By CJ Wheeler

Gamers gathered at the Fortune of War to race for the title of most skilled Mario Kart player in Brighton and Hove.

Thirty-two players were whittled down to four finalists over 14 rounds, burning rubber as Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach and other characters.

Motoring to the top spot in the kart of Super Mario's brother Luigi was Jon Ely, 26, who won a special cup provided by Nintendo.

Mr Ely said: “I was really lucky – typical Mario Kart. Three red shells right at the end. It was all thanks to Luigi.”

StreetPass Brighton, a group of gamers that meets once a month at the King's Road pub, organised the tournament for Saturday, May 31 to celebrate the launch of the new Mario Kart 8 game on the Wii U console.

The group's founder Wes Earp thanked Nintendo UK and the StreetPass UK website for their support in promoting the event to a much larger number of fans, which he credited for drawing in new faces.

A planned race online between the Brighton champion and winners of Mario Kart tournaments held that day around the UK had to be postponed due to connection problems.

StreetPass Brighton began last year as a casual meeting at Churchill Square for owners of Nintendo's 3DS handheld console, which allows players to exchange digital representations of themselves called Miis.

Anyone interested in joining StreetPass Brighton can find out more on the group's Facebook page.