Since Nintendo released Super Mario Kart in 1992, fans have flocked to the kart racer. With that in mind, it wasn’t a surprise when the developer revealed Mario Kart World as the marquee game in the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch lineup. That said, the franchise hasn’t always been at the top of its game. There have been a few duds in the mix over the years. Here are the best Mario Kart games, as ranked by Metacritic.

Before diving into the rankings, it’s important to note that Metacritic doesn’t have a rating for Super Mario Kart as it released long before game reviews were widespread. If it were included, it would be toward the top of this list, but we’ve excluded it from these rankings on a technicality. Now, on to the rankings.

Mario Kart Tour launched on mobile devices in 2019 after Nintendo saw success with Fire Emblem Heroes. The gacha-based game scored poorly with critics, but was financially a positive for Nintendo. Nintendo removed the gacha mechanics in 2022 and stopped releasing new updates in 2023. As of 2021, over 200 million players had downloaded the mobile game.

Home Circuit tried to mix real-life playsets and radio-controlled cars with video games. The mixed reality game was moderately successful, selling well over a million units. However, it certainly didn’t light the world on fire.