Mario Kart Generations

Mario Kart Generations is an entry in the Mario Kart series that was released in late 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. It is meant to be a celebration of the Mario Kart series and as such features many different features, characters, items, tracks, and modes from past games.

Gameplay[]

Mario Kart Generations combines the gameplays of many prior entries in the series. Among the returning elements are the 2-player-per-kart gimmick from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the ability to create your own vehicle emblem and Mission Mode from Mario Kart DS, bikes, tricks, wheelies, and online tournaments from Mario Kart Wii, vehicle customization, gliding, and the underwater segments from Mario Kart 7, and anti-gravity from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, all of which can be used in either separate modes or in regular gameplay depending on the particular setup.

There are several modes in Generations, all of which return from previous installments. Grand Prix makes its usual appearance in the series, wherein the player must go up against 11 other racers in a four-track race and compete for 1st place on 5 different difficulty settings: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, 200cc, and Mirror Mode. Time Trial returns as well, wherein the player must race by themselves to get the best time on each track and can share their records online or compete against ghosts. VS mode returns once again, wherein the player chooses custom rules and settings for a general race on each track. Battle Mode returns as it appeared in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with many different modes available involving the players battling each other in various arenas. These modes include Balloon Battle, Coin Runners, Shine Thief, Shine Runners, Bob-omb Blast, Renegade Roundup, and the brand-new mode Shell Tag, which is a game of tag played with Green and Red Shells. Players can compete in online races against each other or in online tournaments like those featured in Mario Kart Wii.

Characters[]

Mario Kart Generations notably features the largest roster of any Mario Kart game, bringing back every single character who has been playable in a previous installment (with the exception of the Arcade GP installments) while also featuring new characters for the first time in a canon Mario Kart game. All of these characters are available from the start, making this the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to not feature any unlockable characters (as Gold Mario was unlockable in Deluxe). However, some characters are now Copycat Racers, meaning they share identical stats and attributes as other racers. These characters are, by order of weight class:

Featherweight[]

Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Peach
Baby Daisy
Baby Rosalina (Copycat Racer of Baby Peach)
Lemmy Koopa
Boo (new)
Baby Donkey Kong (new)
Green Sprixie Princess (new)
Cappy (new)
Tiara (new)

Lightweight[]

Toad
Toadette
Koopa Troopa
Koopa Paratroopa (Copycat Racer of Koopa Troopa)
Dry Bones
Shy Guy
Lakitu
Larry Koopa
Wendy O. Koopa
Isabelle
Kirby (new)
Meta Knight (new)
Pikachu (new)
Jigglypuff (new)
Toadsworth (new)
Goomba (new)
Paragoomba (new)
Blooper (new)
Monty Mole (new)
Noki (new)
Hariet (new)

Middleweight[]

Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Birdo
Diddy Kong
Bowser Jr.
Iggy Koopa
Ludwig Von Koopa
Metal Mario (Copycat Racer of Mario)
Pink Gold Peach (Copycat Racer of Peach)
Tanooki Mario (Copycat Racer of Mario)
Cat Peach (Copycat Racer of Peach)
Gold Mario (Copycat Racer of Metal Mario)
Villager (Male and Female)
Inkling Girl
Inkling Boy
Hammer Bro. (new)
Dixie Kong (new, Copycat Racer of Diddy Kong)
Tiny Kong (new)
Lanky Kong (new)
Professor E. Gadd (new)
Kamek (new)
Nabbit (new)
Koopa Kid (new, Copycat Racer of Bowser Jr.)
MC Ballyhoo (new)
Topper (new)
Rango (new)
Samus Aran (new)
Fox McCloud (new)
Falco Lombardi (new)
Ness (new)
Captain Olimar (new)

Cruiserweight[]

Waluigi
Rosalina
Donkey Kong
Funky Kong (Copycat Racer of Donkey Kong)
Donkey Kong Jr. (Copycat Racer of Donkey Kong)
Roy Koopa
Morton Koopa Jr.
King Boo
Wiggler
R.O.B.
Link
Pauline (new)
Chunky Kong (new, Copycat Racer of Donkey Kong)
Cranky Kong (new)
Kritter (new)
Spewart (new)
Captain Falcon (new)

Heavyweight[]

