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Many series have turned to Mario Kart for the template on how to do a racer and it’s resulted in some very interesting titles, for both better and for worse. Accordingly, here are 10 awesome kart racing games that we totally forgot about.
10 Mega Man: Battle & Chase
It’s always interesting to see established franchises explore spin-off ventures and after Mario Kart proved that characters from a platformer series could work in a racer, everyone started to test their luck. Mega Man: Battle & Chase sees Mega Man and his robot friends and enemies step into vehicles and settle their disputes on the racetrack.
It’s a bizarre racer that’s clunky in the way that many early PlayStation titles are, but it’s a fascinating direction for the Mega Manseries that didn’t really work. The Mega Man X Collection finally made the niche title available to North American audiences.
9 Banjo-Pilot
Diddy Kong Racing was such a big success on the Nintendo 64 that audiences were immediately hungry for a sequel or another racing game from Rare that made use of these exciting characters. A conventional sequel never happened, but Rare did quietly follow the racer up with Banjo-Pilot for the GameBoy Advance.
The unexpected return of characters from the Banjo-Kazooiefranchise is a lot of fun and while the title is somewhat simplistic, its core mechanics are solid, and it’s an entertaining entry for the handheld.
8 Bomberman Kart (PS2)
Bomberman may not have the same draw that characters like Sonic or Mario do, but he’s a video game mascot that shouldn’t be underestimated. The Bomberman games have a lengthy legacy and they’ve helped every console at some point with variations on the original game’s addictive formula. The Bomberman series hasn’t been afraid to dip their toe in other genres, but Bomberman Kart for the PlayStation 2 is one of the bigger shifts. It mixes together the explosive characters & mechanics of the franchise with fast racing and doesn’t ruin the balance.
7 Digimon Racing (GBA)
The Digimon games haven’t deviated too far from their origins, but the increasing popularity of the series made it inevitable that something like Digimon Racing would come to pass. It may seem silly to saddle a bunch of monsters into tiny karts and parade them around, but Digimon Racing is another enjoyable racing title for the GameBoy Advance. The game doesn’t stray too far from Mario Kart’s mechanics, but the presence of Digivolutions and boss battles, plus the possibility of four-player races through the wireless adapter or link cable, makes this game surprisingly deep.
6 Konami Krazy Racers
It’s taken some time for companies to clue into the fact that crossover titles that celebrate a company’s history can result in some of the most successful games. Super Smash Bros. is still the formative example of this, but other attempts to create a similar atmosphere can lead to some curious games. The Game Boy Advance title, Konami Krazy Racers, takes the protagonists from popular games like Metal Gear, Castlevania, or Legend of the Mystical Ninja and throws them all together. It’s a very fun game that’s full of love for all of these Konami franchises.
5 Chocobo Racing
The Final Fantasy franchise has proven itself to be one of the biggest RPG series of all time. The deep storytelling and immersive combat is what’s helped Final Fantasy build an audience, but the titles feature such rich worlds that it’d be a crime to not explore them to a great degree. Chocobo Racing is a PlayStation game that takes the lovable creatures from the Final Fantasy series and positions a racing game around them. It’s a risk that could have been a major disaster, but it’s a quirky title that actually works.
4 Toy Story Racer
There’s an official Toy Story game that’s been released across platforms, but the success of the film franchise led to other avenues being pursued. Toy Story Racer decides to take these popular characters and put them in a racing game. Even though it feels like a random decision, it’s actually a game that plays really well. Toy Story Racer also features unlockable content and challenges that give the game more value than a lot of racers. While the PlayStation title is a success, the Game Boy Color version is unfortunately a disaster.
3 Looney Tunes: Space Race
Looney Tunes have been featured in dozens of video games, all to various degrees of success. However, this resulted in a level of fatigue where it could be easy to write off Looney Tunes titles, even though some have impressive games hiding inside them. Looney Tunes: Space Race began development as an N64 game, before the project shifted over to the Dreamcast. It’s no Mario Kart, but it has addictive gameplay and gorgeous art design that easily makes it one of the best racers on the Dreamcast.
2 LittleBigPlanet Karting
LittleBigPlanet turned out to be a colossal success for Sony and while the core series has led to some incredible and intuitive titles, it’s been exciting to see them allow Sackboy to get to show off his skills in other genres of gaming. LittleBigPlanet Karting brilliantly takes the core series’ creation gimmick & lovable characters and applies them to a kart racer. It’s a move that’s near seamless and results in one of the more creative racing games that’s come out in recent years.
1 Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
The Sonic franchise has had an interesting run with racing games. Sonic Drift and its sequel for the Game Gear marked the Hedgehog’s first foray with kart racing, but those games are heavily handicapped by the Game Gear’s hardware. Sonic R for the Sega Saturn was a more successful move, but it’s not a kart racer. Finally, Sonic & Sega All-Stars takes not only Sonic, but a wealth of classic Sega properties and puts them in an amazing racer that easily rivals Mario Kart. Despite the quality of this title, Team Sonic Racing has marked a decline in the franchise.
Next: 5 Of The Most Underrated Racing Games On The PS4 (& 5 That Are Overrated)
