Mario Kart (, Mario Kāto?) is a series of go-kart-style racing video games developed by Nintendo as a spin-offs from its Mario series. To date, there have been eight Mario Kart games; four for home consoles, two for portable consoles, and two arcade games. The series debuted in 1992 with critical and commercial success.[citation needed] Mario Kart Wii, the eighth and latest installment released in April 2008, has sold over 13 million units worldwide and is the fourth-best-selling game for the Wii.

Overall, the Mario Kart series has sold over 52 million copies. In Mario Kart, players choose from characters mostly from the Mario series (there are some characters from the Donkey Kong series) of video games and race vehicles around a variety of tracks to win trophies. In the first seven games, players race in go-karts; in Mario Kart Wii, motorbikes are also featured.

All games have three engine classes that players can choose to race in: 50cc, 100cc and 150cc, which differ in kart speed and game difficulty. Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ and Mario Kart Wii also have a fourth engine class called "Mirror Mode" which mirrors all tracks in 150cc mode. Players can obtain items by driving through item boxes or coins, which can be used for either defense, offense or powering up the engine for a short amount of time (boost).

Each Mario Kart game features several gameplay modes, which can be played in both single-player and multiplayer. In Grand Prix, the characters compete against each other in a themed cup. Most games in the series have consisted of four cups: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup, each have new race tracks.

In Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, there are an extra four cups that consist of tracks from previous Mario Kart games, called the Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup, and Lightning Cup.

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