History YMMV / MarioKart

* StarTrekMovieCurse: The evenly-released installments (''64'', ''Double Dash!!'', ''Wii'', and ''8'') are generally agreed to be much better than the oddly-released installments, which have more contentious elements to them. ''Super Mario Kart'' is often said to lack polish compared to later entries, ''Super Circuit'' is considered a BizarroEpisode that has rather unintuitive controls, ''DS''[='=] {{meta|game}} became dominated by [[GoodBadBugs snaking]], ''7'''s polishedmechanics and excellent controls are overshadowed by the most questionable character roster in the series, and ''Tour''[='=]s microtransactions became a [[BrokenBase hot button]] amongst the fandom.

--> "BOWSER is banging away-- MS. PAC MAN! BANG BANG BANG!"

* MorePopularSpinoff: Ever since the release of ''Double Dash!!'' on the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, the ''Mario Kart'' games have actually consistently outsold their platformer counterparts. In particular, ''64'', ''Wii'', and ''8'' were especially well-received. ''8 Deluxe'' turns this into an ExaggeratedTrope; despite being just an UpdatedRerelease of ''8'', it managed to eclipse the sales of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', both widely considered the {{Killer App}}s for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. And it didn't just sell well, it sold ''consistently'' well - to the point it received new content via the Booster Course Pass DLC a full ''five years'' after it first released, something almost unheard of for a mere port.

** Funky Kong in ''Wii''. While he's a huge EnsembleDarkhorsehe is disliked by some people for being by far the biggest HighTierScrappy in online play; since he is a heavyweight, he naturally has access to the fastest and heaviest vehicles in the game, but the catch is that he holds the largest boost on the Speed stat among the heavyweights, which coupled with the Flame Runner bike (which is fast, heavy, drifts well and has a large mini-turbo), makes for an absolute beast of a combo; one that many StopHavingFunGuys will [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome use to no end]].

** Funky Kong in ''Wii''. While he's a huge EnsembleDarkhorse as mentioned below, he is disliked by some people for being by far the biggest HighTierScrappy in online play; since he is a heavyweight, he naturally has access to the fastest and heaviest vehicles in the game, but the catch is that he holds the largest boost on the Speed stat among the heavyweights, which coupled with the Flame Runner bike (which is fast, heavy, drifts well and has a large mini-turbo), makes for an absolute beast of a combo; one that many StopHavingFunGuys will [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome use to no end]].

*** Gold Mario, by extension. He has a pretty large amount of detractors for being the ''fifth'' variation of Mario added to the ''Deluxe'' UpdatedRerelease for ''8'', and for being a BonusFeatureFailure that replaces the opportunity of unlocking characters and making the game more interesting. That said, what saves him from being a full-on Scrappy is that he's noted by a good amount of people ([[TakeAThirdOption even detractors]]) to be merely a character skin and not necessarily taking a character slot in place of someone more beloved, unlike Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach or Peachette. Some people also don't mind him being the only unlockable "character", mainly those coming from the original ''Wii U'' release with every character unlocked.

** The addition of Gold King Boo in ''Tour'', based on his ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' incarnation. Some fans consider that much-deserved attention for an overlooked character, while others see it as shameless bolstering of Metal/Gold variants ala Mario and Peach.
** Sandbagging. AKA: deliberately staying in the back of the pack and/or stopping mid-race to farm the better items you get the further you are from first. There are two major camps in that regard; those who feel it's one of the few legitimate strategies you can employ in Mario Kart outside of [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome character/kart combos]], and those who feel it's unsportsmanlike conduct that defeats the point of of the game. (It being a ''racing game''.) ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'' receiving an update specifically to {{Nerf}} this tactic only added more fuel to the fire.
* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Lakitu and Wiggler were initially seen as {{Replacement Scrapp|y}}ies for appearing in ''7'' instead of other more beloved characters. Still, some people didn't mind either of them and actually welcomed the idea of their playability, with them being {{mook}}s PromotedToPlayable (similarly to Koopa Troopa and Dry Bones), especially since friendly Wigglers exist in the ''Mario'' universe, and Lakitu is the game's iconic referee. Come ''8'', the inclusion of the many beloved characters that were thought to be replaced by them both caused Lakitu to be seen more positively, and Wiggler's initial exclusion from ''8'' to be lamented until his return on both ''Tour'' and Wave 5 of ''Deluxe'''s Booster Course Pass.

* ContestedSequel: ''Tour'' has maintained a sizable playerbase and received new characters, courses and costumes even years after its launch. Prior to the Booster Course Pass's announcement in February 2022, ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' by contrast had only received a handful of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''-related things. Because of this, fans of ''8 Deluxe'' were upset that a gacha game with microtransactions was being treated as the "main" ''Mario Kart'', while ''8 Deluxe'' had minimal post-launch support.

** Waluigi (the TropeCodifier for the entire franchise), ever since his introduction in ''Double Dash!!'', much like Toadette. Many fans were very sad when [[PutOnABus he was omitted]] in ''7'' (especially in what many consider in favor of [[ReplacementScrappy Honey Queen]]), but he was one of the first characters [[TheBusCameBack announced to be returning]] in ''8'' which, much like Toadette, made his fans very happy.

** Koopa Troopa hasn't appeared in every title (he has skipped ''64'', ''Super Circuit'' and ''DS''), but he has always remained a favorite ever since in the first game, and is still popular even today, mainly because how he’s just a regular {{Mook|s}} in comparison to every other character in the games.
** Similar to Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones is one of the most popular racers since his introduction in ''DS'' for his status as a regular mook that can still throw down. After his absence in ''7'' and ''8'', it'd be an {{understatement}} to say the fanbase exploded when he returned for ''Deluxe'''s base game.

** Funky Kong is this in spades. He has enjoyed a lot of popularity for being the second ''Rare''-created character to appear in the extended ''Mario'' universe (behind Diddy Kong and preceding King K. Rool), and his omission from ''7'' and ''8'' and had left fans sour, but his re-inclusion in ''Tour'', as well as the reveal of him as DLC in ''Deluxe'' was widely received well by the fanbase.

*** Party-Time Pauline for her flashy New Years-themed outfit.

*** Fairy Daisy on account of being very cute, and for having very unique tricks where she floats above her kart.

** Item-wise, there's the Bullet Bill, which some fans were pleased to see it replace the Chain Chomp from ''Double Dash!!'', and many others were actually wishing it would outright replace the [[ScrappyWeapon Spiny Shell]] once and for all.

