The Best 'Mario Kart' Game Came Out This Month, 18 Years Ago

A lot of gamers now only associate the Mario Kart franchise with its highest-selling installment, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe. While that Switch game is deserving of all its sales and recognition, it's not the best Mario Kart game ever.

That title belongs to Mario Kart Wii, the best racing game on the Wii that came out 18 years ago this month. Let's rewind to April 2008 and go down memory lane with this now-classic experience!

Mario Kart Wii revolutionized the series with motion controls and the Wii Wheel accessory. The Wii sometimes took gimmicks too far, catering to non-gamers instead of dedicated fans. The Wii Wheel was the rare periphery that captivated both the diehards and the newbies to the racing game's fandom.

Motion controls are supposed immerse the gamer into the virtual experience, but not be the entire story of the game hence becoming a distraction. No game exemplified this more than Mario Kart Wii. It encapsulated the console experience in 2008 exactly how Nintendo wanted it to. And for those who didn't want to use the motion controls, you could always turn them off.

The characters and stages in Mario Kart Wii were also vital in making the series what it is today. Coconut Mall and Maple Treeway are fan favorites almost two decades later. Rosalina, Baby Peach, and Baby Daisy are some of the most popular racers now because of this game.

One could argue that Mario Kart only became a household franchise after this game. While previous games sold well, Mario Kart Wii dwarfed the previous highest-selling game in the series, Mario Kart DS.

Mario Kart Wii remains the second-highest selling game in the series with over 37 million copies sold. That's more than 23 million more than the most recent game in the series on Switch 2, Mario Kart World.

The 79 million copies that Mario Kart 8: Deluxe sold happened because of the progress that Mario Kart Wii made in the popularizing the series worldwide with gamers who hadn't tried racing games before it.

So the next time you pick up a Mario Kart game with your friends, maybe pop in Mario Kart Wii and you'll get transported back to the days of motion controls and simpler times!

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 8:29 PM.