Redex surveyed 2,000 Brits, asking them about their Mario Kart preferences and habits.
Top Mario Kart Characters
The survey showed that Peach was almost as popular as Mario – there were only 2 votes between them. Baby Peach also received twice as many votes as Baby Mario, and was the most popular baby character overall. Only one non-Mario franchise character appeared in the top 10 (Villager). This is likely tied to the soaring popularity of Animal Crossing in 2020.
42% of players said the speed of their character was the most important factor when picking them. 36% said how cute the character was the most important factor, while 22% said the character’s ability to turn around corners was most important. We value appearances a lot, with how we look when we drive just as, if not more important than how well we drive.
Our Favourite Mario Kart Courses
Overall, Rainbow Road is our favourite Mario Kart course. The Nintendo Wii’s iteration of this track is the most popular, having more searches overall than any other game:
Interestingly, 4 of the top 10 courses come from older games. Peach Beach and Delfino Square haven’t appeared since Mario Kart Wii (2008), but still beat out tracks from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) and Mario Kart Tour (2020). Koopa Kape and Coconut Mall haven’t appeared since Mario Kart 7 (2011) for the 3DS.
Our Favourite Mario Kart Games
- Mario Kart DS outranks Mario Kart 7, the 3DS version. This matches up to its reviews as Metacritic scored it more highly
- Super Mario Kart, the original game, outranks far more recent releases such Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Double Dash
- Mario Kart Wii is still more popular than its successor, Mario Kart 8
- But Mario Kart 8’s Deluxe Edition is still the most popular overall
Our Favourite/Least Favourite Mario Kart Items
Interestingly, the top 3 items are some of the oldest items in the Mario franchise as they all first appeared in Super Mario Bros (1985). The Mushroom is our favourite item – we prefer it to the Triple Mushroom despite the latter being more useful to players. Players like items for nostalgia reasons rather than for how effective they are.
The Fake Item Box hasn’t appeared since Mario Kart Wii (2008), but still makes it into the top 3. Bullet-Bill is the most hated item, but it’s also one of our favourites. Players love items when they are useful to them, but hate them when they are used by other players.
Our Mario Kart Playing Habits
- 40% of players said falling off the course was the thing that annoyed them most about playing Mario Kart. Being hit with items came second at 25%, followed by losing your items at 18%
- 65% of players said that they wouldn’t let their partner win at Mario Kart, and a further 65% of players said that they’d throw an item at their partner to stop them from winning
- A quarter of players consider themselves to be skilled Mario Kart players, another quarter considered themselves to be poor, and the remaining 50% thought they were average. Brits are generally quite humble about their Mario Kart skills
- 25% of players said that they usually play Mario Kart for more than 3 hours in one sitting. But a further 75% of players said they expected to play video games like Mario Kart more than usual this Christmas because of coronavirus
- 70% of players said that they were more likely to play video games later at night
The main angles here are that players will do anything to win – even if it means throwing items at their partners. There’s also a good opportunity to play on unhealthy video game playing habits as we play games for 3 hours+ late at night, and expect this to increase amid coronavirus restrictions this Xmas.
Credit: https://www.holtsauto.com/redex/news/internets-mario-kart-habits-revealed/
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