"Super Mario Kart" is also credited as being the first non-platforming game to feature multiple playable characters from the "Mario" franchise. As well as several sequels Nintendo has released numerous other sporting and non-sporting Mario spin-offs since "Super Mario Kart"; a trend in part accredited to the commercial and critical success of the game. The "Mario" characters have appeared in many sports games including those relating to basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, and soccer. Non-sporting franchises using the "Mario" characters have also been created, including the "Super Smash Bros." series of fighting games and the "Mario Party" series of board game based, party games. "Mario" series characters have also made cameos in games from other series such as "SSX on Tour" and "NBA Street V3", both published by EA Sports. The genre-spanning nature of the Mario series that was sparked off by the success of "Super Mario Kart" has been described as key to the success and longevity of the franchise; keeping fans interested despite the infrequency of traditional Mario platforming games. Following this model the "Mario" series has gone on to become the best selling video game franchise of all time with 193 million units sold as of January 2007, almost 40 million units ahead of second-ranked franchise ("Pokémon", also by Nintendo).