** The infamous Spiny Shell is usually known as the Blue Shell... or as a [[ClusterFBomb long string of profanity]]. The most common name for the Spiny Shell in Sweden is instead ''Ledarskalet'', translating into "the leader shell", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin because it targets the leading racer.]]
** The Thunder Cloud from ''Mario Kart Wii'' is also known as the "Herpes Cloud". Because you give it to other players by contact.

** Metal Mario is sometimes called "silver Mario", mainly by those who view him as just a re-skinned Mario.

** The Boo item turns the player invisible, which makes them immune to all forms of attack, and steals another player's item. Players can also drive off-road in ''DS'' and ''Deluxe'' without loss of speed with the Boo item.
** Maple Treeway in ''Wii'' and ''7'' has piles of leaves that often contain items. One of the items you can get is a Super Star, which you can pick up regardless of what place you're in.

** After the massive glow-ups ''Mario Kart 8'' gave to its retro courses, a lot of people were disappointed when ''Mario Kart Tour'' fell back on the more modest graphics and layout touch-ups seen in ''Tour'', which are more similar to earlier games' retro tracks. Granted, ''Tour'' revamped the visuals of most of its retros, and several tracks did get remakes more in line with what ''8'' did (notable examples include N64 Choco Mountain, GBA Boo Lake, and DS Mario Circuit).
* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/SuperMarioBros Has its own page here.]]

* MorePopularSpinoff: Ever since the release of ''Double Dash!!'' on the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, the Mario Kart games have actually consistently outsold their platformer counterparts. In particular, ''64'', ''Wii'', and ''8'' were especially well-received. ''8 Deluxe'' turns this into an ExaggeratedTrope; despite being just an UpdatedRerelease of ''8'', it managed to eclipse the sales of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', both widely considered the {{Killer App}}s for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

** Any impact sound an item makes when you hit someone with it. Also related: the triumphant noise your character makes upon a successful item hit.

* ReplacementScrappy: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Honey Queen]] got this sentiment for being chosen over fan-favorite veterans like Waluigi in ''7'', similarly to Lakitu and Wiggler. Though she isn't disliked in her origin game, many consider her inclusion to be ridiculous, due to being shrunk down to fit into a kart as well as not being important to ''Super Mario Galaxy'''s story, only appearing in a small handful of missions; her widely-disliked voice acting doesn't help. It's telling that she didn't return in either ''8'' or ''Deluxe'' (for the latter, neither the base game nor the Booster Course Pass).

** Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, due to them being literal clones of Mario and Peach in power-up outfits, and thus being filler playable characters. Them having new animations instead of just reusing Mario and Peach's animations in the first place didn't please some fans either. Gold Mario's more well-received (if still {{base|Breaking Character}}-breaking) inclusion in ''Deluxe'' only made their case even worse.

** The Spiny Shell, if the examples [[{{Pun}} floating around]] don't make it clear enough. Sure, it's annoying when you're in 1st and then you get hit by the Spiny Shell, allowing every other racer a chance to pass or catch up to you, but it also doubles as a PowerupLetdown for the Spiny Shell user. Even if the user can stop the lead, they still have several other racers ahead to contend with. The Spiny Shell is fortunately easier to deal with in ''DS'' and ''8'' for ''Wii U'', since you can see items racers collect in both installments and act accordingly; however, it later [[TookALevelInBadass received a very egregious buff]] from ''7'' onward -- though the shell was [[DiscardAndDraw stripped of its wings]], it can ''still'' fly, and it now works as [[AllYourPowersCombined a hybrid of its]] ''[[AllYourPowersCombined 64]]'' [[AllYourPowersCombined and]] ''[[AllYourPowersCombined Double Dash]]'' [[AllYourPowersCombined appearances]], hitting every racer on the way to 1st place, where it still explodes. Thank goodness the ''Arcade GP'' games don't have Spiny Shells at all (mostly due to using an almost entirely different set of items compared to the consumer games).
** The Lightning Bolt a.k.a. the [[FanNickname Shock]], which it really shouldn't be considering it affects everyone else with it, with characters closer to the lead being affected for longer periods from ''DS'' onward. The problem comes from it being rigged to happen too often and making you often lose your defensive item just as a red shell is coming. And of course, if you play against the [[SpitefulAI CPU]], they will [[ArtificialBrilliance coordinate its racers so that they'll use a Spiny Shell]] ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and sometimes, even a Blooper]]) [[ArtificialBrilliance just before they use the Lightning]][[note]]If they used the lightning first, like two human players might do, it would destroy the other items)[[/note]], setting 1st place (read: '''[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard you]]''') up for a distressing HumiliationConga. To make matters worse, if you're shocked while your glider is deployed, it disappears as you fall into the abyss below (mercifully, this was {{nerf}}ed on a late update in ''Deluxe''). There ''are'' ways around the Lightning, with Stars, Bullet Bills and Boos dodging it just fine, but that requires you to be in lower positions, unlike the Super Horn in ''8''; furthermore, the Lightning can still be timed, so there's practically ''no'' way to purposefully protect yourself from this (you ''can'' try to fall off the course and hope that it goes off while Lakitu drags you back on the road, but [[MortonsFork that comes at the cost of losing time and items]]). Once again, the ''Arcade GP'' games mercifully don't have this item.

** The Thunder Cloud from ''Wii'' is especially reviled. The idea is that you get a big increase to your speed as long as you have the cloud above you, but it zaps you after a few seconds. The result is that the player has to choose whether to [[GrenadeHotPotato pass it on to an opponent]] and lose the speed buff, or keep it and risk getting shrunken. All in all, not ''too'' bad... except the item triggers ''as soon as you get the powerup'', regardless of where you are on the track. And to drive the knife further in, it can be picked up in ''any position, '''even in last place'''''. Many fans are glad that it hasn't reappeared in any other game.

** ''Tour'' has the Bubble. It's for all intents and purposes an inferior Bullet Bill: it has an extremely unnoticable speed boost, can be bursted by simply touching any other kart or hazard, and disables item usage while active; pray it's not the first item that pops up in the item stash, else you'll have to hope another kart is willing to pop it for you in order to use the other items (especially painful if you happen to get Red/Spiny Shells as your items after the Bubble). While it might help protect you from stray shells, the Heart and Triple Greens/Reds does a better job than it. The Bubble Frenzy is commonly considered one of ('''''if''''' not) [[PowerUpLetdown the very worst Frenzies in the game]], easily ruining your Frenzy and making it harder to protect yourself afterwards.

