There are a lot of different thought processes people go through when choosing their Mario Kart racer. Maybe they want somebody like Baby Mario because he’s cute, or Mario or Luigi because they’re flagship Nintendo characters. Perhaps they opt for a more obscure pick like Dry Bones to get their hipster factor up, or Bowser because he looks tough. My personal pick has always been Donkey Kong, because it just felt to me like he was the best and most well-rounded character to use, in terms of his attributes.

It turns out that I was partially right: Henry Hinnefeld did some research, and the math shows that while DK is one of the best Mario Kart characters, Wario is actually the one that you should pick (via Digg).

First, some context: In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the latest version of the game, there are 149,760 possible combinations of character, kart, and tire (a group that features 294 unique statistical combinations), the three variables you can select when picking a racer (aside from parachute, which I have to assume is insignificant in terms of its contribution to attributes because it was left out of this thorough, thorough research). If you are trying to create the best combination of these variables to give you the greatest speed or acceleration, the attributes that are best for racing, there are only 15 worthwhile combinations.

Of these 15 combinations, eight of them feature Wario, three feature Donkey Kong, and the others feature Baby Mario, Toad, Peach, and Mario. There is a ton of math behind this analysis, so check out the original article for a more thorough explanation of it.

What do you think of this data? Is it enough to change your Mario Kart go-to? Race down to the comments and let us know!

Featured image: Nintendo

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