Bowser
Dry Bowser (Copycat Racer of Bowser)
Wario
Petey Piranha
Honey Queen
King K. Rool (new)
King Bob-omb (new)
Pianta (new)
Lubba (new)
Plessie (new)
Boom-Boom (new)
Pom-Pom (new)
Madame Broode (new)
Giga Bowser (new, Copycat Racer of Bowser)

Other[]

Mii (Male and Female)

Tracks[]

Generations has the largest amount of tracks in the entire series, all of which are returning courses from previous entries. These tracks are split up into 8 cups, each one containing tracks from a specific console. (i.e. the SNES Cup featuring tracks from Super Mario Kart, the N64 Cup featuring tracks from Mario Kart 64, etc.) Additionally, the DLC tracks from Mario Kart 8 are split up into 3 extra cups, bringing the total to 11 cups. These cups are listed below:

SNES Cup[]

Mario Circuit 1
Donut Plains 1
Ghost Valley 1
SNES Bowser's Castle 1
Mario Circuit 2
Choco Island 1
Ghost Valley 2
Donut Plains 2
SNES Bowser's Castle 2
Mario Circuit 3
Koopa Beach 1
Choco Island 2
Vanilla Lake 1
SNES Bowser's Castle 3
Mario Circuit 4
Donut Plains 3
Koopa Beach 2
Ghost Valley 3
Vanilla Lake 2
SNES Rainbow Road

N64 Cup[]

Luigi Raceway
Moo Moo Farm
Koopa Troopa Beach
Kalimari Desert
Toad's Turnpike
Frappe Snowland
Choco Mountain
Mario Raceway
N64 Wario Stadium
N64 Sherbet Land
Royal Raceway
N64 Bowser's Castle
DK's Jungle Parkway
Yoshi Valley
Banshee Boardwalk
N64 Rainbow Road

GBA Cup[]

Peach Circuit
Shy Guy Beach
Riverside Park
GBA Bowser's Castle 1
GBA Mario Circuit
Boo Lake
Cheese Land
GBA Bowser's Castle 2
GBA Luigi Circuit
Sky Garden
Cheep-Cheep Island
Sunset Wilds
Snow Land
Ribbon Road
Yoshi Desert
GBA Bowser's Castle 3
Lakeside Park
Broken Pier
Bowser's Castle 4
GBA Rainbow Road

GameCube Cup[]

GCN Luigi Circuit
Peach Beach
Baby Park
Dry Dry Desert
Mushroom Bridge
GCN Mario Circuit
Daisy Cruiser
Waluigi Stadium
GCN Sherbet Land
Mushroom City
Yoshi Circuit
DK Mountain
Wario Colosseum
Dino Dino Jungle
GCN Bowser's Castle
GCN Rainbow Road

DS Cup[]

Figure-8 Circuit
Yoshi Falls
Cheep Cheep Beach
Luigi's Mansion
Desert Hills
Delfino Square
Waluigi Pinball
Shroom Ridge
DK Pass
Tick-Tock Clock
DS Mario Circuit
Airship Fortress
DS Wario Stadium
Peach Gardens
DS Bowser's Castle
DS Rainbow Road

Wii Cup[]

Wii Luigi Circuit
Moo Moo Meadows
Mushroom Gorge
Toad's Factory
Wii Mario Circuit
Coconut Mall
DK Summit
Wario's Gold Mine
Daisy Circuit
Koopa Cape
Maple Treeway
Grumble Volcano
Dry Dry Ruins
Moonview Highway
Wii Bowser's Castle
Wii Rainbow Road

3DS Cup[]

Toad Circuit
Daisy Hills
Cheep-Cheep Lagoon
Shy Guy Bazaar
Wuhu Loop
3DS Mario Circuit
Music Park
Rock Rock Mountain
Piranha Plant Slide
Wario Shipyard
Neo Bowser City
Maka Wuhu
DK Jungle
Rosalina's Ice World
3DS Bowser's Castle
3DS Rainbow Road

Wii U/Switch Cup[]

Mario Kart Stadium
Water Park
Sweet Sweet Canyon
Thwomp Ruins
Wii U Mario Circuit
Toad Harbor
Twisted Mansion
Shy Guy Falls
Sunshine Airport
Dolphin Shoals
Electrodome
Mount Wario
Cloudtop Cruise
Bone-Dry Ruins
Wii U Bowser's Castle
Wii U Rainbow Road

Extra Cup 1[]