** Baby Park. The track is just an oval with two turns, no hazards, and is so small that racers must do five laps in ''DS'' and seven laps in ''Double Dash'' and ''Mario Kart 8''. What puts this track into this territory is that it's so small that what would be a simple back-and-forth battle in other tracks becomes a chaotic maelstrom in Baby Park's tight spaces thanks to the items. It's also not very hard to drop behind most of the racers, grab a powerful Special Item, then launch it and blast to first in a matter of seconds, only for that to happen to you because of all the people you knocked behind you. For Double Dash only, items are chaotic enough and cause too much disruption. For ''DS'', five laps can either make it worse or better for (in)consistent results. For ''8'', the addition of anti-gravity can cause even more chaos by having players bumping into each other and randomly boosting, which can cause accidental collisions to hazardous items; ''8 Deluxe'''s addition of a second item just pushes it from just "chaos" to "anarchy". This level is considered to be the bane of competitive players and the tracks that one needs the least skill to win on, since the item placement turns the whole course into a LuckBasedMission.
** Mushroom City from ''Double Dash'' (at least on 150cc) deserves a mention. Basically think Mirror Mode Toad's Turnpike, only far more chaotic. It is much wider than the aforementioned course, but the vehicles coming through are relentless, and at times, they seem to home in on you. The Bob-omb car and Wiggler buses barreling down the track are especially nasty due to the massive stun of the former and extreme length of the latter.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The first couple games allowed booby-trapping the big jumps in a way that let careless racers fall down to an earlier part of the track, dooming them to a low finish. When those tracks come back in newer titles, Lakitu catches the falling karts and deposits them across the jump. It's an AntiFrustrationFeature when you hit something, but it's this trope when you were trying to sabotage the computer racers.

** As far as the ''Arcade GP'' lineup goes, ''Arcade GP'' and ''Arcade GP 2'' have time attack modes much like the rest of the series, but ''Arcade GP DX'' conspicuously does not, not even in Japanese builds.

** Mario (SNES) and Donkey Kong Jr. (SNES). The former isn't so much as unexpected since he was revealed in light of the meta franchise's 35th anniversary, but this is DK Jr's first playable appearance in ''any'' capacity since ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'' on the Nintendo 64.
** ''Mario Kart Arcade GP 2'' features Mametchi from ''Franchise/{{Tamagotchi}}'' as a playable driver. While this does make sense since ''GP 2'' is a co-production with the ''Tamagotchi'' production company Bandai Namco, this doesn't make the cameo from a ''virtual pet toy mascot'' any less surreal and he's easily the single obscurest ''Mario Kart'' character.

** Sandbagging. AKA: deliberately staying in the back of the pack and/or stopping mid-race to farm the better items you get the further you are from first. There are two major camps in regard; those who feel it's one of the few legitimate strategies you can employ in Mario Kart outside of [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome character/kart combos]], and those who feel it's unsportsmanlike conduct that defeats the point of Mario Kart. (It being a ''racing'' game.) ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'' receiving an update specifically to {{Nerf}} this tactic only added more fuel to the fire.

** The matter of ''Mario Kart Tour'' relying on {{microtransactions}} for players to acquire additional content is one that's not taken lightly, to say the least. While fans generally understand that free games, especially free mobile games, depend on microtransactions to break even, the ''pricing'' of said microtransactions sparks quite a bit of controversy. Players often single out the infamous Diddy Kong pack ($40[[labelnote:*]]This is due to the pack also including a ticket and 90 [[PremiumCurrency rubies]], though whether this justifies the extravagant price is contested in itself[[/labelnote]]) and Gold Pass ($5 per month, or $60 per year) as overpriced. The backlash against its monetization mechanics is so great that in 2023 Nintendo faced a lawsuit due to their use to [[BribingYourWayToVictory Bribe Your Way To Victory]] that incentivized many minors to purchase them, with unknown repercussions as of yet.

** Peachette wasn't unpopular when she appeared in ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' due to the sheer size of its roster, but became significantly more divisive when ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' featured her as one of the Booster Course Pass additions. Some don't mind her due to her adorable design and the overall memetic popularity of the Super Crown, while others bash her for being yet another clone of an existing character with a power-up in the vein of the rather disliked Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, and would rather have had a more unique ''Tour'' pick like Nabbit, Dixie Kong, or King Bob-omb instead.

** Peachette wasn't unpopular when she appeared in ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' due to the sheer size of its roster, but became significantly more divisive when she became one of the additions in ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe''[='s=] Booster Course Pass. Some don't mind her due to her adorable design and the overall memetic popularity of the Super Crown, while others bash her for being yet another clone of an existing character with a power-up in the vein of the rather unpopular Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, and would rather have had a more unique ''Tour'' pick like Nabbit, Dixie Kong, or King Bob-omb instead.

** ''Super Circuit'' got some of this reaction from people. It's a handheld ''Super Mario Kart'' with the graphics and sound effects from ''64''. Which, granted, was still a huge deal for when it was released, but it means the game falls victim to SeinfeldIsUnfunny in retrospect.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: The evenly-released installments (''64'', ''Double Dash!!'', ''Wii'', and ''8'') are generally agreed to be much better than the oddly-released installments, which have more contentious elements to them. ''Super Mario Kart'' is often said to [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny lack polish compared to later entries]], ''Super Circuit'' is considered a BizarroEpisode that has rather unintuitive controls, ''DS''[='=] {{meta|game}} became dominated by [[GoodBadBugs snaking]], ''7'''s polishedmechanics and excellent controls are overshadowed by the most questionable character roster in the series, and ''Tour''[='=]s microtransactions became a [[BrokenBase hot button]] amongst the fandom.

** Also from ''8'' are the Koopalings. Is their inclusion well-deserved, or was this game the one that kicked their WolverinePublicity from 0 to 60, making them lazy choices? The fact each Koopaling is their own character (unlike the colors for Yoshi or Shy Guy), and that they were in ''8'' [[ReplacementScrappy in place of characters like Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr.]] didn't help; fortunately, this point [[AuthorsSavingThrow has since been alleviated by]] [[TheBusCameBack Jr.'s return]] in ''Deluxe''.

