History VideoGame / SuperMarioKart

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original Japanese version, Bowser and Peach would drink from the champagne bottle upon winning first place at the awards ceremony. It was changed in international versions to simply tossing the bottle around.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: While item panels on the Battle Mode courses will refresh after they've all been used, there's an oversight on Course 3, which has two such panels in areas you need a feather to get to. Use all the other panels and don't have feathers? You're stuck.

** [[GreenHillZone Battle Course 1]]
** [[PalmtreePanic Battle Course 2]]
** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Battle Course 3]]
** [[TheBigRace Battle Course 4]]

** Both the Special Cup and 150cc mode have to be unlocked in this game. Furthermore, [[EasyModeMockery you have to play in 100cc mode]], and win all three cups to unlock the Special Cup. You also have to win the Special Cup in the same mode to unlock 150cc mode. The Switch Online version has an SP version that lets you play 150cc and the Special Cup from the get-go.

* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: In the Japanese version, the title screen has a Love Umbrella with Mario's and Peach's names under it.

** The best demonstration of this trope at work would be Rainbow Road. Completing this track in the 150cc Special Cup is incredibly difficult because the track is surrounded by a BottomlessPit, and unlike the Ghost Valley tracks it has no paving to stop you driving off the track at any points. Plus, the Thwomps from the Bowser Castle stages with an added bonus - they flash with invincibility, so if you hit them you don't bounce off, you spin out, often all the way off the track. It's incredibly easy to go from 1st place with a flying lead to 8th with no way back in the space of a few seconds.

* AstralFinale: Rainbow Road settles the series' tradition. It's an idyllic racetrack whose floor is colored with rainbow patterns, and it located in outer space. But make no mistake: It's the final circuit for a reason, as its lack of borders and sharp turns make it pretty easy to fall down.

** The music for losing a race is very somber and also extends to being creepy upon getting a Game Over. Later games would use a less harsh tone when it came to losing.

''Super Mario Kart'' utilized Mode 7 to make a fast, wacky, and thrilling challenge. Your racer must navigate the track--shown in the bottom split-screen--rife with obstacles such as grass, pipes, oil slicks, fish, and many outright BottomlessPits. And the other racers will pose a threat on their own. Yes, both you and your opponents may pick up items to throw in each others' path; this is one of the many kart racing tropes ''Super Mario Kart'' started.

''Super Mario Kart'' utilized Mode 7 to make a fast, wacky, and thrilling challenge. Your racer must navigate the track--shown in the bottom split-screen--rife with obstacles such as grass, pipes, oil slicks, fish, and many an outright BottomlessPit. And the other racers will pose a threat on their own. Yes, both you and your opponents may pick up items to throw in each others' path; this is one of the many kart racing tropes ''Super Mario Kart'' started.

* DeathMountain: The two Choco Island levels have shades of this, as they look like a canyon road, and the liquid sections gives the impression to race in dirt.

* JackOfAllStats:
** Mario and Luigi have middle-of-the-road acceleration, off-road performance, weight, and handling. Their top speed actually is better than Peach and Yoshi, but not as good as DK Jr. and Bowser.
** Peach and Yoshi also fall into this trope: their slippery makes them hard to drive, but it is also a good introduction to heavyweights' controls.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. having the highest top speed. In order to make use of this it requires about a lap and a decent amount of coins to get up to speed and relies on the player not colliding with any objects or other karts to stay there, which on the harder tracks can be next to impossible. The exception is in 150cc mode, where top speed is more easily reached and turns are easier to control and predict with the heavies. False starts can often be fully recovered in the first lap, which is next to impossible in 100cc. Veteran players and [[SpeedRun speedrunners]] alike prefer the heavies in 150cc for these reasons, as demonstrated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmkEpvatJpE here]].

[[folder:Courses]]
* Mushroom Cup
** Mario Circuit 1
** [[GreenHillZone Donut Plains 1]]
** [[BigBoosHaunt Ghost Valley 1]]
** [[SupervillainLair Bowser Castle 1]]
** Mario Circuit 2
* Flower Cup
** [[LevelAte Choco Island 1]]
** Ghost Valley 2
** Donut Plains 2
** Bowser Castle 2
** Mario Circuit 3
* Star Cup
** [[PalmtreePanic Koopa Beach 1]]
** Choco Island 2
** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Vanilla Lake 1]]
** Bowser Castle 3
** Mario Circuit 4
* Special Cup
** Donut Plains 3
** Koopa Beach 2
** Ghost Valley 3
** Vanilla Lake 2
** [[AstralFinale Rainbow Road]]
[[/folder]]

''Super Mario Kart'' utilized Mode 7 to make a fast, wacky, and thrilling challenge. Your racer must navigate the track--shown in the bottom split-screen--rife with obstacles such as grass, pipes, oil slicks, fish, and many an outright BottomlessPit. Not to mention the other racers--and their obstacles. Yes, both you and your opponents may pick up items to throw in each others' path; this is one of the many kart racing tropes ''Super Mario Kart'' started.

* AlwaysNight: The three Ghost Valley tracks.

* AstralFinale: Rainbow Road settles the series' tradition.

* TheRival: Depending on who the player drives as, there will be certain characters that perform better and try their best to annoy the player. The rival will always be the same for each character, and that rival will do their best to not let you win. For example, pick Koopa Troopa and the CPU giving you the most trouble will be Luigi, but pick Luigi and Yoshi will suddenly give you the most grief, and so on.[[note]]The position of each character is always determined based on who you pick and your rival is always the racer in 1st or 2nd place, depending on whether you're 1st or 2nd on the leader board. Should your rival fall behind in the standings, whoever is next on the list will become the new rival. In the above example, if Luigi were to fall severely behind, then, assuming he doesn't fall behind in the same race as well, Yoshi would be the new rival.[[/note]]
** Every character is the rival of another, and the selectable characters on the upper half of the menu have a stronger rival than the one below[[note]]For example, Mario's rival is the heavy Donkey Kong Jr. while Luigi's is the nervous but imprecise Yoshi[[/note]].

** Both the Special Cup and 150cc mode have to be unlocked in this game. Furthermore, [[EasyModeMockery you have to play in 100cc mode]], and win all three cups to unlock the Special Cup. You also have to win the Special Cup in the same mode to unlock 150cc mode. The Switch Online version has an SP version[[note]]which is currently the only Super Nintendo game to have this[[/note]] that lets you play 150cc and the Special Cup from the get-go.