Adrien Kart series

The Adrien Kart series is a large series in the Adrien series. There are a total of thirteen games (ten on Nintendo consoles, two on Sega consoles, nine on PlayStation consoles, six on Xbox consoles, ten on Personal Computers, two on arcade and one on Steam PC & Mobile devices) in this spin-off series, Adrien Kart Deluxe. The latest and upcoming game Team Adrien Kart is scheduled to be released sometime on Spring 2019.

History
The first title in the Adrien Kart series is Super Adrien Kart which was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Genesis, Game Gear Turbo Grafx-16, and Microsoft Windows PC in 1994. and also second title Adrien Kart series is Adrien Kart R released for the Nintendo 64, Saturn, PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, and Microsoft Windows PC in 1996. and also release for Dreamcast and Game Boy Color in 1999. The development of the first game was overseen by ADRIEN Project, the Japanese video game subsidiary of it's parent company Cartoon Network who created the original Adrien the Cat, as well as many other successful games for multiple gaming consoles. Darran Jones of NowGamer suggests that the original success of Adrien Kart was the result of including characters previously seen in Adrien the Cat games, while also being a new type of racing game.

Gameplay
In the Adrien Kart series, the gameplay of the games are alot similar to it's competitive game series Mario Kart and it's sibling racing game Cartoon Network Racing. The players compete in go-kart races, controlling one of a selection of characters, typically from the Adrien the Cat franchise. Up to twelve characters can compete in each race, the exact number varies between titles.

One of the features of the series is the use of various power-up items obtained by driving into item boxes laid out on the course. These power-ups include Boots to give players a speed boost, Bombs to be thrown at opponents, and banana peels that can be laid on the course as hazards. The type of weapon received from an item box is often random, though sometimes influenced by the player's current position in the race. For example, players lagging far behind may receive more powerful items while the leader will only receive small defensive items. Called rubber banding, this gameplay mechanism allows other players or computers a realistic chance to catch up to the leading player.

As the series has progressed, each new installment has introduced new gameplay elements, such as new courses, items, modes, and playable characters. These changes include:
 * Super Adrien Kart introduces original playable characters (Adrien the Cat, Nathan the Fox, Marinette the Cat, Katie the Fox, Robin the Chameleon, Victor the Alligator, Roy the Kangaroo, Kaldur'ahm the Hippo, Tracy the Zebra, Tabitha the Giraffe, Drew the Monkey, Avalanche the Sniper, Jack the Skunk, & Dr. Drakken) Including original Courses )Adrien Circuit, Donut Plaints, Ghost Valley, Death Drakken, Choco Island, Raleighopolis Beach, Vanilla Lake, and Rainbow Road).
 * Adrien Kart R introduces 4-player racing and 3D graphics. This game well as the Drakken Missle as an item.
 * Adrien the Cat: Super Circuit introduces the ability to unlock all of the Super Adrien Kart Rainbow Road tracks.
 * Adrien Kart: Double Dash features co-operative LAN play and two-player karts. It also introduces eleven new playable characters (Dr. Alexander Croft, Lara, Blondie, Serena, Shego, Dawn, Ashley, Kiawe, Koriand'r, Alya, Chloe, Togepi, Nino, Penny, Kaldur'ahm, and Karen). The game also features special items that are specific to each character. Finally, this game introduced unlockable characters to the series.
 * Adrien Kart: Power Drift features dual-screen play and introduces online multiplayer (via Wi-Fi) & retro battle courses. Introduces Drakkenbots (exclusive to DS Download Play), Metal Adrien, and V-102 Magnus as playable characters. DS & PSP was also the first Adrien Kart game to feature retro tracks from all previous versions of the game. It also introduces two new items: the Blooper and Bullet Bill.
 * Mario Kart: Ultra Drift features motion controls, performing tricks, 12-player racing, and introduces motorbikes. Six new playable characters were introduced, being Más y Menos, Sabrina, Cynthia, Java, Yumi, Dr. Drakken Nega, Dr. Drakken Jr., Robin, Raven, Victor, Terra, Mallow, Clemont and two outfits for Mii characters. It also introduces three new items: the Mega Mushroom, Thunder Cloud, and POW Block.
 * Adrien Kart 7 features stereoscopic 3D graphics, introduces hang gliding and submersible karts, and features an alternate first-person perspective and kart customization. Introduces Metal Nathan, Pichu, Chaos, and Honey Queen as new playable characters.
 * Adrien Kart 8 features 200cc mode, anti-gravity racing, introduces ATVs, uploading highlights to YouTube via Mario Kart TV (except on Switch), up to four local players in Grand Prix races, downloadable content, and is the first in the series to boast HD graphics. Introduces the Drakkeniks, Classic Adrien, and Pink Gold Marinette as new playable characters, and Super Adrien, Super Marinette, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup from The PowerPuff Girls, and Finn from Adventure Time as new DLC playable characters.