*** Gold Mario, by extension. He has a pretty large amount of detractors for being the ''fifth'' variation of Mario added into the ''Deluxe'' UpdatedRerelease for ''8'', and for being a BonusFeatureFailure that replaces the opportunity of unlocking characters and making the game more interesting. That being said, what saves him from being a full-on Scrappy is the fact he is noted by a good amount of people ([[TakeAThirdOption even detractors]]) to be merely [[AuthorsSavingThrow a character skin and not necessarily taking a character slot in place of someone more beloved]] (unlike Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach). Some people also don't mind him being the only unlockable "character", mainly those coming from the original ''Wii U'' release with every character unlocked.

** Baby Daisy. While some people welcomed her appearance alongside Baby Peach in ''Wii'' (her debut game overall) and a good deal of people either do not mind her as much as other characters or have grown to accept her, she still has her detractors who claim that, unlike Baby Mario, Luigi or Peach, she didn't appear in ''Yoshi's Island'' or ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'', and has no basis in any previous ''Mario'' games and was apparently just made up for "roster padding". Baby Daisy's defenders will claim back that Toadette was also created for the ''Mario Kart'' series, whereas detractors will sometimes counterpoint that Toadette at least had precedence in the female Toads from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' and ''VideoGame/PaperMario64''. The introduction of a similar baby character, Baby Rosalina in ''8'', proved to be much more disliked character, being an outright [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] for various reasons.
** Miis, starting with ''Wii''. Some love playing with their personal avatars while others think they feel awkward/out of place in the Mario universe.

** Honey Queen and Lakitu for being among the characters to make it to ''7'' instead of other beloved ones, especially Waluigi. Lakitu was initially disliked by some due to that, while some other people didn't mind him and actually welcomed the idea of Lakitu being PromotedToPlayable as he is iconic character in his own right being the referee ever since the first game. The disdain for him also seems to have petered down come ''8'', due to the inclusion of many other beloved characters. Honey Queen is a full-on ReplacementScrappy, with many considering her inclusion to be ridiculous, due to being shrunk down to fit into a cart as well as not being important to ''Galaxy'''s story, only appearing in a small handful of missions, to warrant an inclusion, and her widely-disliked voice acting doesn't help. Others, however, like her precisely ''because'' she's a character nobody expected, or like the idea of a heavy-set female character being playable, thinking that the Mario franchise's female characters are too idealized. It's telling, though, that she didn't return in the next game, ''8''.

** Waluigi in ''Mario Kart 8'' and especially ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'', lacks most drawbacks of heavy characters while preserving the benefits, it along with the Wild Wiggler ATV (which similarly offers the benefits of both bikes and kart) expect him to see him ''just as much'' as Funky and Daisy in ''Wii''.

** Diddy Kong, thanks to being the first ''Creator/{{Rare}}''-created character to actually be incorporated into the extended ''Mario'' universe, starting in ''Double Dash!!''. After [[LongBusTrip his long absence from the series]] (starting with ''7'' and ending with ''Deluxe''), when he was [[TheBusCameBack revealed to be returning]] in ''Tour'' and later as part of the last Booster Course Pass update in ''Deluxe'', the fanbase was very pleased.
** King Boo as well mainly because of his popularity from ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' and his and Petey's Piranha's access of everyone's special items in ''Double Dash''. Fans were overjoyed when he made his return in ''Deluxe'''s base game.

** [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy R.O.B.]], who has only appeared so far in ''DS'', and who [[UnexpectedCharacter absolutely]] ''[[UnexpectedCharacter nobody]]'' [[UnexpectedCharacter saw coming]]. Expect to see a conversation in recent ''Mario Kart'' times where he is mentioned at least once (particularly alongside the phrases "When is" and "returning to Mario Kart?").

** Initially, Wiggler got a bit of flak for being among the characters that made it to ''7'' [[ReplacementScrappy instead of other beloved ones]] (similarly to Honey Queen and Lakitu), but the sentiment died down quickly, seeing as most people actually welcomed the idea of another ''Mario'' enemy being PromotedToPlayable; the fact friendly Wigglers exist in the ''Mario'' universe helps his case. He later became surprisingly popular, to the point that [[VindicatedByHistory some fans have lamented his exclusion]] from ''8''; only to rejoice when he was confirmed for Wave 5 of the ''Deluxe'' rerelease's Booster Course Pass.

* {{Narm}}: The announcer in ''Arcade GP 2'', particularly due to the MadLibsDialogue.
** NarmCharm: The Japanese announcer, on the other hand, is either this or an outright well-executed LargeHamAnnouncer. Bonus points for being voiced by Creator/KoichiYamadera.

* ReplacementScrappy: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Honey Queen]] got this for being chosen over fan-favorite veterans like Waluigi in ''Mario Kart 7''.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** Wiggler's addition in ''7'' was initially derided along with some of the other newcomers for that game (Metal Mario, Honey Queen, and Lakitu), with many seeming them as undeserving compared to snubbed characters like Waluigi or Dry Bones. Unlike those aforementioned three (bar Lakitu to a lesser extent), however, Wiggler's status improved over time due to them being an established enemy in the ''Mario'' series and whose only role prior to ''7'' in the ''Mario Kart'' games was as an obstacle - not to mention that they're a surprisingly original idea for a playable character in a ''Mario'' spinoff in general. Eventually, people ended up rejoicing over Wiggler's return in both ''8 Deluxe'' and ''Tour''.
** Lakitu was initially disliked as a ReplacementScrappy in ''7'' due to also being perceived as stealing Waluigi (and other well-liked characters)'s spot, though some people didn't mind him and actually welcomed the idea of Lakitu being PromotedToPlayable as he is iconic character in his own right being the referee ever since the first game. Come ''8'' and ''8 Deluxe'' and the disdain for him seems to have disappeared due to the inclusion of the beloved characters he was once thought to have replaced, and now most players welcome the referee being playable alongside them.