Excitebike Arena
Dragon Driftway
Mute City

Extra Cup 2[]

Ice Ice Outpost
Hyrule Circuit
Wild Woods

Extra Cup 3[]

Animal Crossing
Super Bell Subway
Big Blue

Battle Arenas[]

Generations features the largest amount of Battle Arenas in the series, with every single Battle Arena from the previous games returning, this time categorized into different cups based on what console they appeared on. (i.e. SNES Pack featuring courses from Super Mario Kart, N64 Pack featuring courses from Mario Kart 64, and so on). These cups are listed below:

SNES Pack[]

SNES Battle Course 1
SNES Battle Course 2
SNES Battle Course 3
SNES Battle Course 4

N64 Pack[]

Big Donut
Skyscraper
Block Fort
Double Deck

GBA Pack[]

GBA Battle Course 1
GBA Battle Course 2
GBA Battle Course 3
GBA Battle Course 4

GameCube Pack[]

Cookie Land
Block City
Pipe Plaza
Nintendo GameCube
Luigi's Mansion
Tilt-A-Kart

DS Pack[]

Nintendo DS
Twilight House
Palm Shore
Tart Top

Wii Pack[]

Block Plaza
Delfino Pier
Funky Stadium
Chain Chomp Wheel
Thwomp Desert
Galaxy Colosseum

3DS Pack[]

Honeybee Hive
Sherbet Rink
Wuhu Town

Switch Pack[]

Battle Stadium
Sweet Sweet Canyon
Lunar Colony
Dragon Palace
Urchin Underpass

Items[]

Once again, Generations features the most items of any game in the series, bringing back nearly every single item from the previous games with a few exceptions, such as the Coin from Super Mario Kart (as coins can be found scattered along the tracks, this also applies to the identical Rupee and Bell items from Mario Kart 8), Boo from Mario Kart 64 (due to Boo himself being a playable character, it is replaced by the new Grab Bag item), Green Fireballs and Birdo Eggs from Double Dash!! (systematically identical to the Red Fireballs and Yoshi Eggs respectively), Blooper from Mario Kart DS (due to Blooper himself being a playable character, it is replaced by the new Magic Paintbrush item), the Lucky 7 from Mario Kart 7 (replaced by the brand new item, the Item Roulette which functions identically), and the Crazy 8 from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (same as the Lucky 7), as well as any of the items exclusive to the Arcade GP installments. The available items in this game are as follows:

Mushroom
Triple Mushroom
Green Shell
Red Shell
Triple Green Shell
Triple Red Shell
Banana
Triple Banana
Star
Lightning
Feather
Poison Mushroom (technically new, appeared as a CPU-exclusive item for Peach and Toad in Super Mario Kart)
Spiny Shell (both winged and wingless variants)
Banana Bunch (similar to the Triple Banana except with 5 Bananas)
Fake Item Box
Golden Mushroom
Bob-omb
Red Fireball (similar to the Fire Flower except it unleashes 5 Fireballs at once instead of 10 individually-thrown Fireballs)
Yoshi Egg (similar to the Red Shell except it releases 3 random items upon hitting another racer)
Heart
Giant Banana
Bowser Shell
Chain-Chomp (similar to the Bullet Bill)
Bullet Bill
POW Block
Mega Mushroom
Thunder Cloud
Fire Flower
Super Leaf
Boomerang Flower
Potted Piranha Plant
Super Horn
Item Roulette (new, functions identically to the Lucky 7 and Crazy 8)
Magic Paintbrush (new, functions identically to the Blooper in that it covers the player's screen with paint for several seconds, slightly obscuring their view)
Grab Bag (new, functions identically to the Boo in that it steals a random item from another racer and provides a brief speed boost while making the player immune to all obstacles)

Trackside Advertisements[]

As is tradition with the Mario Kart series, many tracks in Generations feature advertisements, posters, or banners located in the background which advertise certain sponsors of the competition. Many of these banners are reused from previous games in the series, including Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. For a list of all sponsors in this game, see List of sponsors in Mario Kart Generations.

