Last week, we wrapped up our overview of all the main Mario Karts ahead of Mario Kart World‘s launch next week(!). However, outside of those occasionally numbered mainline karters, there’s another small selection of games tied to the series, directly or otherwise.
So, to finish up properly, we thought we’d spend this final weekend looking back at some of the curios that revved their engines at some point. We begin with a precursor to the series which never got off the grid in the West…
This Famicom Disk System racer served as the loosest of sequels to Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race, but despite that title featuring Mario on the box and in-game, its top-down view makes it feel more R.C. Pro-AM than Mario Kart.
3D Hot Rally returned to the behind-the-vehicle viewpoint of the original F1 Race, and with Luigi in the car too, it feels a bit — a bit — closer to the gameplay that really took off with Super Mario Kart‘s 16-bits.
Obviously, with the Mario brothers cooped up in the rally car, the game lacks MK’s personality. However, it’s clear that Nintendo was trying to inject some fun into what could have been some fairly dry checkpoint racing. Likewise, compatibility with the Famicom 3D System glasses, Rad Racer-style, added another dimension (heh) to the three branching courses on offer.
To say FGP2:3DHR (wheeze) feels anything like Mario Kart would be a lie, but it’s absolutely worth noting its influence. The letters and colouring on ‘Mario Motors’ banners and the key art of Mario in his little Famicom cap and overalls are obvious nods, but 3D Rally’s collectibles and anthropomorphic environmental objects (bushes, rocks, lampposts) also pointed to where the karting series would start on Super NES four years later.
And maybe we’ve come full circle with Mario Kart World’s longer, rally-style races and environmental focus, eh? – Gavin Lane
Starting in 2005, Namco put Mario Kart into arcades with the GP series, culminating in a VR game in 2017.
The novelty of having Mario Kart in an arcade cab was matched by the surprise of having Pac-Man on the starting grid; other Namco characters — Mametchi from the Tamagotchi series and Don-chan from Taiko no Tatsujin — made it into later entries.
Honestly, I’ve only ever been able to play DX in the wild once. Naturally, I jumped in and got some two-player going, and naturally, I was a bit rubbish the first time. I remember it not feeling as zippy as I expected – it felt stockier and stodgier, but I didn’t spend enough time with the game in its natural habitat to give it a fair shake.
I’d be happy to clear room in the basement should Nintendo or (Bandai) Namco feel like sending over a unit for a thorough review years post-release! The (expensive) VR version looks fun, too, but these entries will remain on the series periphery while piquing curiosity on trips to any arcade with a bank of them. – Gavin Lane
I remember being really quite impressed with Mario Kart Tour when it first arrived on mobile back in 2019. I was at uni at the time, and my housemates and I had already exhausted 8 Deluxe’s lineup in the pre-Booster Course Pass world, so we took new Mario Kart wherever we could find it. Sure, the controls were slippery and the whole thing was massively monetised, but it was Mario Kart on mobile — and a fairly good translation of it at that.
Tour is all about expectations. If I had gone in expecting ‘Mario Kart 9′, I would have been disappointed, but I was so surprised by its mere existence that I could overlook some flaws. Are the city circuits a scratch on the series’ greats? Absolutely not, but they’re a fun recreation of real-world locales and *whispers* I like the unique-lap structure. Are the controls anything like as good as using a controller? No way! But they’re surprisingly deep for something input from a single finger.
I redownloaded the app to see if things still hold up in 2025, and they do, mostly. The UI is still craazy busy, and the monetisation of it all is still veeery icky even without the lootbox-y elements, but that Mario Kart exists on mobile, with its own courses and controls this simple, still impresses me – Jim Norman
- Standout tracks: Yoshi’s Island (yes, again), Squeaky Clean Sprint, Paris Promenade
- Fun fact: Not only was this King Bob-omb and Ice Bro’s series debut, but it was the first time they had ever been playable characters. Soooo, where’s our Bob-omb spin-off, eh?
- What does Mario Kart World take from this? A massive roster that mainly consists of characters in different outfits, it seems
‘As editor, I really should have this!’ is an excuse I’ve used to justify many an extraneous purchase, but a new entry in one of Nintendo’s flagship series felt more justified than, say, that fourth 3DS. Soon after Home Circuit launched, I spied Luigi on a store shelf and took him home. For essential editorial research purposes.
Unfortunately, I can’t speak to how the game holds up in multiplayer (€220 for a pair of karts would have been stretching things). However, Home Circuit did give me one of my favourite memories this generation; I had one incredible afternoon racing around the flat playing hide-and-seek with the kids from the comfort of an armchair, laughing like an idiot.
Now, I don’t think that’s what Velan had planned when the studio pitched Nintendo on a game that blended RC karts with AR. But this game delivered a standout Switch experience despite my having never really played the thing as intended. On the ‘surprise and delight’ front, this one delivered. – Gavin Lane
- Standout tracks: Chasing cats around table legs, under the entertainment centre
- Fun fact: Did you know that Luigi is a dab hand at collecting dust bunnies? Probably comes from all his time wielding a hoover
- What does Mario Kart World take from this? Hopefully a healthy dose of that aforementioned ‘surprise and delight’
Okay, that wraps things up as we await the arrival of MKW. Let us know below if there are any other Mario Kart tangents worth exploring, and we’ll catch you again on the Koopa Troopa Beach soon…