** Whereas Baby Daisy has grown on some people in later years or never minded her inclusion, the same can't be said for Baby Rosalina, who is often singled out as the single most egregious instance of "roster padding" in the series. Baby Rosalina doesn't outright contradict her storybook backstory from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', but it is somewhat difficult to reconcile her with her older child self (considering Baby Rosalina looks much more like her adult self than young Rosalina who [[YouDontLookLikeYou looked completely different, without a crown and orange hair]], even wearing the same crown), leading fans of ''Galaxy'' to fear that Nintendo may be attempting to {{retcon}} one of the most emotional parts of the game. The fact [[FlipFlopOfGod Nintendo hasn't addressed this plot hole]] doesn't help her case at all.
*** When the character variation of ''Detective'' Baby Rosalina was first revealed to be playable in ''Tour'', the fans either decided that either Nintendo's ''Mario Kart'' division has officially run out of ideas or that they intentionally added her to troll the fans.
** Pink Gold Peach. Similarly to Baby Rosalina, people will readily point out her complete lack of basis in previous games (and thus, no trace of an EnsembleDarkhorse history as Metal Mario), leading to many accusations of "roster padding". This was only further fueled by the addition of Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach as DLC in ''8'' (who are also soundly described below), leading to ''four'' sets of Mario and Peach variations.
** Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, due to them being literal clones of Mario and Peach in power-up outfits, and thus being filler playable characters. Them having new animations instead of just reusing Mario and Peach's animations in the first place didn't please some fans either. Gold Mario's introduction in ''Deluxe'' only made their case even worse.

** The Spiny Shell, if the examples floating around don't make it clear enough. Sure, it's annoying when you're in first and then you get hit by the Spiny Shell, allowing every other racer a chance to pass or catch up to you, but it also doubles as a PowerupLetdown for the Spiny Shell user. Even if the user can stop the 1st place guy, they still have several other racers ahead to contend with. Thankfully, the Spiny Shell received a nerf in the DS, 3DS, and Wii U/Switch installments, since you can see items racers collect in both installments and act accordingly, but also the shell was stripped of its wings from ''7'' onward. The ''Arcade GP'' games don't have Spiny Shells at all (mostly due to using an almost entirely different set of items compared to the consumer games).
** The Thunder Cloud from ''Wii'' is just as reviled. The idea is that you get a big increase to your speed as long as you have the cloud above you, but it zaps you after a few seconds. The result is that the player has to choose whether to pass it on to an opponent and lose the speed buff, or keep it and risk getting shrunken. All in all, not ''too'' bad, yet for some reason the game designers made it so that it triggers as soon as you get the powerup, regardless of where you are on the track. The final nail that makes it such a hated item is that it can be picked up in ''any position'', even in last place. Many fans are glad that it hasn't reappeared in any other game.
** The Lightning Bolt as well, which it really shouldn't be considering it affects everyone else with it, with characters closer to the lead being affected for longer periods. The problem comes from it being rigged to happen too often and making you often lose your defensive item just as a red shell is coming. And of course, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard the AI will coordinate its racers so that they'll use a Spiny Shell just before they use the Lightning]][[note]](if it used the lightning first, like two human players might do, it would destroy the Spiny Shell)[[/note]], setting first place up for a distressingly common one-two punch. To make matters worse, if the lightning bolt strikes you while your glider is deployed, it disappears as you fall into the abyss below. Unlike the Spiny Shell, which got a foil in the Super Horn in ''8'', there's ''no'' way to purposefully protect yourself from this (you ''can'' try to fall off course and hope that the lighting strikes when Lakitu is dragging you back on the road, but it's more or less a fluke). Once again, ''Arcade GP'' mercifully doesn't have this item.
** The Super Leaf in ''Mario Kart 7''. Very useful for blocking red and green shells, but provides no use whatsoever to players who have nothing to hit or are stuck in a position where they need a ranged item or obstacle item.
** The Fire Flower can take your coin meter down in a matter of seconds, and often pummels you endlessly. One can only imagine why they brought it back in ''Mario Kart 8''.
** ''Tour'' has the Bubble. The Bubble is nothing more than an inferior Bullet Bill, having an extremely unnoticable speed boost and can be bursted by simply touching any other kart or hazard. However, while in the Bubble, it disables item usage for the duration of when the Bubble is active, so if this is the first item that pops up in the item stash, you have to hope another kart is willing to pop it for you in order to use the other items (especially painful if you happen to get Red Shells or Spiny Shells as your items after the Bubble, as you cannot throw those until something is willing to pop your Bubble, which is very unlikely to happen if you are behind). While it might help protect you from the Green or Red Shell, the Heart does a better job than the Bubble and the Bubble can easily ruin your Frenzy and make it harder to protect yourself afterwards. The Bubble Frenzy is one of the worst Frenzies in the game, if not the absolute worst.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: The evenly-released installments (''64'', ''Double Dash!!'', ''Wii'', and ''8'') are generally agreed to be much better than the oddly-released installments, which have more contentious elements to them. ''Super Mario Kart'' is often said to [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny lack polish compared to later entries]], ''Super Circuit'' is considered a BizarroEpisode that has rather unintuitive controls, ''DS''[='=] {{meta}} became dominated by [[GoodBadBugs snaking]], ''7'' has the most questionable character roster in the series, and ''Tour''[='=]s microtransactions became a [[BrokenBase hot button]] amongst the fandom.
* SurpriseDifficulty: Any long time fan of the series will tell you to not be fooled by the colorful visuals and mellow settings since the games tend to be quite difficult at times, especially on the [[HarderThanHard [=150cc=] difficulty]].

** Baby Park. The track is just an oval with two turns, no hazards, and is so small that racers must do five laps in ''DS'' and seven laps in ''Double Dash'' and ''Mario Kart 8''. What puts this track into this territory is that it's so small that what would be a simple back-and-forth battle in other tracks becomes a chaotic maelstrom in Baby Park's tight spaces thanks to the items. It's also not very hard to drop behind most of the racers, grab a powerful Special Item, then launch it and blast to first in a matter of seconds, only for that to happen to you because of all the people you knocked behind you. For Double Dash only, items are chaotic enough and cause too much disruption. For ''DS'', five laps can either make it worse or better for (in)consistent results. For ''8'', the addition of anti-gravity can cause even more chaos by having players bumping into each other and randomly boosting, which can cause accidental collisions to hazardous items; ''8 Deluxe'''s addition of a second item only adds more to the chaos. This level is considered to be the bane of competitive players and the tracks that one needs the least skill to win on, since the item placement turns the whole course into a LuckBasedMission.