Gallery[]

References to previous games[]

Super Mario Kart: All tracks and battle arenas return from this game, as does the Feather and the previously CPU-exclusive Posion Mushroom. Donkey Kong Jr. returns as a playable character in the series for the first time since this game.
Donkey Kong Country: Several Kong family members, including Dixie, Tiny, Lanky, Chunky, and Cranky make their playable debut in the Mario Kart series here, as does Kritter and King K. Rool.
Mario Kart 64: All tracks and battle arenas return from this game, as does the Banana Bunch last seen in this title. The award ceremony cutscene once again takes place outside of Princess Peach's Castle, just like it did in this game.
Mario Party: Koopa Kid appears as a playable character for the first time outside of this series, making his first general appearance since Mario Party 7, and MC Ballyhoo makes his playable debut as well. The Grab Bag item from Mario Party 4 and Mario Party DS returns, replacing the Boo item.
Super Smash Bros.: Giga Bowser makes his first appearance outside of this series as a playable character, and various other Nintendo characters featured in this series are playable here as well.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit: All tracks and battle arenas return from this game, and this is the first Mario Kart game since this one to not feature any unlockable characters.
Luigi's Mansion: Professor E. Gadd appears as a playable character, and his voice clips from this game are recycled as well.
Super Mario Sunshine: The Magic Paintbrush appears as an item in this game, replacing the Blooper item from previous games, while Pianta and Noki appear as playable characters as well.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The 2-player-per-kart gimmick from this game, along with all tracks and battle arenas and each characters' Special Items return from this game. Many trackside advertisements are taken from this game as well, and Petey Piranha and Paratroopa return as playable characters. Many voice clips are recycled from this game.
Mario Kart DS: The ability to create your own vehicle emblem, Mission Mode, all tracks and battle arenas, and R.O.B. as a playable character all return from this game. Many voice clips are recyled as well.
Yoshi's Island DS: Baby Donkey Kong returns as a playable character.
Mario Kart Wii: Bikes, Tricks, Wheelies, and the online tournaments from this game return along with all tracks and battle arenas, as do Diddy Kong, Birdo, and Funky Kong as playable characters and the POW Block, Mega Mushroom, and Thunder Cloud. Many trackside advertisements are taken from this game as well, and several voice clips are reused.
Mario Super Sluggers: Various voice clips are recycled from this game, as are Baby Donkey Kong's design and voice clips.
Super Mario Galaxy 2: Lubba appears as a playable character for the first time, with his voice clips being reused from this game.
Super Mario 3D Land: Boom-Boom and Pom-Pom appear as playable characters, with their voice clips from this game being reused.
Mario Kart 7: Vehicle customization, Gliders, and underwater segments all return from this game, as do all tracks and battle arenas, Honey Queen and Wiggler as playable characters and the Super Leaf. Many trackside advertisements are taken from this game as well, and several voice clips are reused.
Super Mario 3D World: The Green Sprixie Princess and Plessie appear as playable characters, with their voice clips being reused from this game.
Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Anti-gravity segments, ATVs, and all characters, tracks, battle arenas, and items return from this game, as does the more traditional Battle Mode featured in Deluxe. Many trackside advertisements are taken from this game as well, and several voice clips are reused, albeit pitched-down.
Super Mario Odyssey: Cappy, Tiara, the Broodals, and Madame Broode appear as playable characters for the first time here, with their voice clips being reused from this game. Pauline also makes her playable debut here with her design from this game.

Trivia[]

Mario Kart Generations contains the most playable characters of any Mario spinoff, at a whopping 97 playable characters (technically 99 if the Female Villager and Female Mii are counted as separate characters from the Male Villager and Male Mii respectively). It also contains the most tracks of any Mario Kart game with 145 tracks, as well as the most battle courses of any game in the series at 36 battle courses and the most items of any canon entry with 35 different items.
The game can be described as the Mario Kart series' answer to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as both games feature all veteran characters from previous entries, many different stages and elements from past entries, and are generally seen as celebrations of both franchises' histories.
This is the first Mario Kart game to not feature the series' traditional theme song on the title screen, instead using a medley of various tracks' themes from previous games. This medley is also heard during the credits for the game.
- It is also the first entry since Mario Kart 7 to not feature orchestrated music (barring the tracks and arenas from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) and to use the same composition for more than one track. The developers stated that this was done to "make the tracks feel as authentic as possible without being pixel-for-pixel replicas". The tracks from Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart DS use the remastered versions of their themes heard in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, with the SNES/GBA/DS tracks that didn't appear in those games getting remastered versions of their themes in the style of the Wii/3DS soundtracks.