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Mario Kart is one of the few Nintendo series where you can actively glimpse the series' history within each new entry. You can still buy digital copies of past classics via the eShop of course, but in each recent Mario Kart title the franchise's past is right there in the game, in the large range of returning retro tracks that complement each new roster. Some are remixed slightly while the graphics are tweaked, but their core remains the same, rebuilt with a loving eye for detail. That Koopa Troopa Beach shortcut you always aim for is still in the same place, that Wiggler is still being a jerk in Maple Treeway. The inclusion of classic tracks works so well because the series' mechanics were honed more or less to perfection early on in the series' life and have remained fairly constant ever since.
Recent games have had their gimmicks, of course, and the series has adapted slightly to fit. Mario Kart 8's gambit is anti-gravity tracks - a trick borrowed from Nintendo's other great racing series while it lays dormant - and previously there have been two-man karts, motion controls and mid-air gliding.
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