Mario Kart is easily one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, absolutely nailing the local multiplayer gameplay and providing an easily accessible experience for all to enjoy. It stands as a cornerstone of Nintendo’s portfolio and plays no small part in selling new hardware for the company; there’s a reason Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched as early as possible on the Switch. As part of its ongoing series, Nintendo recently published an interview with the developers of the original Super Mario Kart, and interestingly enough, the game could’ve easily taken a much different form.

The initial idea for the game was to make a two player F-Zero. However, due to hardware limitations, they couldn’t design F-Zero tracks that would work with two players and still fit within the hardware restrictions, so winding, meandering courses were made to fit the console’s memory. This led to a slower pace for the game overall—which is where the karts came in—and the development team soon added in Mario because he was easily recognizable from the back. It’s an interesting interview to be sure, you can find the full thing here.

What do you think? What’s your favorite Mario Kart? Share your thoughts in the comments below.