** Waluigi (the TropeCodifier for the entire franchise), ever since his introduction in ''Double Dash!!'', much like Toadette. Many fans were very sad when [[PutOnABus he was omitted]] in ''7'' (especially in what many consider in favor of [[ReplacementScrappy Honey Queen]], but he was one of the first characters [[TheBusCameBack announced to be returning]] in ''8'' which, much like Toadette, made his fans very happy.
** Diddy Kong, thanks to being the first ''Creator/{{Rare}}''-created character to actually be incorporated into the extended ''Mario'' universe, starting in ''Double Dash!!''. After [[LongBusTrip his long absence from the series]] (starting with ''7'' and ending with ''Deluxe''), when he was [[TheBusCameBack revealed to be returning]] in ''Tour'', the fanbase was very pleased.
** King Boo as well mainly because of his popularity from ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' and his and Petey's Piranha's access of everyone's special items in ''Double Dash''. Fans were overjoyed when he made his return in ''Deluxe''.

** Similar to Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones is one of the most popular racers since his introduction in ''DS''. After his absence in ''7'' and ''8'', it'd be an {{understatement}} to say the fanbase exploded when he returned for ''Deluxe''.

** Pauline, thanks in part to her newfound popularity in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', was acclaimed on her release in ''Tour'', and has remained one of the most popular new characters since then.

** After the massive glow-ups ''Mario Kart 8'' gave to its retro courses, a lot of people were disappointed when ''Mario Kart Tour'' fell back on the more modest graphics and layout touch-ups seen in ''Tour'', which are more similar to earlier games' retro tracks.

** Funky Kong is this in spades. He has enjoyed a lot of popularity for being the second ''Rare''-created character to appear in the extended ''Mario'' universe (behind Diddy Kong and preceding King K. Rool), and his omission from ''7'', ''8'' and ''Deluxe'' had left fans sour, but his re-inclusion in ''Tour'' was widely received well by the fanbase.

** [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Rainbow Road]] ends up being this for a majority [[OncePerEpisode of every game]] except the really long and safe version in ''64'' (which has railings across the entire track and no hazards save for the very easy-to-dodge Chain Chomps), thanks to the general lack of railings and the abundance of sharp turns and narrow pathways. That's disregarding everyone trying to throw explosive flying shells at you.

** ''Mario Kart Arcade GP DX'', as of its major content update, features two ''VideoGame/PacMan''-themed tracks (PAC-MAN Stadium and [=NAMCO=] Circuit) which serve as homages to not only Pac-Man himself but also several of Namco's classic arcade titles such as ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/DigDug'', ''VideoGame/{{Mappy}}'', and ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga''.

** Honey Queen and Lakitu for being among the characters to make it to ''7'' instead of other beloved ones, especially Waluigi. Lakitu was initially disliked by some due to that, while some other people didn't mind him and actually welcomed the idea of Lakitu being PromotedToPlayable as he is iconic character in his own right being the referee ever since the first game. The disdain for him also seems to have petered down come ''8'', due to the inclusion of many other beloved characters. Honey Queen is a full-on ReplacementScrappy, with many considering her inclusion to be ridiculous, due to being shrunk down to fit into a cart as well as not being that important to ''Galaxy'''s story to warrant an inclusion, and her widely-disliked voice acting doesn't help. Others, however, like her precisely ''because'' she's a character nobody expected, or like the idea of a heavy-set female character being playable, thinking that the Mario franchise's female characters are too idealized. It's telling, though, that she didn't return in the next game, ''8''.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Wiggler's addition in ''7'' was initially derided along with some of the other newcomers for that game (Metal Mario, Honey Queen, and Lakitu), with many seeming them as undeserving compared to snubbed characters like Waluigi or Dry Bones. Unlike those aforementioned three, however, Wiggler's status improved over time due to them being an established enemy in the ''Mario'' series and whose only role prior to ''7'' in the ''Mario Kart'' games was as an obstacle - not to mention that they're a surprisingly original idea for a playable character in a ''Mario'' spinoff in general. Eventually, people ended up rejoicing over Wiggler's return in both ''8 Deluxe'' and ''Tour''.

** The general consensus of ''Super Circuit''. Compared to ''64'' and later installments, it doesn't do any, thing innovative, but it's still a decently fun game with a catchy soundtrack.

** Initially, Wiggler got a bit of flak for being among the characters that made it to ''7'' [[ReplacementScrappy instead of other beloved ones]] (similarly to Honey Queen and Lakitu), but the sentiment died down quickly, seeing as most people actually welcomed the idea of another ''Mario'' enemy being PromotedToPlayable; the fact friendly Wigglers exist in the ''Mario'' universe helps his case. He later became surprisingly popular, to the point that [[VindicatedByHistory some fans have lamented his exclusion]] from ''8'': only to rejoice when he was confirmed for Wave 5 of the ''Deluxe'' rerelease's Booster Course Pass.

** Honey Queen and Lakitu for being among the characters to make it to ''7'' instead of other beloved ones, especially Waluigi. Lakitu was initially disliked by some due to that, while some other people didn't mind him and actually welcomed the idea of Lakitu being PromotedToPlayable as he is iconic character in his own right being the referee ever since the first game. The disdain for him also seems to have petered down come ''8'', due to the inclusion of many other beloved characters. Honey Queen is a full-on ReplacementScrappy, with many considering her inclusion to be ridiculous, due to being shrunk down to fit into a cart as well as not being that important to ''Galaxy'''s story to warrant an inclusion it's telling that she didn't return in the next game, ''8''.

** The Honey Queen in ''7'', who in ''Super Mario Galaxy'' and ''Galaxy 2'', is an extremely minor character who only appeared in a small handful of missions; by proxy, she is widely considered as being undeserving of a spot in the roster. Her horrendous voice acting doesn't help matters, either.

* ContestedSequel: ''Tour'' has maintained a sizable playerbase and received new characters, courses and costumes even years after its launch. Prior to the Booster Course Pack's announcement in February 2022, ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' by contrast had only received a handful of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''-related things. Because of this, fans of ''8 Deluxe'' were upset that a gacha game with microtransactions was being treated as the "main" ''Mario Kart'', while ''8 Deluxe'' had minimal post-launch support.

