Woefully unbalanced and broken and that is precisely what makes it so chaotically enjoyable. Everyone gets access to the same ridiculous weapons of destruction to the point it becomes fair again, no two races are the same. The skill ceiling, mechanics and physics are so much more advanced than other MKs that everything else pales in comparison for me. There has never been movement as good as the bikes in this game since. It also has the best new tracks (which were all BUTCHERED in 8) and selection of characters. And of course, a thriving online scene that still plays the game every day and are creating custom tracks for it 15 years later. The GOAT Mario Kart no contest