New Mario Kart Games Took a Skill Old Gamers Mastered and Made It Mandatory

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As a huge fan, I’ve always thought Mario Kart is a perfect example of how racing games have changed over the years. It first came out on the Super Nintendo in ’92, and even back then, it was simple to pick up and play, but still really challenging to get good at – which is pretty much the Nintendo way! What’s cool is that even though the graphics have gotten way better and they’ve added tons of new stuff to do, the basic gameplay is still the same fun racing experience I fell in love with originally.

The newest Mario Kart game, Mario Kart World, shows how far the series has come. What started with a few simple tracks has grown into a vast, exciting, and challenging open world. Throughout this evolution, one skill from the very first Mario Kart game has become absolutely essential: drifting. Here’s a look at how mastering drifting became key to success.

How Super Mario Kart Established Drifting

Drifting in racing games used to be a challenging technique that only slightly helped skilled players. However, recent Mario Kart games have made drifting essential for winning. In older racing games, simply finishing the track was the main goal, and even in Super Mario Kart, knowing the course and driving well were the most important things. While games like OutRun and Ridge Racer featured drifting early on, it became a more frequent element in racing games over time.

If you look at the Mario Kart series, you can really see how racing games have changed over time. In the very first game, Super Mario Kart, drifting was a thing, but it was tough to get the hang of. It could help you win, sure, but you definitely didn’t need it. Honestly, it was mostly for players who were already pretty good, because messing up a drift could easily cost you the race. You could totally win just by staying on the track. Then Mario Kart 64 came along and made drifting a bit more useful – you’d get a small speed boost if you held a drift for a while. But even then, it wasn’t essential to winning.

As the Mario Kart series continued, drifting became increasingly important for success. Successfully drifting at the right moment provided a quick speed boost, which could help players navigate turns or gain an advantage on straightaways – a good drift could often decide a race. However, drifting really changed when racing games started exploring 3D environments, leading to further development in the Mario Kart games.

When Drifting Became The Norm

While Mario Kart 64 introduced drifting, Mario Kart: Double Dash! really emphasized its importance. Double Dash rewarded players with a bigger speed boost for holding drifts longer, shown by blue sparks trailing from the kart. This was especially helpful in Double Dash because jumping wasn’t as important for getting around. These quick bursts of speed became essential for dodging obstacles and navigating the larger tracks.

Double Dash’s drifting mechanic also tied it to the racing games popular at the time. Games like Gran Turismo, which focused on realism, and Burnout, which was more arcade-style, were increasingly using drifting as a key gameplay element. It evolved from simply a way to navigate turns into a core skill that let players avoid obstacles and gain an advantage, like a speed boost or better positioning. It went from being an optional trick to an essential technique. However, even then, it wasn’t as complex or central to gameplay as drifting is in today’s racing games.

Mario Kart Took Drifting From A Minor Skill To A Mandatory Tactic

Drifting in racing games has changed a lot over time. If you compare the drifting in the original Super Mario World to games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Mario Kart World, you’ll see a big difference. Newer Mario Kart games are designed with tracks that really require drifting to win. It’s not just about going faster; skillful drifting is now essential for navigating the turns and successfully completing the courses.

Drifting, once just a way to go faster around corners, is now a core gameplay tactic. Players chain drifts together to build up speed and get powerful boosts. Mario Kart World takes this even further, encouraging players to drift across larger tracks to gain quick speed boosts and navigate the expansive environments.

Drifting has always been a part of this game series, starting as a helpful technique but gradually becoming essential for winning. Over the years, it’s evolved from an optional skill to a must-have for any competitive player. While it’s been around for decades, mastering it is now key to success.

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2025-11-27 18:12