Mario's had his fair few laps around the various tracks in the game aptly named after him, a series that has crossed a plethora of consoles, from the old Nintendo 64 right through to the modern Switch.
He's battled it out with Bowser, Donkey Kong Jr, Peach and even his arch-nemesis and brother, Luigi. While the franchise seems pretty basic on the surface level, there are a lot of interesting tidbits about its development. With that in mind, here are 10 things you may not have known about the plumber's go-kart game.
10 It Wasn't Originally About Mario
While the series was popularised by being helmed by one of Nintendo's most iconic mascots, the lovable chunky plumber Mario, the original concept wasn't even about the red-hat Italian with a vengeance for turtles and a hankering for shrooms.
Originally, Mario Kart, or whatever the developers called it at the time, was simply about a man in overalls in a racing car. While Mario himself wears some pretty swanky blue overalls, it wasn't actually him in the hot-seat at first, but when the idea truly began to resemble what we know today, he was shoved into the driver's seat.
9 Waluigi Debuted In Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Waluigi, the evil variant of Luigi, brother to Wario, the evil variant of Mario, a confusing hellspawn with a love for purple and an uncanny resemblance to Robbie Rotton, actually debuted in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.
He's not quite had the same love and share of the spotlight as his lovable chunky yellow-clothed sibling, but debuting in a Mario Kart game isn't anything to be ashamed of. The Kart games are a monumentally popular part of the IP.
8 The Original Mario Kart Featured Bowser And Peach Drinking
In the original Japanese version of Mario Kart, Bowser and Peach celebrated in style, with bottles of champagne and a good amount of swigging. They started the party a little earlier than most would, downing entire bottles on the podium.
However, this was gutted in the American release. Whether this is a particularly bad thing is up for debate, as there's something truly unsettling about seeing Peach blush with a bottle of alcohol in her hands. Bowser looks more like a drunken dad on New Year's Eve.
7 Mario Kart 8 Was The First Mario Game With Animated Moustaches
Mario has had a mustache since his inception - it's one of his most defining features, along with the red hat, white gloves, blue overalls, and lovable Italian accent. However, it wasn't until Mario Kart 8 that mustaches were given some animations.
Gone are the days of static slabs of hair atop the faces of the male characters, as Mario and Luigi's mustaches now blow gracefully in the wind as they speed through airports and along rainbow bridges.
6 Lakitu Owns All The Race Tracks
The gang gets together every year for a competitive race, regardless of their beef with one another or their rivalries. Wario and Waluigi go toe-to-toe with Mario and Luigi, while Bowser, serial kidnapper, speeds alongside Peach - it's a great time.
Yet, whilst this phenomenon is named after Mario, dubbed Mario Kart, it is actually Lakitu that owns all of the tracks. He's a racer in 8 and the one who holds the lap-sign in every single game. He's a dedicated little turtle.
5 The Donkey Kong In The Original Is Donkey Kong Jr
He looks nothing like the Donkey Kong Jr we know and love today, which is likely due to the timeline shenanigans that Nintendo is infamous for, but that lovable ape in Mario Kart, or at least the original, is Donkey Kong Jr.
Our lovable banana-devouring monkey is all grown up, looking as big and muscular as his father, but he's still donning the iconic white jersey with the J on the front.
4 Pac-Man Was Playable In Mario Kart Arcade GP
Since Bandai Namco, who are the only ones to actually helm a Mario Kart game outside of Nintendo, developed the arcade variant of the game, they injected their own characters into the racer, with Pac-Man, his wife, and the little ghosts that try to eat him.
He wasn't the last of the non-Mario-gang to join the fray, with Link and the Splatoon gang having their own time to shine in Mario Kart 8, but their time in the arcade was great all the same.
3 Mario Kart Was The First Non-Platforming Game For The Famous Plumber
Mario's famous primarily because of his prowess in the platforming genre, whether it's in his 2D side-scroller jump and smash entries or his revolutionary 3D explorative experiences, like in Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy.
However, the plumber has jumped out of the platforming medium from time to time, but this was a trend that began with Mario Kart, the very first in his ever-expanding line-up to break the mold.
2 Mario Kart 64's Thwomps' Laugh Is Wario's Slowed Down
Mario Kart 64 is home to more square variants of the Thwomps, with a distinct blue look rather than their usual grey one. They're terrifying, partly because of the low-resolution and more pixelated graphics of the bygone era, but also because of the angry red-eyed faces.
However, what you may not have known is that their distinct laugh is just a recycled sound-effect, particularly Wario's own disturbing chuckle. They slowed it down to distort it and bish bash bosh, the blue Thwomp's were brought to life.
1 The Blue Shell Was Added To Stop The N64 From Lagging
You may have assumed that the developers behind Mario Kart were simply sadists that added the blue shell as to give disadvantaged players a means to completely thwart the leading racer's streak.
However, the blue shell was actually added for performance reasons. In the N64 version of the game, developers were worried that too many players grouping together on the race track would cause issues.
As such, they developed a new item that would spread everybody apart, thus birthing the blue shell, an infamous tool used by mad-men to cause chaos and ruin streaks.