** Initially, Wiggler got a bit of flak for being among the characters that made it to ''7'' [[ReplacementScrappy instead of other beloved ones]] (similarly to Honey Queen and Lakitu), but the sentiment died down quickly, seeing as most people actually welcomed the idea of another ''Mario'' enemy being PromotedToPlayable; the fact friendly Wigglers exist in the ''Mario'' universe helps his case. He later became surprisingly popular, to the point that [[VindicatedByHistory some fans have lamented his exclusion]] from ''8'': only to rejoice when he was confirmed for Wave 5 of the ''Deluxe'' rerelease's Booster Course Pack.

** Initially, Wiggler got a bit of flak for being among the characters that made it to ''7'' [[ReplacementScrappy instead of other beloved ones]] (similarly to Honey Queen and Lakitu), but the sentiment died down quickly, seeing as most people actually welcomed the idea of another ''Mario'' enemy being PromotedToPlayable; the fact friendly Wigglers exist in the ''Mario'' universe helps his case. He later became surprisingly popular, to the point that [[VindicatedByHistory some fans have lamented his exclusion]] from ''8''.

* AmericansHateTingle: Metal Mario is a BaseBreakingCharacter overseas, as he is generally seen as a "lazy Mario clone", but Japanese players and ''Super Smash Bros.'' fans absolutely ''worship'' him.

** Funky Kong in ''Wii''. While he's a huge EnsembleDarkhorse as mentioned below, he is widely disliked by some people for being by far the biggest HighTierScrappy in online play; since he is a heavyweight, he naturally has access to the fastest and heaviest vehicles in the game, but the catch is that he holds the largest boost on the Speed stat among the heavyweights, which coupled with the Flame Runner bike (which is fast, heavy, drifts well and has a large mini-turbo), makes for an absolute beast of a combo; one that many StopHavingFunGuys will [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome use to no end]].
** Metal Mario is a big example. He is worshipped among ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fans and Japanese players ever since he joined the ''Mario Kart'' roster in ''7'', and also disliked by others who consider him [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks a lazy rehash of Mario]], [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace but as a heavyweight]]. In a similar vein to Funky in ''Wii'', some players disapporve of him for also being a HighTierScrappy, as he is as fast and heavy as characters like Bowser, while being shorter like a mediumweight (leading to a smaller hurtbox).

** Daisy, who is already a base-breaker across [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros the entire franchise]] (she has been playable since ''Double Dash!!'', where her classic "[[MemeticMutation Hi, I'm Daisy!]]" line comes from). She's less of a base-breaker in ''Mario Kart'', but many of the points reviewed in the YMMV page for the ''Mario'' franchise still stand. Similarly to Funky, she also receives some flak in ''Wii'' for being overused in competitive online due to holding the largest boost on the Speed stat among the middleweights.
** Baby Daisy. While some people welcomed her appearance alongside Baby Peach in ''Wii'' (her debut game overall) and a good deal of people either do not mind her as much as other characters or have grown to accept her, she still has her detractors who claim that, unlike Baby Mario, Luigi or Peach, she didn't appear in ''Yoshi's Island'' or ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'', and has no basis in any previous ''Mario'' games and apparently just being made up for "roster padding". Some of Baby Daisy's defenders will claim back that Toadette was also created for the ''Mario Kart'' series, whereas detractors will sometimes counterpoint that Toadette at least had precedence in the female Toads from ''VideoGame/PaperMario64''.
** Miis, starting with ''Wii''. Some love playing with their personal avatars while others think they feel awkward in the Mario universe.

** Lakitu was initially disliked quite a good amount for being among the characters to make it to ''7'' [[ReplacementScrappy instead of other beloved ones]], although this never came to the degree of Honey Queen. Some other people didn't mind him and actually welcomed the idea of Lakitu being PromotedToPlayable. The disdain for him also seems to have petered down come ''8'', due to the inclusion of many other beloved characters.

** The matter of ''Mario Kart Tour'' relying on {{microtransactions}} for players to acquire additional content is one that's not taken lightly, to say the least. While fans generally understand that free games, especially free mobile games, depend on microtransactions to break even, the ''pricing'' of said microtransactions sparks quite a bit of controversy. Players often single out the infamous Diddy Kong pack ($40[[labelnote:*]]This is due to the pack also including a ticket and 90 [[PremiumCurrency rubies]], though whether this justifies the extravagant price is contested in itself[[/labelnote]]) and Gold Pass ($5 per month, or $60 per year) as overpriced.

** ''8''[='=]s tier system is based on weight classes; Bowser, Morton, Wario, and heavy Miis are ubiquitous in Time Trials. It's averted in casual play and especially 200cc, though, where the heavy characters will spend most of their time either struggling to move after being pelted with items or [[TooFastToStop driving off the course]].

* ContestedSequel: ''Tour'' has maintained a sizable playerbase and received new characters, courses and costumes even two years after its launch. Prior to the Booster Course Pack's announcement in February 2022, ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' by contrast had only received a handful of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''-related things. Because of this, fans of ''8 Deluxe'' were upset that a gacha game with microtransactions was being treated as the "main" ''Mario Kart'', while ''8 Deluxe'' had minimal post-launch support.

*** Among the variants, new racers that haven't been playable in the main series include Monty Mole, Hammer Bro and Nabbit.
** Item-wise, there's the Bullet Bill, which some fans were pleased to see it replace the Chain Chomp from ''Double Dash!!'', and many others actually wishing it would outright replace the [[ScrappyWeapon Spiny Shell]] once and for all.

*** ''Nintendo Kart'' and ''Super Smash Kart'' cropped up due to the DLC including [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing the Villager, Isabelle]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] as playable drivers, alongside associated stages (with Bells and Rupees replacing coins and, on Hyrule Circuit, Deku Babas and Keese replacing Piranha Plants and Swoops), as well as the inclusion of [[VideoGame/FZero Mute City and Grand Blue]] tracks. They especially gained popularity after [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} the Inklings]] were also introduced for ''Deluxe''.
*** ''Waluigi Kart 8'' has become a common nickname for the ''Deluxe'' UpdatedReRelease due to the absurd amount of online players who use Waluigion the Wild Wiggler or Biddybuggy with Roller wheels.

** Also with ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' and its [[VideoGame/CrashNitroKart two]] [[VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing sequels]], due to their vastly different takes on the MascotRacer genre - ''Mario Kart'' is a mostly luck-based series with a larger emphasis on WackyRacing, whereas the ''Crash'' series is more strategic and have a greater emphasis on their single-player campaigns. This attitude only increased after the release of ''CTR''[='=]s remake ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'', which some consider to be superior to ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe''. It became even stronger in light of the said remake's racer roster pooling in from the majority of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series by the end of its games-as-a-service lifespan, while ''Mario Kart Tour'' mostly favored adding more clones of existing characters.

