These power-ups include Mushrooms to give players a speed boost, red and green Shells to be thrown at opponents, Banana peels, and Fake Item Boxes as hazards. Gameplay is enhanced by power-up items obtained by driving into item boxes laid out on the course. Up to twelve characters can compete in each race (varying per game). In the Mario Kart series, players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters, mainly from the Mario franchise. Over 164.43 million copies in the series have been sold worldwide. The latest game in the series, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, was released on the Nintendo Switch in October 2020. The Mario Kart series totals fourteen games, with six on home consoles, three on handheld consoles, four arcade games co-developed with Namco, and one for mobile phones. The series was launched in 1992 with Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, to critical and commercial success.
It features characters and courses mostly from the Mario series as well as other gaming franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, and Splatoon. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games and a spin-off Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo.
