Kart games are a subgenre of racing games, distinguished by their lack of concern for realistic settings and their focus instead on "wacky races," with combat involving thrown items, surreal tracks, and more.
The first game in this style was the arcade title Crashing Race, released in 1976, but Super Mario Kart is regarded as the game responsible for popularizing the genre and prompting the arrival of many similar titles. With that in mind, we decided to select some kart games featuring well-known mascots from gaming—and beyond!
Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing (7th console generation — 2010)
Much like Nintendo with Mario, the most successful subseries in the Sonic franchise happens to be its kart-racing games. Capitalizing on the genre's popularity, the first two games also include characters from other SEGA franchises, but the third, Team Sonic Racing, will feature only characters from the blue hedgehog's series.
Crash Team Racing (PlayStation — 1999)
Crash Team Racing is a game that achieved cult-classic status and, for many, offers quality equal or even superior to the Mario Kart games of its time. It has 15 playable characters, including some that can be unlocked. With good graphics, good music, excellent gameplay, and great pacing, the game will receive a remake in 2019, shown on the cover of this article.
Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo 64 — 1997)
Developed by Rare and published for Nintendo 64, Diddy Kong Racing was very well received by owners of the console. Setting itself apart from other games in the genre, it featured a story complete with boss battles, while its vehicles could transform during a race into either a plane or a boat.
The audio also stands out, with a wide variety of music and voice acting, all of which perfectly matches the setting. For many, it is superior to Mario Kart 64, released for the same console.
Banjo-Pilot (Game Boy Advance — 2005)
Serving as a kind of spiritual successor to Diddy Kong Racing, the initial idea was for this to be a sequel to that game on Game Boy Advance. Rare was eventually acquired by Microsoft, however, and the title passed "into the hands" of THQ, which published it in 2005 with characters from the Banjo series. Despite its good graphics, it was criticized for offering nothing new and being merely another generic—but fun, thanks to the formula—kart game.
Mega Man Battle & Chase (PlayStation — 1997)
Released for the original PlayStation, Mega Man: Battle & Chase is a 3D racing game starring Capcom's blue hero. It has ten playable characters and three game modes. Clearly inspired by Mario Kart, the title offers good visuals and sound but is described by many as generic, though still entertaining.
Chocobo Racing (PlayStation — 1999)
This Final Fantasy spin-off uses recurring characters from the series in kart races, including Chocobo, Moogle, Black Mage, and others. Released for the original PlayStation in 1999, it was not especially well received because of weak graphics and poor controls. The image above is from Chocobo Racing 3D, which never made it beyond the drawing board. The idea was to retain the "karts" in a 3DS remake.
Power Rangers Zeo: Battle Racers (Super Nintendo — 1996)
Released near the end of the Super Nintendo's life, this racing game featuring Power Rangers characters not only copies the Mario Kart formula, but is practically a reinterpretation of the game for Super Nintendo.
Digimon Racing (Game Boy Advance — 2004)
Released for Game Boy Advance in 2004, this is another generic Mario Kart imitation, this time featuring Digimon characters. It nevertheless has good graphics and music, as well as controls that work.
Konami Krazy Racers (Game Boy Advance — 2001)
Developed by Konami and originally released for Game Boy Advance, Konami Krazy Racers draws from Mario Kart Super Circuit, also released for the handheld. It features characters from Mystical Ninja, Castlevania, Gradius, and other series. Many describe it as a great game.
Pac-Man World Rally (6th generation — 2006)
Released for PlayStation 2, PSP, GameCube, and PC in 2006, Pac-Man World Rally is another generic Mario Kart imitation, complete with secret passages, multiplayer, and so on. It is considered an average game.
Toy Story Racer (PlayStation / Game Boy Color — 2001)
Released for the original PlayStation, this game was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Activision. Featuring characters from Pixar's classic feature film, it stands out for its varied gameplay, well-constructed level design, and surprisingly high degree of visual detail. It is not the genre's best game, but it is above average for a movie-based title.
Angry Birds Go (Mobile — 2013)
Capitalizing on Angry Birds' popularity in the early 2010s, Rovio Entertainment released a kart game featuring the series' characters for the mobile devices of the time. It is essentially the Mario Kart of Angry Birds.
M&M's Kart Racing (Wii — 2007)
Released for Nintendo Wii, this game was created to promote the popular chocolate candies but became notorious in the console world for being considered one of the worst games of all time.
Bad in every respect—terrible controls, bugs, graphics, music, unintuitive tracks, and poorly designed turns—it becomes an anthropological experience in how not to make a game.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers (PS4, Switch, XOne — 2018)
Released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, this is another game that was not especially well received. Nickelodeon Kart Racers uses characters made famous by the American TV channel, including Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, and others.
With weak visuals that appear to come from the PlayStation 2 generation and underwhelming gameplay, this is another racing game that "aimed" for Mario Kart but missed.
MySims Racing (Nintendo DS, Wii — 2009)
Released for Wii, this spin-off tries to ride the success of The Sims with some of the Mario Kart formula, setting itself apart from other games in the genre through the extensive customization of its characters and karts, much like the main games.
Mario Kart (Series)
To close the list, here is the series that practically created the mascot-kart genre. Leaving an enormous legacy, as we can see throughout this list, the Mario Kart series is regarded as one of the genre's most entertaining, while also offering multiplayer excellence and all the polish associated with Nintendo games. Mario Kart is guaranteed fun!