** "Snaking" is a technique where you constantly powerslide back and forth to gain mini-turbos on straightaways (normally, you're only supposed to get mini-turbos when making a sharp turn). It's been essential for setting world records since at least ''Double Dash'', but was [[{{Nerf}} rendered almost impossible]] from ''Wii'' onwards by making the mini-turbo dependent on how hard you turn during your powerslide.
** Bikes in ''Wii'' massively overshadow karts. In theory, bikes were supposed to perform better on straightaways due to having the ability to wheelie for more speed at the expense of handling and stability, while karts were supposed to perform better on curvy tracks due to having stronger mini-turbos. In practice, players just wheelie as often as they can. This is more pronounced with the fastest characters in their weight class, like Baby Luigi (fastest of the lightweight characters), Funky Kong (fastest heavyweight), or Daisy (fastest medium-weight). ''Especially'' Funky Kong. Bikes lost the ability to gain additional speed by performing wheelies in ''8''.
** The series has tracks that can cut down on your laps greatly due if you abuse exploits of the checkpoint system (this determines where Lakitu drops you off if you fall from the track). A notable one is the glitch in the Grumble Volcano track in ''Mario Kart Wii''; if done correctly, the player can finish the race in 30 seconds or less. Naturally, nearly everyone abused the exploit online and it was more obvious when people started to spam vote for the track. ''Mario Kart 7'' has a similar one with the Maka Wuhu track that allows people to skip huge sections of the course, found just days after the game was released. This was eventually patched out.

* GrowingTheBeard: While the first three games were all well-received, they were clearly fighting against the technical limitations of the platforms they were released on. ''Double Dash'' and ''DS'' are generally considered to be where the series really hit its stride.

** Heavyweights in the later games, as the customization feature and stat boosts have rendered it possible for players to go at insane speeds with them, particularly with Bowser, Wario, Morton, Rosalina, and heavy Miis in ''8''.

** After the massive glow-ups ''Mario Kart 8'' gave to its retro courses, a lot of people were disappointed when ''Mario Kart Tour'' fell back on the more modest graphics and layout touch-ups seen in earlier games' retro tracks.

** Whereas Baby Daisy has grown on some people in later years, the same can't be said for Baby Rosalina, who is often singled out as the single most egregious instance of "roster padding" in the series. Baby Rosalina doesn't outright contradict her storybook backstory from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', but it is somewhat difficult to reconcile her with her older child self (considering Baby Rosalina looks much more like her adult self than young Rosalina, even wearing the same crown), leading fans of ''Galaxy'' to fear that Nintendo may be attempting to {{retcon}} one of the most emotional parts of the game. The fact [[FlipFlopOfGod Nintendo hasn't addressed this plot hole]] doesn't help her case at all.

** Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, due to them being literal clones of Mario and Peach in power-up outfits, and thus having no purpose as playable characters. Gold Mario's introduction in ''Deluxe'' only made their case even worse, as some fans wonder why they even created new animations for them instead of just reusing Mario and Peach's animations in the first place.

** Coins. You need to hold coins to increase your speed (the boost caps at 10 coins) and getting hit by items, crashing into course hazards, or falling off the track makes you lose coins. In the first game and ''Super Circuit'', bumping into another racer makes you lose a coin! In some games, coins are also an item to give you 2 coins instantly, which doesn't help ''at all'' when it comes to protecting yourself from racers behind you or to attack the ones in front, not to mention that they can appear just as likely ''when you already have the maximum capacity of 10 coins on hand''. ''Mario Kart 7'' changes the coins mechanic slightly where not having a lot of coins won't totally screw you over and bumping into people won't make you lose coins, but you can't hold more than 10 coins and you will lose 3 coins (less if your coin count is low in ''7'' only) every time you get attacked or fall off the track, which makes holding onto your coins a pain in the ass and means getting hit by two items in a row—not too uncommon an occurrence—results in you losing a whopping ''60%'' of your speed buff. Luckily, coins regenerate. Unluckily, you need to collect coins to unlock parts for your kart, and you will be playing for a long time since you will need to collect several ''thousand'' coins and even beyond 10,000 coins just to get everything. This is made worse due to only being able to hold up to 10 coins per race.

** The Thunder Cloud from ''Wii'' is even more reviled. The idea is that you get a big increase to your speed as long as you have the cloud above you, but it zaps you after a few seconds. The result is that the player has to choose whether to pass it on to an opponent and lose the speed buff, or keep it and risk getting shrunken. All in all, not ''too'' bad, yet for some reason the game designers made it so that it triggers as soon as you get the powerup, regardless of where you are on the track. The final nail that makes it such a hated item is that it can be picked up in ''any position'', even in last place. Many fans are glad that it hasn't reappeared in any other game.

** The general consensus of ''Super Circuit''. Compared to ''64'' and later installments, it doesn't do anything innovative, but it's still a decently fun game with a catchy soundtrack.
** ''Wii'' was also considered this for a time by some people, although [[VindicatedByHistory reactions switched]] once Nintendo discontinued the Wi-Fi Connection service.
** While ''Tour'' being bashed from non-mobile ''Mario Kart'' fans for its controls and the use of gacha and microtransactions, it was praised for its concepts like the costumes and course variants. The addition of a points system also created new fans for the game.

** Getting the highest ranking in each cup can seem arbitrary at times. Oftentimes one can race perfectly and get first in each track, yet still not have received a triple-star ranking. Luckily, ''7'' made it much more lenient at achieving a star ranking, and ''8'' changes the system to be more predictable; getting first in every race guarantees a triple-star ranking.
** On that note, perfecting every engine class can also be a pain in the neck. 50cc is simple, and 100cc is manageable, but what about 150cc? Or [[NintendoHard Mirror]], for that matter? ''8'' once again simplifies things so that your ranking carries over into lower engine classes, but Mirror is still counted separately. And then there's 200cc, which is HarderThanHard and requires borderline-inhuman reflexes and playing the game with a much different strategy than even 150cc.

** As with ''Wii'', seeing as bikes and the online are the only new main additions. Reactions switched when the online access support was dropped.