Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games based on the Mario franchise developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters from the Mario series racing along tracks based on Mario universe-locations. Some releases have also included characters from other popular franchises like Pac-Man, Taiko no Tatsujin, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon.