This year marks a quarter century of Mario Kart. Nintendo’s casual racing classic might not boast the painstaking realism of Gran Turismo or the exhaustive and officially-licenced garage of Forza. But the instantly gratifying gameplay, intense focus on multiplayer action and use of some of video game’s most famous characters has allowed it to shift over 100 million copies worldwide, with Mario Kart Wii ranking as the best-selling racing game of all time with over 35 million sales.
While it might not dazzle in the same way as more serious racing titles, Mario Kart’s influence has been felt across the entire genre; here are six ways it indelibly altered the racing landscape forever.
It gave us the power slide
One of Mario Kart’s trademarks is the power-slide, achieved by tapping one of the shoulder buttons to jump, then drifting elegantly around tight corners. Prior to the release of Super Mario Kart in 1992, racing games had merely toyed with the concept of sliding your car around the tarmac – this was the first time that players had direct control over such an ingenious mechanic.
The result was a title that, while easy for inexperienced players to enjoy, …read more
Source:: techradar.com – Gaming
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