Super Mario Kart[a] is a kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The first game in the Mario Kart series, it was released in Japan and North America in 1992, and in Europe the following year in 1993. Selling 8.76 million copies worldwide, the game went on to become the fourth best-selling SNES game of all time. Super Mario Kart was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013, and on the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2016. Nintendo re-released Super Mario Kart in 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.

In Super Mario Kart, the player takes control of one of eight Mario series characters, each with differing capabilities. In single player mode players can race against computer-controlled characters in 4 multi-race cups consisting of 20 tracks (5 in each cup) over three difficulty levels (50cc, 100cc and 150cc). During the races, offensive and speed boosting power-ups can be used to gain an advantage. Alternatively players can race against the clock in a Time Trial mode. In multiplayer mode two players can simultaneously take part in the cups or can race against each other one-on-one in Match Race mode. In a third multiplayer mode – Battle Mode – the aim is to defeat the other players by attacking them with power-ups, destroying balloons which surround each kart.

Super Mario Kart received positive reviews and was praised for its presentation, innovation and use of Mode 7 graphics. It has been ranked among the greatest video games of all time by several magazines and organizations. It is often credited with creating the kart-racing subgenre of video games, leading other developers to try to duplicate its success. The game is seen as having been key to expanding the Mario series into non-platforming games; this diversity has led to it becoming the best-selling game franchise of all time. Several sequels to Super Mario Kart have been released, for consoles, handhelds and in arcades, each enjoying critical and commercial success. While some elements have developed throughout the series, the core experience from Super Mario Kart has remained intact.

Super Mario Kart was produced by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and directed by Tadashi Sugiyama and Hideki Konno.[23] The development team set out to produce a racing game capable of displaying two players on the same game screen simultaneously,[24] in contrast to the single-player gameplay F-Zero.[24] This led to simpler tracks than those of F-Zero.[25] Computer and Video Games suggest that this initial emphasis on creating a two player experience is the reason for the game's horizontal split-screen during single-player.[5] Battle Mode was developed from the desire to create a one-on-one mode where victory was not determined simply by competing for rank.[24] Masato Kimura, who worked on F-Zero, served as the lead programmer for Super Mario Kart.[26]

The game did not start out as a Mario series game and the first prototype featured a generic kart racer character; the team decided that characters three heads tall would best suit the design of the karts.[24] They did not decide to incorporate Mario characters until a few months into development.[24] The choice was made after the development team when observing how one kart looked to another driving past it, decided to see what it would look like with Mario in the kart.[24] Thinking that having Mario in the kart looked better than previous designs, the idea of a Mario themed racing game was born.[24]

Notable in the development of Super Mario Kart was its use of Mode 7 graphics.[27] First seen in F-Zero, Mode 7 is a form of texture mapping available on the SNES which allows a plane to be rotated and scaled freely, achieving a pseudo-three-dimensional appearance.[28][27] 1UP.com have credited the use of Mode 7 with giving the game graphics which at the time of release were considered to be "breathtaking".[28] Retrospective reflection on the Mode 7 visuals was mixed, with IGN stating that the once revolutionary technology now looks "crude and flickery".[7] Super Mario Kart featured a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip; DSPs were used in SNES games as they provided a better handling of floating point calculations to assist with three-dimensional maths.[27] The DSP-1 chip that was used in Super Mario Kart went on to be the most popular DSP chip to be used in SNES games.[27] The music for the game was created by composer Soyo Oka, who previously composed games for Nintendo such as Pilotwings and Ice Hockey.[29]