Of all the racing games , what is peoples obsession with Mario Kart ?

[air2004]

Of all the racing games , what is peoples obsession with mario cart ? Pole postion was the only racing game I liked .....why do you all love mario cart so much ?
I played the game a few times , I didnt think it was anything special .
Pole postion on the other hand , I used to love that game as a kid , and spy hunter.

 

[2ndApex]

Over the top tracks, cool items, catchy tunes, and great multiplayer?

 

[Gahars]

It's pretty much the premiere kart racing franchise. If you want a wacky, arcadey racing game that's actually worth spending some time in, the series is your most consistent bet.

Also, Mario, Nintendo franchise, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[Flood]

Personally I prefer Diddy Kong racing.

 

[Thirty3Three]

Of all the racing games , what is peoples obsession with mario cart ? Pole postion was the only racing game I liked .....why do you all love mario cart so much ?
I played the game a few times , I didnt think it was anything special .
Pole postion on the other hand , I used to love that game as a kid , and spy hunter.

I hate the game lol. I'm probably in the minority here, but it's the worst game I've ever bought, imo.

I like Sonic and All-Stars Racing: Transformed though. Fits very well on the Vita.

 

[air2004]

I dont get all the hoopla over this game ....controls suck for one , 2 : you get random shit , 3: dude its a race what happened to that aspect ?

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I dont get all the hoopla over this game ....controls suck for one , 2 : you get random shit , 3: dude its a race what happened to that aspect ?

Uh you get random shit, yeah... what's your point?

Controls also don't suck. They're incredibly simplistic.

 

[Hielkenator]

Of all the racing games , what is peoples obsession with mario cart ? Pole postion was the only racing game I liked .....why do you all love mario cart so much ?
I played the game a few times , I didnt think it was anything special .
Pole postion on the other hand , I used to love that game as a kid , and spy hunter.

In order to enjoy this game fully, you need real friends.
Imho it has an unbeatable multiplayer. So much fun.
Getting all unlocked requires serious skill.
Shit is less random once you have played the game some more/ know the game better/ completed all cups.
There's a reason you'll gett a bullet bill or get hit by a bleu shell you know.

Solid, solid franchise, though personally I have the fondest memories of super mariokart ( SNES ).

One of the best racers released ( only in NTSC region ) on Wii is probably Excitebots.
Visuals are awsome, gameplay is different, hard as hell, lots of unlockables, fast.

http://excitebotstrickracing.com

air2004 said: ↑
I dont get all the hoopla over this game ....controls suck for one , 2 : you get random shit , 3: dude its a race what happened to that aspect ?
You forgot it's lots of fun! ( with friends )

 

[nando]

mario kart is super fun. the controls are simple but super cool to master them. the random items even out the playing field between skill levels and while better drivers may get upset that their grandma can beat them, to me it keeps it entertaining, without it i would whoop my family everytime without effort and it wouldn't be challenging at all.

i tried sonic racer and hated it.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Mario Kart is easily accessible and most of all fun. It's not all about simulation, it's just fun courses and cheery tunes.

Although Crash Team Racing is the shit.

 

[Pleng]

Micro Machines 96 -> One of the franchises ruined by technology advances (playsation versions were just awful)
Road Rash 2 (Genesis) -> One of the franchises that just kind of disappeared, and could have really worked with modern day technology
Sega Rally/Daytona/Virtua Racing -> Best arcade racers ever (well the first two certainly, Virtua Racing perhaps not quite up there)

 

[kumpandjill]

i've played my share of racing games on the ds and mario kart is definitely up there at the top of the pack. something about the fluidity of the gameplay.. the items.. and the cartoony aspect just makes it a real treat to play. even when you're in last you don't feel hopeless because of the items/map tricks. not to mention the great online multiplayer (and it came out during a time that almost all other ds games were lacking in the area)

 

[Satangel]

Mario Kart is incredibly FUN, with a EASY to learn and HARD to master. It's really a prototype of a really good game. Where a beginning player has a very small chance at winning from a good player, but only a small chance. It's not impossible, but 9/10, the best player will win.
This way it remains fun for everyone, but sure you lose 9/10 times, but that 1 time will make you very happy and you'll learn a lot by the other 9 losses, which will enable you to get better.

