Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart 64 is a 1996 kart racing game for the Nintendo 64 (N64). Developed and published by Nintendo, it is the second installment in the Mario Kart series after 1992's Super Mario Kart. The game retains the gameplay of its predecessor: the player, controlling a Mario franchise character, races opponents around tracks based on locales from the Super Mario platform games. Tracks contain obstacles to slow the player down and item boxes which give the player power-ups to aid in their progress. Mario Kart 64 contains different single-player and local multiplayer game modes, including a Grand Prix racing mode and a last man standing battle mode.

Mario Kart 64 was first revealed in 1995 alongside the N64. The development team focused on best utilising the console's technology for smooth gameplay, rather than innovating significantly on its predecessor, in order to appeal to a wide audience. Developers were bounded by the N64's processing power and made use of rendering techniques to save on memory, and used car physics simulations to aid the game's kart design. Mario Kart 64 was released in late 1996 in Japan and in 1997 worldwide, months after the launch of the N64.

Mario Kart 64 was received positively by critics. The track designs, multiplayer, and presentation were lauded, while criticism was directed towards its technical issues and difficulty. The game sold 9.87 million copies worldwide, making it the second-best-selling N64 game. Mario Kart 64 was nominated for awards following its release, and retrospectively has been considered one of the greatest video games of all time. The game has a notable speedrunning presence online. Mario Kart 64 was rereleased digitally for the Virtual Console line on the Wii in 2007 and the Wii U in 2016, and for the Nintendo Classics service in 2021.