It is the first game in the Mario Kart series , and stars eight playable characters from the Mario series . Super Mario Kart was the first game to feature playable characters from the Mario series other than Mario in a non-platforming game and the selection and different attributes of the characters is regarded as one of the game 's strengths , IGN describing a well-balanced `` all-star cast '' . All of the characters present in Super Mario Kart have gone on to appear in all of the later games in the series , except for Koopa Troopa , who has only appeared intermittently after being replaced by Wario in Mario Kart 64 .