Mario Kart vs Mario Party – An Age-old question

The Mario Series has established a solid brand through the years. From 1988 to date, the brand has been giving us game after game, one topping the other. Let’s face it though, some marriages do not last that long nowadays. With the brand being so diverse and providing us with entertainment year on year, it is somehow difficult to establish what is the best game, why, and to sell the idea to the player, the audience if you will.

Today we delve into the ins and outs of who wins the crown between 2 of the biggest titles from the Mario series, and we let you decide which one you like best. Of course, we are a bit biased, but we keep the bias until the very end …so without further ado, let’s look at em!

Mario Party

Mario Party was first released in 1998 with the latest offering from the Mario umbrella reaching us in 2018. In between the 20 years of Mario Party, we have witnessed a total of 18 games. Not 1, not 2 ….18, this is how popular of a brand Mario Party is. Just like anything in the world, Mario Party has received mixed reviews through the years. Starting with a strong hold in terms of reviews to receiving some mixed feedback lately. Question is: Is the consumer over the hype of Mario Party? We beg to differ, as the brand has sold a grand total of 39.6 million copies of Mario Party making the game of the top Mario sub cultures, with some marketing gurus calling the franchise a marketing masterpiece.

But what makes Mario Party such a phenomenon?

Good question. Well the choice of characters is a very valid point. During the Party series a player can opt to play with the following characters: Luigi, Mario, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Wario, Princess Daisy, Waluigi and Rosalina. The introduction of Donkey Kong also was received with great critical acclaim.

Mario Party is a game that never gets old, you can enjoy this with your friends if you are 10 years old, 20 years old and even 40 years old. The games hold a record of around 100 mini-games to binge on, hence the betplayer is never getting bored. There is always something new waiting around the corner, and once you get used to that …a new Mario Party game is released!

Mario Kart

Adrenalin junkies and lovers of the Super Mario brand will evidently enjoy the thrills that Mario Kart offers. As opposed to Mario Party hopping from one place to another, Mario Kart is all about the go cart racing of some of our beloved characters, with some new ones added to the mix to spice things up. If you are one of those players / gamers that love a good old competition, you will enjoy Mario Kart, for sure!

Due to the success that Mario Kart had through the years, 9 offerings of the game were produced from 1992 to the latest game reaching our gaming consoles in 2017. Playable on various platforms, Mario Kart can be enjoyed on the following consoles: Wii, Wii U, 3DS, New 3Ds and Switch.

Why is Mario Kart such a sensation?

Again, just like the Mario Party series, the game can be enjoyed with friends over and the characters that make a very pleasing appearance are: Several Characters from the Mario Series (over 70 characters) plus notable names such as Pac Man, Legend of Zelda Characters, Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing and characters from Splatoon.

You, are in full control of the game, not just character wise, also the mode you play. The modes available are as follows:

Grand Prix – Get your engines going as we are off to the grand prix and 4 lucrative cups are up for grabs! You can choose you engine, and of course the bigger the engine the harder the cup is to win.

Time Trials – If there was a warming up period, this would be it! Let’s say you have invited some friend over for Mario Kart evening, take a day off and spend some time training at the time trials. Here you compete along, well against the clock to be precise.

VS Races – Here you can compete in a less competitive way with either other players or the CPU. Let’s say you completed the Time Trials, get yourself to the VS races to check where you stand. This is what in the Olympics we call ‘heats’ to help you classify for the big shot race. (aka Grand Prix)

Battle – Another multi player option to fight for the some of the best spots. All happening in an arena with bubbles involved. We love this variant, but not as much as the Grand Prix.

Online Multi-Player – This is where the battles go to another level. It is not just a Grand Prix between friends anymore, this is where you connect to the internet and take on other players worldwide. Race, tournaments and all, this is next level global gaming at its best!

Now that we have explored both Mario franchises, which one is your favorite? We love speed and we thrive on competition, so we will let you decide what is our favorite!  Get your engines going fellow gamers …and see you online!