Super Mario Kart - Reception

Reception

Super Mario Kart proved to be a critical and commercial success; it received a Player's Choice release after selling one million copies and eventually went on to sell eight million copies to become the third best selling game ever for the SNES. Aggregate scoring sites GameRankings and MobyGames both give an average of more than 90 percent while GameStats and TopTenReviews give averages of over 80 percent. Critics praised the game's Mode 7 graphics; in 1992 Nintendo Magazine System described them as superb and the graphics have since been described as among the best ever seen on the SNES. Another aspect of the game to have been praised is its gameplay, which Thunderbolt has described as the "deepest most addictive... to be found on the SNES console". Nintendo Magazine System showed a preference for the multiplayer modes of the game and stated that while the "single player mode becomes dull quickly" the "two-player mode won't lose appeal". Retrospective reviews of the game have been positive with perfect scores given by review sites including Thunderbolt and HonestGamers. The use of the style and characters from the Mario franchise was also praised as well as the individual characteristics of each racer. Mean Machines describes the game as having "struck gold" in a way that no other – not even its sequels – has matched and GameSpot named the game as one of the greatest games of all time for its innovation, gameplay and visual style.

Since being released Super Mario Kart has been listed among the best games ever made several times. IGN ranked it as the 15th best game ever in 2005, describing it as "the original karting masterpiece" and as the 23rd best game ever in 2007, discussing its originality at time of release. The Age placed it at number 19 on their list of the 50 best games in 2005 and in 2007 Edge ranked Super Mario Kart at number 14 on a list of their 100 best games, noting its continued influence on video game design. The game is also included in Yahoo! Games UK's list of the hundred greatest games of all time which praises the appealing characters and power ups and 1UP.com's "Essential 50", a list of the fifty most important games ever made. The game placed 13th in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time. Guinness World Records ranked it at number 1 on a list of the top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.