Yeah. Let’s not pretend this is a contest.

Always wanted to try that game. Alas, I wonder can Uncharted be considered a platformer...

Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are games that I played a lot throughout my life until. The same is true to Crash Team Racing. I still play all of them this day, except for Mario Kart Wii. That being said, I think Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is better than CTR only because it has more courses, itens, character roster. Both MK8 and CTR have awsome mechanincs but CTR's is a little bit more satisfying to master. I don't know how to explain it.

In the end, what I have to say is that CTR is 25 years old and despite that, it is still a game that I can say is on pair with modern Mario Kart. As for the Mario Kart franchise, I'd say that it only reached a point where it was on pair with CTR in the Mario Kart Wii installment. CTR deserves the praise it receives



And lastly, for some reason I felt bored playing CTR's remake. Played twice or three times and never touched it again

Edit: I also played Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7 but I didn't want to compare them to a home console game like CTR

Havent played any of the Crash games but MK especially MK8D is amazing.

I played every home console version of Mario Kart, the original Crash Team Racing, Sonic Racing Transformed (or something like that), Chocobo GP, an old Lego kart game (Lego Racers iirc) and even an old PS1 Bomberman racing game. The way I would rank them is:
Super MK → Sonic Transformed → CTR → Bomberman → Chocobo GP → Lego Racers → every other home console Mario Kart
Lego Racers is a forgotten gem, you can combine items, and I remember that if you combine 3 Turbo boosts it becomes a device that teleports you forward on the track!

I played about an hour of Crash racing on PS+ and couldn't get into it. It was fine, I just would rather play any Mario Kart game. Felt the same way about Sonic racing, it was fine, but didn't have what made Mario Kart feel special .

The correct answer is actually the amazing (for the time) Diddy Kong Racing on the N64.

MK /treat

I haven’t played a Crash Bandicoot racing game since the PS2 or GameCube (whichever console it was on), so my experience with that franchise is pretty limited. After Mario Kart 64, there were a lot of imitators, but it was rare that other franchises compared.

This is a genre (of which I include the old RC games like Pro-am and Micro Machines) that I've been a fan of for, perhaps, longer than any other genre.

If you count the RC genre—I’ve spent thousands of hours playing these games across five different decades—over 500 of those hours in this generation alone. Racing games were one of my most played genres when I started gaming in the ’80s and ’90s, and they were usually my top choice at the arcade. On consoles, I’ve also logged significant time in other racing subgenres: arcade racers like Top Gear, simulations like F-1, snowboarding titles like SSX, rally games like Sega Rally, and futuristic high-speed racers like F-Zero and Extreme-G. I’ve even delved into some more unconventional titles, like Unirally (which I played the crap out of).

Just to touch a bit more on RC Pro-Am, this was one of the major games that put Rareware/RARE on the map for a lot of people - they were already a known commodity since Slalom, but it was really the late 80s games like Battletoads, Cobra Triangle, and Captain Skyhawk that really established them - of these, RC Pro-Am was the most popular. The series during its short 3-4 year lifespan had sold several million copies on NES and Gameboy - and was one of the major pre-Pokemon link cable games on GB. The game probably inspired the original Mario Kart and was not only the first major racing game with vehicular combat, but also one of the most popular racing games before the 1990s (up there with Pole Position and Excitebike).

Since Mario Kart DS, the series has been my go-to lunchtime break game across multiple offices on different islands and continents—you’re never far from coworkers who are fans. For me, it’s not just my favourite kart racing series or even my favourite racing series—it’s been my favourite multiplayer gaming series since the decline of the arcades.

Normally, I don’t do reverse-order rankings, but for this series, it makes sense since my rankings are close to chronological. My love for the genre was immediate from its early days, but it’s grown on me even more over the decades.

Honourable Mentions

Honourable Mention #1: Super Mario Kart 64
The second definitive Mario Kart game, and the first to expand multiplayer to four players. The vastly improved Battle Mode became the main attraction, to the point where it arguably overshadowed the racing itself. This was probably the only multiplayer game from that era that could compete with GoldenEye 007 in popularity. While GoldenEye eventually faded in prominence, it was always easy to get a game of Super Mario Kart 64 going up into the Wii era.

Honourable Mention #2: Diddy Kong Racing
Though not as popular as Mario Kart 64, this game holds a special place for me because RARE was one of my favourite racing game developers. It was one of the first games to generate significant hype through leaks, under the codename “Pro-Am 64.” When it released in 1997, it sold 800,000 copies in just two weeks, setting a fastest selling game sales record at the time. This marked RARE’s triumphant return to the racing genre, but it was also their last major entry in it (the most significant since has been that Micky game released shortly after). For me, Diddy Kong Racing offered a glimpse into what modern kart racers would become. In a way, it felt inspired by Mario Kart, but it also served as the spiritual successor to the franchise that inspired Mario Kart itself.

Top 5 Mario Kart Games

5. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
This might have been my most-played 16-bit game during that generation. While I’ve since shifted my focus to 16-bit RPGs that remain staples in my rotation, Super Mario Kart hasn’t aged quite as gracefully. The last time I played it was around 2005 with some stoners that my friends and I randomly met—but during its heyday, it was a major part of my gaming life.

4. Mario Kart DS
The first Mario Kart to support up to 8 players, though it often became unstable with more than 5 or 6. Still, this was a big step forward from Mario Kart 64, making it a key transitional entry in the series.

3. Mario Kart Wii
The third and final “definitive” home console-based Mario Kart before split-screen multiplayer began to feel outdated. It was also the first truly modern Mario Kart, introducing online play and features that expanded the franchise’s appeal.

2. Mario Kart 7
The first Mario Kart to feature stable 8-player multiplayer, with the ability to fill empty slots with online players. This was also when it became clear that the future of the series was on handhelds, where every player could have their own screen. While portability wasn’t new with Mario Kart 7, this was the first game that approached the home console versions in quality.

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The fourth and current definitive Mario Kart game—and, arguably, the biggest comeback in video game history (even surpassing No Man’s Sky). The original Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U had a solid foundation but was held back by mediocrity: only 4-player split-screen, no proper Battle Mode, and lacking portability. As a result, it became my least-played Mario Kart, ranking even below Super Circuit and Double Dash.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe took that base and turned it into a masterpiece. It added new features, modes, vehicles, characters, a proper Battle Mode, and—the most important two features are portability and 12-player multiplayer where everyone had their own screen. Where Mario Kart 7 approached Mario Kart Wii in quality, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in portable mode greatly surpassed in TV mode. The game is by far the most content rich Mario Kart to date, now boasting 96 tracks with only a few that aren’t great. It’s also the highest-selling full-priced game for a single dedicated gaming platform in history.

For me, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe represents the pinnacle of the series so far. I’m excited to see how Nintendo will eventually top it, but whatever comes next will have to match its breadth of features and content volume.

Just wanted to let people know that there is an exceptional and underrated game in Beach Buggy Racing. If you're a fan a fan of the Kart genre then you'll love it. I feels generic but at the same time really refreshing, it feels safe but in a really good way. It's pure fun and does away with all the frustrating aspects of the genre.