though, also quite a bittersweet one. I've told this story before here on the site, but this game will forever be tied to a memory of my family, because this was the game we all played together when we were all together for the last time. It was some time past the N64's time, and my games were moved to my grandmother's house. One Mother's Day, like some coincidence because that never happened, it's a long story, everyone in the family decided to visit at once. Me and my cousins started to play Mario Kart 64, and then, my aunt and uncle joined, and my parents too. Grandma was watching from the couch. My mother and stepfather were Peach and Yoshi like they always were, my aunt and uncle were Wario and Bowser, my cousins were Toad, Luigi and Donkey Kong and I, I was Mario. It was a great day, but sadly, that never happened, and can never happen, ever again.
