Mario Kart is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the Mario series, plus Nintendo franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing and Splatoon. Gameplay: In the Mario Kart series, players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters, mainly from the Mario franchise. Up to sixteen characters can compete in each race (the exact number varies between games). Gameplay is enhanced by power-up items obtained by driving into item boxes laid out on the course. These power-ups include Mushrooms to give players a speed boost, Shells to be thrown at opponents, Banana peels, and Fake Item Boxes as hazards. The game chooses an item based on the player’s current position in the race. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items, such as Bullet Bills which give the player a bigger speed boost depending on the place of the player, while the leader may only receive small defensive items, such as Shells or Bananas. Called rubber banding, this gameplay mechanism allows other racers a realistic chance to catch up to the leading racer. They can perform driving techniques during the race such as rocket starts, slipstreaming, drifting, and mini-turbos.