Here it is then, our pick for the best driving game of the decade and the one that most accurately captures our love of cars. On the bus, in the park, under the table during overly long family dinners. Plus the more recent Nintendo Switch version, which allows you to pop out the controllers for instant two player battles, means you can claim Mario Kart bragging rights anywhere you like.

The game's winning formula has been often imitated but never bettered and in particular Mario Kart 8's swooping, vertiginous circuits are surprisingly spectacular for a game whose engines top out at 200cc. In spite of the Italian plumber's questionable credentials, Mario Kart offers up some of the best racing action around, it's just that rather than on a Sunday afternoon it usually happens after closing time at the local pub in the idyllic setting of the Circuit de Dave's Living Room. Though admittedly he does at least have a Nigel Mansell moustache for added downforce. Nor are his overalls plastered with sponsor logos. He's not an athletic, precision sportsperson who lives entirely on a diet of chicken and brown rice. As racing icons go, Mario doesn't exactly fit the mould.