I believe Double Dash is the best because its the most unique out of all of them with character specific power-ups and two-man karts. It was also my first.

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

Mario Kart 64

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

And my first was Mario Kart 64, which is my favorite.

The first one you play.

Yeah, I really like Double Dash the most I had tons of fun with it, and I'd put Mario Kart Wii at the bottom of the list personally.

I had the most fun with Mario Kart 64 because that's when I had friends around to play it with. I chose Mario Kart 7 because it's quite fun to play, the gameplay is extremely tight, they chose some really good tracks to bring back, and the online play has been flawless for me. I'm almost certain that if I could play with those same friends in some Mario Kart 7 races, it would easily blow MK64 out of the water.

For the record, I had Mario Kart on the SNES when it was released and played the crap out of it with my sister and friends, so the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory doesn't apply to me at all.

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

Dammit! He's right. I've only played the first one and the DS one though.

My guess will be the first one any of us played. For me, the first Mario Kart game, thus the best one, was Mario Kart 64.

I totally agree with that quote from Ryan. Double Dash was my first and is by far still my favourite.

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

That margin of error must be fuckin' huge, because there are plenty of people like myself out there who played Super Mario Kart as kids, but prefer Mario Kart 64, or Double Dash.

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

How eloquent! ...and profoundly true. Mario Kart 64. I'm still well practised and would likely destroy anyone on these forums.

Guess I'm an outlier in that theory. My first was Super Mario Kart but my favorite is Mario Kart 64. I liked most of the maps and being able to play four players at the time was pretty great. I played the hell out of SMK, but MK64 just blows that game out of the water. I mean, in SMK when you turn, your character's sprite change and the screen rotates. How pathetically primitive.

And maybe because I mastered both of those games but I found that later games the computer assist comeback, "auto-catchup" as we called it back in the day, is a lot more blatant compared to the classics.

So yeah... MK64, while it didn't pop my Mario Kart cherry, it's still my favorite.

The theory is wrong, Double Dash is the best one.
 
Shit has 16 player LAN support.

I really liked the Wii version, so I picked that. My first Mario Kart was the SNES version, so there's always an exception to the rule.

64 representin'!

It also happens to be the only Mario Kart game I played, but it left quite an impression,

64 was my first and I'd still put it at the bottom of the list. MK Wii is my favorite.

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

Very true. SNES for me. Weed, Beer, Chicken Fingers and good times...

Kart Mario 46

DS

Double dash all the way. Baby park and dk mountain are amazing.

SNES by far

@LordXavierBritish: Fact

In order:

N64

DS

Wii

SNES

GCN

GBA

I feel like AI rubberbanding wasn't nearly as bad until Double Dash came out; the flying blue shell blew everything to hell-and-high-water.

I think Mario Kart Wii was definitely my favorite. The N64 was my first, and I've played a few of the others, but I think the Wii version got the formula just right.

I think MK64 had the best balance of skill vs rubberband, though I'm biased. That game was a big part of my childhood.

Though really, The Wii version has a bullet that drives FOR you and KILLS everything in it's way. And you can get it like 4 times in a race if you suck.

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

Very true. SNES for me. Weed, Beer, Chicken Fingers and good times...

I am gonna say mario kart 64 is my favorite although i played the snes one before that.

But the theory is not really wrong i guess, 64 was the one where i got the most multiplayer in.

Which is what makes those games shine.

64 was the first I played, but not much from that era has aged well. Dodgy framerate, bizarre turning, all that. After how smooth every Mario Kart has been since, it's pretty hard to go back.

So I say DS. A Mario Kart game is usually pretty good, but not a huge system seller, but Mario Kart DS was one of the definitive DS games. It was polished, you didn't need to rely on weapons to win, had Mission mode, the first Battle Mode with bots, and some of the best tracks in the series (Waluigi Pinball, Wario Stadium).

I say DS as well. This is coming from someone who played a little SNES kart and a ton of 64 kart. I haven't played the GCN or Wii versions, but the portability factor of the DS version is another factor that makes that game for me.

@destruktive said:

@FLStyle said:

I’m a pretty staunch subscriber to the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory. For the non-scholars out there, this theory dictates that, within a certain margin of error, a person’s first Mario Kart game will always be their favorite, and any subsequent Mario Kart experiences are spent trying to recapture that initial, and fairly specific, buzz of camaraderie, trash-talk, and impossible, shamelessly computer-assisted comebacks.

- Ryan Davis

And my first was Mario Kart 64, which is my favorite.

My first Mario Kart was SNES, and I played it with Bros.

MK64 was my favorite. Fuck that theory.

My first was Super Mario Kart but I'd have to say my favourite is a tie with that and Double Dash, with Double Dash just edging it out if I'm pushed.

Mario Kart 7 is my 2nd/3rd favourite.

For me, there wasn't much of a leap between Super and 64 or the GBA version, the team-ups in Double Dash may well have been a gimmick but it was at least different enough to make it feel like a significantly different game. Then, in my opinion, no innovation on that level until 7. Although I haven't played Mario Kart Wii at all, but I understand that had motorbikes and stunts? That may have been my 3rd favourite had I played it before 7.

Double Dash beats all once you've played with 15 OTHER FREAKIN PEOPLE AT ONCE.

Super Mario Kart was my first, but I'm gonna go with Mario Kart 64. Damn, I've had a lot of fun on that one, especially when I had good friends playing with me.

Mario Kart 64, because of the Unified Mario Kart Alpha Theory.