Mario Kart Arcade GP features items new and old. When a player hits one of the item boxes scattered throughout the tracks, the player is given one of the three selected items chosen at the start of a race. After finishing all four races from each stage, a 'challenge game' comes up, in which the player is required to complete a certain task each of them requires the player to drive to a goal under a certain amount of time while under a certain condition, such as driving backwards through a field of banana peels. After a track is completed, the player must insert additional credits to continue the game, even if first place is achieved. There are a total of six stages, with four tracks in each, totalling twenty-four. Originally designed for the Triforce arcade board (also used for F-Zero AX), players can race as one of eleven characters on twenty-four tracks. Mario Kart Arcade GP is the initial installment in the series. The game has been followed by three sequels: Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007), Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013), and Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017). The Mario Kart Arcade GP sub-series started in 2005 with the release of Mario Kart Arcade GP. The game's sequel also features Mametchi, a character from the Tamagotchi games, and the third installment includes Don from the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise. The initial game, Mario Kart Arcade GP, is noted for being the first Mario Kart to feature playable crossover characters: Namco's Pac-Man, Ms. The photo can be customized and then will be displayed above the player's character during multiplayer races.

This game's arcade cabinet houses a camera that will take a photograph of the player's face.

Nintendo had a limited role in development, mainly for quality control purposes. In all installments, for an additional fee, a player's data can be saved on a magnetic card which can be inserted into the machine again later to retain unlocked items and records. Mario Kart Arcade GP is an arcade sub-series of Nintendo's Mario Kart series, developed and published by Namco Bandai Games under license from Nintendo.

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