What Are Your Favourite Mario Kart Characters, Karts, Items, Courses and Arenas?

I've been playing a LOT of Mario Kart lately, and it got me thinking. Everyone has different preferences of content in the game, so why not start a discussion about everyone's preferred characters, courses, etc.? That way, we can all learn about one another's preferred way to play Mario Kart!

I'll start with my favourite characters to play:

Super Mario Kart
●Mario
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong Jr.
●Koopa Troopa

Mario Kart 64
●Mario
●Luigi
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
●Mario
●Luigi
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
○Mario + Luigi (Red Fire)
○Yoshi + Birdo (Turbo Yoshi)
○Bowser + Bowser Jr. (Koopa King)
○Donkey Kong + Diddy Kong (DK Jumbo)
○Wario + Waluigi (Wario Car)
●Mario + Baby Mario (Red Fire)
●Mario + Bowser (Koopa King)
●Mario + Koopa Troopa (Red Fire)
●Mario + Petey Piranha (Piranha Pipes)
●Luigi + Baby Luigi (Green Fire)
●Luigi + Donkey Kong (DK Jumbo)
●Luigi + Paratroopa (Green Fire)
●Luigi + King Boo (Boo Pipes)
●Yoshi + Mario (Turbo Yoshi)
●Peach + Mario (Heart Coach)
●Peach + Toad (Heart Coach)
●Bowser + Peach (Koopa King)
●Waluigi + Luigi (Waluigi Racer)
●Daisy + Luigi (Bloom Coach)
●Daisy + Toadette (Bloom Coach)
●Donkey Kong + Daisy (DK Jumbo)

Mario Kart DS
●Mario
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong
●Waluigi

Mario Kart Wii
●Mario
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong
●Koopa Troopa
●Baby Mario
●Dry Bones
●Waluigi
●Rosalina

Mario Kart 7
●Mario
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong
●Koopa Troopa
●Honey Queen

Mario Kart 8
●Mario
●Yoshi
●Donkey Kong
●Koopa Troopa
●Lakitu
●Tanooki Mario
●Metal Mario
●Lemmy
●Ludwig
●Iggy
●Roy
●Baby Rosalina

I generally play as Wario, my Walrusman Mii, or (in the special case of Mario Kart DS) R.O.B.

As far as courses, I have to admit, I'm in love with the track design in Mario Kart 8. the Rainbow Road and Moo Moo Meadows N64 remakes are fantastic and I really love Toad Harbor, Mount Wario, Bowser's Castle, Wild Woods and Big Blue.

As for items, I don't have a particular love for any except, perhaps, the satisfaction of a perfectly placed long-distance green shell. I do miss Double Dash's character-specific items, though, and wish that had made a comeback in 8. It actually gave more of a reason to pick one character in a weight class over another, instead of it just being an aesthetic choice.

I always race as my Rukiafan or Neko_Rukiafan Mii's!

Oh! And occasionally as a prank I'll race as Reggie Filsamech! xD

Now I'll share my 70 favourite courses and 14 favourite battle arenas from the entire Mario Kart series:

Super Mario Kart
●Ghost Valley 1
●Mario Circuit 2
●Choco Island 1
●Bowser Castle 2
●Koopa Beach 1
●Vanilla Lake 1
●Donut Plains 3
●Rainbow Road
■Battle Course 2
■Battle Course 3

Mario Kart 64
●Koopa Troopa Beach
●Kalimari Desert
●Toad's Turnpike
●Mario Raceway
●Sherbet Land
●Bowser's Castle
●DK's Jungle Parkway
●Rainbow Road
■Big Donut
■Block Fort

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
●Shy Guy Beach
●Riverside Park
●Mario Circuit
●Cheese Land
●Sky Garden
●Sunset Wilds
●Yoshi Desert
●Bowser Castle 3
●Broken Pier
●Rainbow Road
■Battle Course 2
■Battle Course 4

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
●Peach Beach
●Dry Dry Desert
●Mushroom Bridge
●Waluigi Stadium
●Sherbet Land
●DK Mountain
●Bowser's Castle
●Rainbow Road
■Cookie Land
■Luigi's Mansion

Mario Kart DS
●Cheep Cheep Beach
●Luigi's Mansion
●Waluigi Pinball
●Shroom Ridge
●Tick-Tock Clock
●Airship Fortress
●Wario Stadium
●Rainbow Road
■Nintendo DS
■Palm Shore

Mario Kart Wii
●Mushroom Gorge
●Toad's Factory
●Coconut Mall
●DK's Snowboard Cross
●Koopa Cape
●Grumble Volcano
●Dry Dry Ruins
●Rainbow Road
■Funky Stadium
■Thwomp Desert

Mario Kart 7
●Cheep Cheep Cape
●Shy Guy Bazaar
●Melody Motorway
●Alpine Pass
●Piranha Plant Pipeway
●Koopa City
●Rosalina's Ice World
●Rainbow Road
■Sherbet Rink
■Wuhu Town

Mario Kart 8
●Mario Kart Stadium
●Thwomp Ruins
●Toad Harbour
●Shy Guy Falls
●Electrodrome
●Mount Wario
●Cloudtop Cruise
●Rainbow Road
○Dragon Driftway
○Wild Woods
○Hyrule Circuit
○Big Blue

Rukiafan wrote:Oh! And occasionally as a prank I'll race as Reggie Filsamech! xD

I love the B-Dasher and Princess Peach combo!

I try to use a mixture of different vehicle types depending on things like the size of the character and whether I'm racing original or retro courses:

Mario Kart DS
●Mario - Shooting Star (Nitro GP) or Standard MR (Retro GP)
●Yoshi - Egg 1 (Nitro GP) or Standard YS (Retro GP)
●Donkey Kong - Rambi Rider (Nitro GP) or Standard DK (Retro GP)
●Waluigi - Zipper (Nitro GP) or Standard WL (Retro GP)
Since I rarely play the other characters, I don't have a clear preference of vehicle for them

Mario Kart Wii
●Small Characters - Standard Kart S, Cheep Charger or Magikruiser
●Medium Characters - Standard Kart M, Standard Bike M, Turbo Blooper or Mach Bike
●Large Characters - Standard Bike L, Flame Flyer or Wario Bike

Mario Kart 7
●Mario - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/B-Dasher; Stnd. Wheels/Monster/Mushroom; Stnd. Glider/Parafoil
●Luigi - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Blue Seven; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Parafoil
●Peach - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Royal Ribbon; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Peach Parasol
●Yoshi - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Egg 1; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Flower Glider
●Donkey Kong - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Barrel Train; Stnd. Wheels/Monster; Stnd. Glider/Swoop
●Wiggler - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Bumble-V; Stnd. Wheels/Monster; Stnd. Glider/Flower Glider
●Toad - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Tiny Tug; Stnd. Wheels/Monster; Stnd. Glider/Parafoil
●Koopa Troopa - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Soda Jet; Stnd. Wheels/Monster; Stnd. Glider/Ghastly Glider
●Lakitu - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Cloud 9; Stnd. Wheels/Monster; Stnd. Glider/Swoop
●Bowser - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Koopa Clown; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Ghastly Glider
●Metal Mario - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Bolt Buggy; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Parafoil
●Honey Queen - Stnd. Kart/Pipe Frame/Royal Ribbon; Stnd. Wheels/Red Monster; Stnd. Glider/Peach Parasol

Mario Kart 8
●Small Characters - Standard Quad
●Medium Characters (and Rosalina) - Standard Kart
●Large Characters - Standard Bike
●Babies - Buggybud
●Koopalings (and Bowser) - Landship