Tracks are fun, it's fun bumping your friend and fucking his race up.
Online modus is good (for a Nintendo system at least), replayability could be better but still very nice. I've played over 150 games on the DS, and the first one remains the very best; Mario Kart DS.

 

[FAST6191]

"kart racing" itself. Reasonably easy to learn games with a bit of chance to gain some skill in... that is pretty much the recipe for a popular game.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/gbatemp-game-of-the-week-91-kart-racing-game-special.343839/

I am never quite sure why Mario Kart took over the "kart racing" world, it could be a nice game but Nintendo seem to routinely hose it up with regards to making it a proper long term multiplayer thing which is surprising as they do OK with the smash brothers series. That said competition that blows it away is a bit thin on the ground and getting rich by copying is not the most common of things.

@Pleng road rash stuck around for a bit longer, the less said about later entries in the series the better in most cases though. I have met people that do quite like the GBA entry though.

 

[DinohScene]

Mariokart is pretty much about having fun.
Items to block opponents/gain boosts etc.
Colourfull worlds, wacky tracks etc.

Granted, Forza 4 and others are based on getting it as real as possible, but Mariokart focuses on the fun aspect of the game.

 

[Eerpow]

Mario Kart is incredibly FUN, with a EASY to learn and HARD to master. It's really a prototype of a really good game. Where a beginning player has a very small chance at winning from a good player, but only a small chance. It's not impossible, but 9/10, the best player will win.
This way it remains fun for everyone, but sure you lose 9/10 times, but that 1 time will make you very happy and you'll learn a lot by the other 9 losses, which will enable you to get better.

Tracks are fun, it's fun bumping your friend and fucking his race up.
Online modus is good (for a Nintendo system at least), replayability could be better but still very nice. I've played over 150 games on the DS, and the first one remains the very best; Mario Kart DS.

Yeah, the game is unfair and all but if you are good you will still win the majority of the races, when you don't win because of bad luck everyone gets a laugh, it's part of the fun, at least when you are playing locally or in a community. People you play against are aware they won unfairly because of a blue shell so in the end who cares? If you want to prove that you're better than someone at the game for whatever reason you can play timetrials or play single item only, but that kinda ruins the point of the game imo.

 

[weavile001]

The fun of playing with your friends,the cool tracks,great music, and because it´s fucking mario.
i would say this is the best racing game, but sonic and sega all-stars racing transformed is very cool too. but i only know the sonic characters and others from the first game.
i don´t like diddy kong racing too much because i never played any donkey kong game, only country returns.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Mario Kart is easily accessible and most of all fun. It's not all about simulation, it's just fun courses and cheery tunes.

Although Crash Team Racing is the shit.

I wish that would make a comeback. Like Naughty Dog would buy it and make a new game. Honestly I think that's the only game that could actually rival Mario Kart.

 

[BORTZ]

Mario Kart is easily accessible and most of all fun. It's not all about simulation, it's just fun courses and cheery tunes.

Although Crash Team Racing is the shit.

CTR represent.

 

[war2thegrave]

Of all the racing games , what is peoples obsession with mario cart ? Pole postion was the only racing game I liked .....why do you all love mario cart so much ?
I played the game a few times , I didnt think it was anything special .
Pole postion on the other hand , I used to love that game as a kid , and spy hunter.

You are thinking about it with the wrong perspective.
Mario Kart isn't really a racing game. It's just an imitation of one.
Racing games are about thinking fast, predicting the outcome of events, and using precision to
complete courses in the shortest amount of time while avoiding crashing into walls or other objects.
Mario Kart isn't designed like that. Instead, it uses it's rubberband AI to hold your hand to victory
by giving you speed boosts, items to knock out opponents ahead of you, and improving handling to
help you around corners if you happen to suck.
If you happen to be experienced, it will slow you down, warp opponents closer to you,
make you the target of special items, and degrade handling of your vehicle in order to punish you.
It's less like a racing game and more like a slot machine with the purpose of putting an experienced
person on equal footing with someone who picked up a controller for the first time,...ever.
"It's fun for the whole family!" like a parent who tells their mentally handicapped child that they are "special".