'Diddy Kong Racing' Is the Greatest Kart Racing Video Game Ever Made

The Kart racer genre is arguably video game’s greatest gift to mankind. These chaotic, fast-paced, go-kart party games have inspired friendships (and ended them) for decades. As kids, we screamed at our older brothers in rage when we got blue-shelled at the end of Rainbow Road. In high school, we tried out the broad-ranging offerings of the genre beyond the Mario Kart franchise, such as the Crash games, the Sonic series, and even some of the weirder ones, like the lesser known Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing. Then in college, we played Mario Kart 64 drinking games at parties, bringing the journey full circle.

Kart games have been with us since the early days of the Super Nintendo. And with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled coming out on consoles this week, it seems like they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Here’s our ranking of the best kart games in video game history. If you’re mad about the outcome, we have one thing to say: Race us.