Courses
Many course themes recur throughout the series. Most are based on an existing area in the Adrien franchise (Drakken Land being among the most prominent), but there are a number of courses that have not appeared elsewhere, but still belong in the Raleighopolis, such as Rainbow Road. Each game in the series includes at least 16 original courses and up to 6 original battle arenas. Each game's tracks are divided into four "cups", or groups in which the player has to have the highest overall placing to win. Most courses can be done in three laps. The first game to feature courses from previous games was Adrien Kart: Super Circuit, which contained all of the tracks from the original Super NES game. Starting with Adrien Kart: Power Drift, each entry in the series has featured 16 "nitro" (courses belonging to its own game) and 16 "retro" tracks (courses from previous Adrien Kart titles), spread across four cups each with four races. In Adrien Kart 8, 16 additional tracks are available across two downloadable packages, eight for each package downloaded, including seven retro courses, four original courses, and five courses based on other Nintendo franchises, including Teen Titans, Ben 10, Adventure Time, and The Powerpuff Girls.

Modes of play
Each installment features a variety of different modes. The following four modes recur most often in the series:


 * Grand Prix – Players compete in various "cups," groups of four courses each (five in Super Adrien Kart Kart) with difficulty levels based on the size of the engine, larger engines meaning faster speeds. Before Adrien Kart 8 there were four difficulties: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and 150cc Mirror (courses that are mirrored in terms of direction). Mario Kart 8 added a fifth difficulty level: 200cc. Players earn points according to their finishing position in each race and the top three players with the most points overall will receive a trophy.
 * Time Trial – The player races alone in order to finish any course in the fastest time possible. The best time is then saved as a ghost, which the player can race against in later trials. Since Adrien Kart: Double Dash, a new function called Staff Ghosts is introduced, staff Ghosts are members of the Cartoon Network team that set staff times for one to try and beat. One's personal best has to be better than the staff time of a ghost in order to unlock Expert Staff Ghosts, which only appeared in Adrien Kart: Power Drift and Adrien Kart 7, which in turn unlock characters, vehicles, or stamps, in addition to viewing ghost data.
 * VS Race – Multiple human players race against each other on any course with customized rules such as team racing and item frequency. The mode also includes single-player VS races and CPU controlled players to compete in VS races as well since Adrien Kart: Power Drift (except for Adrien Kart 7). Super Circuit, however, features a Quick Run mode, which shares similarities with VS mode.
 * Battle – Multiple human players use racing items to battle each other in a closed arena. Each player starts with three balloons and loses a balloon with every hit sustained; the last player possessing at least one balloon wins. Different battle types were added as the series progressed, as well as single-player battles. Starting with Adrien Kart Wii, there is a time limit for each battle. For Mario Kart 8, the battles take place on race courses. Adrien Kart Deluxe reintroduces arena-style tracks.

Super Adrien Kart
Super Adrien Kart was the first Adrien Kart'' game to be released. This game has a total of fourteen playable characters and fourteen courses to select from.''

Adrien Kart R
Adrien Kart R was the second Adrien Kart game to be released. This game has a total of sixteen playable characters and sixteen courses to select from. This is the only title to feature sixteen courses for a Grand Prix, as all the later installments only contain four. Adrien Kart is also the only Adrien Kart game to featured Adrien characters as a playable characters; some characters in the later titles will be replaced. A Barnaby, Garfield and Brock as playable character, but did not reappear in the series until Adrien Kart: Double Dash!! as it is was replaced later. Adrien Kart was heavily influenced by Adrien the Cat(1991), with some graphics and locations taken from the platform game. Being the first 64-bit Mitchell Kart game, it allows for fully 3D graphics, such as the course layouts. However, it still uses the 2D frames for the characters and items. It is the first game in the Adrien Kart series to feature 16 playable characters out of the sixteen total drivers to choose from, which would also continue in future installments. This game features sixteen normal courses as well as four battle courses. Adrien Kart was later re-released on the Virtual Console for 1000 points.

Adrien Kart: Super Circuit
Adrien Kart: Super Circuit is the first Adrien Kart game in the series to be brought to a handheld system. It is compatible with the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and the Nintendo DS Lite. The game features eight playable characters, all of which were featured in Adrien Kart. Adrien Kart: Super Circuit introduces twenty new courses, as well as the twenty courses from Adrien Kart.

Adrien Kart: Double Dash!!
Adrien Kart: Double Dash!! is the fourth installment in the Mario Kart series. The game introduces new features such as two drivers per kart, which allowed characters to hold more items. Additionally, another new feature is Special Items, each pair of drivers has a Special Item that is only obtainable by them, the exception being Kaldur'ahm the Hippo and Karen the Bee, who do not possess a Special Item. Adrien Kart: Double Dash!! features sixteen new courses and twenty different characters to select from. Adrien Kart: Double Dash!! is the first installment in the series to include different karts for each character.

