Super Mario Kart is Nintendo EAD's 1992 Super NES racing game that launched the Mario Kart series with Mode 7 tracks, items, Grand Prix cups, and split-screen battles.
Super Mario Kart turns Mushroom Kingdom characters into kart racers, letting players choose from Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Troopa, and Donkey Kong Jr. Each driver has a different balance of speed, handling, and acceleration across a set of compact themed circuits.
The game uses the Super NES's Mode 7 scaling to create flat but fast-feeling courses, with the player's kart and rivals layered over rotating track maps. Grand Prix mode builds around cups, engine classes, coins, and item boxes, while Time Trial gives players a purer route-learning challenge.
Its most durable idea is the way it blends racing with direct interference. Bananas, shells, feathers, stars, and other items make position and timing matter beyond cornering lines, and the dedicated Battle Mode turns the same mechanics into a focused two-player arena game.
Released in Japan in 1992 and later worldwide, Super Mario Kart became one of the Super Nintendo's best-known racing games and the starting point for one of Nintendo's longest-running multiplayer series. Its format shaped later kart racers and remains recognizable throughout the Mario Kart lineage.