Adrien Kart: Power Drift
Adrien Kart: Power Drift is the fifth console installment in the Adrien Kart series and the second to be released on a handheld system. Unlike Adrien Kart: Double Dash!!, Adrien Kart: Power Drift returns to single character driving and does not feature Special Items. The game has 64-bit graphics and includes an all new Mission Mode for players to complete missions within a time limit. The game features 17 characters, with eight default racers and nine unlockable racers. It is the second game in the series to feature courses found in earlier installments. In the Retro Grand Prix mode, players can select to race in courses from Adrien Kart, Adrien Kart: Super Circuit, and Adrien Kart: Double Dash!!. The courses from the Nitro Grand Prix are based upon the latest games in the Adrien series.

Adrien Kart Arcade GP
Adrien Kart Arcade GP was the first of the two Adrien Kart arcade games. It was released in 2005. It featured Cartoon Network characters, as it was a collaboration with Raw Thrills.

Adrien Kart Arcade GP 2
Mitchell Kart Arcade GP 2 was the second Adrien Kart arcade game released in 2007. Like the previous one, it featured Cartoon Network characters. It added three new characters as well: Blondie the Rabbit, Dr. Alexander Croft and Lara Croft.

Mitchell Kart: Ultra Drift
Adrien Kart: Ultra Drift is the sixth console Adrien Kart game and the sequel to Mitchell Kart, released for the Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 & PC released in April 25, 2008. Other than the Wii Wheel gimmick, Adrien Kart: Ultra Drift featured 12 characters in a race, rather than 8 as in previous installments. Also unlike the previous games, Adrien Kart 2 featured bikes as well as karts, and while in mid-air, tricks can be performed after shaking the Wii Remote (or The PlayStation Sixias motion controller). The game offered an online mode for multiplayer play which rivals Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii game.

Adrien Kart 7
Mario Kart 7 is a video game for the Nintendo 3DS. It has Metal Adrien, Metal Nathan, Pichu, Chaos and Beezwax as the newcomers. Unlike Adrien Kart: Ultra Drift, this game goes back to the original 8-characters per race, and the motorbikes from the said previous game are excluded. Many new features have been added to this game such as hang-gliding when doing a huge jump and being able to drive underwater in certain parts or the courses, as well as new items and characters. In Time Trials, players now have the option to race against seven different ghost data. Also in this installment is the ability to race in a first-person perspective.

In Online Multiplayer the player now has a new option to create or join a Community. Communities are a lot like the Grand Prix except the player can create a community with rules such as which courses other racers will play, what sort of items will appear and what engine class it will be, a lot like VS Mode. The player can join a community that has a name and a set of rules and play against other players, or he/she can create his/her own community and having racers play by the player's rules.

Adrien Kart 8
Adrien Kart 8 is a Wii U, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game that was released in May 2014. It includes anti-gravity racing and returning elements from previous games like 12-player racing from Adrien Kart: Ultra Drift and kart customization from Mario Kart 7. New characters introduced in this game are the Drakkeniks, Classic Adrien, and Metal Pink Gold Marinette.

Adrien Kart Deluxe
Adrien Kart Deluxe is a Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows PC and Steam PC game that was released in May 2017. It includes anti-gravity racing and returning elements from previous games like 12-player racing from Adrien Kart: Ultra: Drift and kart customization from  Adrien Kart: Ultra Drift and  Adrien Kart 8. New characters introduced in this game are King Kaliente the villain from the Adrien Galaxy series, Dexter and Dee from the Dexter's Labortory, Mac and Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and finally Ben Tennyson as a teenage from the Ben 10 series.

Adrien Kart Tour
Adrien Kart Tour is an upcoming game in the Adrien Kart series for iOS and Android mobile devices. It was revealed on January 31, 2018. It has been revealed that the game is going to be free-to-start by Cartoon Network & Rainbow Studios.

Team Adrien Kart
Team Adrien Kart is a Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows PC game that will be released in May 21, 2019. It includes cooperative go-kart gameplay and the Team adventure storymode mostly taken from SEGA's Team Sonic Racing title.

Adrien Kart: Nitro-Fueled
Adrien Kart: Nitro-Fueled is a racing game for the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows PC. Also release PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S in 2021. it will be released on February 18, 2020. It is an enhanced remake of the original Adrien Kart video game from Warner Bros. Games with most of the gameplay taken from Super Adrien Kart, Adrien Kart R & Adrien Kart: Double Dash. and the story mode mostly taken from Activision's Crash Team Racing videogame but with Cartoon Network's Adrien-related storylines.

Adrien Kart Live: Home Circuit
Adrien Kart Live: Home Circuit is a racing game for the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows PC. It will be released on October 16, 2020. Home Circuit utilizes real-life toys, with radio-controlled cars responding to how the player plays in-game. Play as controlled toy set used Adrien & Nathan.

Trivia

 * Not counting any of the arcade games, there is, so far, always a different Adrien Kart game per system.