Alternate kart universe

by Alisha Karabinus { Apr 21st 2008 at 12:00PM }

Karts are cool, but they are so sixteen years ago. However, our favorite Nintendo racing franchise is evolving and expanding to include a whole new selection of vehicles. No longer are you limited to the archaic kart, the common carriage, or the pedestrian pipes-on-wheels. But how will the addition of bikes affect the future of the franchise? We've cooked up a few possible additions to the Mario Karts of tomorrow, and while we could have gone with the obvious, such as rideable Yoshis, or perhaps a water pack à la Super Mario Sunshine (but not this one), instead we tried to think outside the box ... or kart.

Let's see if we can get those engines revving for the future of Mario Kart!


		Zip forward in our time machine!

Tags: alternative, bike, joystiqfeatures, mario-kart, mario-kart-week

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

vidGuy @ Apr 21st 2008 12:13PM

I always thought that Diddy Kong Racing on the N64 was superior to MK64 because of its inclusion of karts, hovercrafts, and airplanes. I'm looking forward to racing bikes in MKW.

ChrisCanberg @ Apr 21st 2008 12:33PM

I'm so happy I finally found somebody who agrees with me. In my honest opinion, MK64 sucked. Replaying it, its so unbalanced, and so easy to spin out. Diddy Kong Racing rocked the house.

Timdogg @ Apr 21st 2008 12:37PM

Pound for pound, I thought that Double Dash was the most fun of them all!

Ray Ray @ Apr 21st 2008 12:27PM

I thought the baby carriage was a pretty awesome vehicle.

Kaki @ Apr 21st 2008 12:37PM

Needs more segway.

David Hinkle @ Apr 21st 2008 1:22PM

As long as Gob is an unlockable character. ;)

Kaki @ Apr 21st 2008 1:35PM

Game of the century right there.

student @ Apr 21st 2008 12:39PM

Aw man, I thought you'd be looking at mario world type vehicles for your ideas.

They could have rideable clouds from the early mario games.

Alisha Karabinus @ Apr 21st 2008 1:13PM

I could get behind that.

Orion @ Apr 21st 2008 12:44PM

i totally would go for a speeder bike LOL.

yea, i liked diddy kong racing as well. It's a shame that rare left to go to M$ so they could practically sit and collect dust. Then again, with the games theyve made recently... i dont know if i'd want them making games for a ninty console again.

It would be nice though to take a page from Diddy one day and incorporate planes and hovercraft into mario kart. I mean, they already have the downhill water leven in mario kart wii.. would kinda fit :-P

Kururugi Suzaku @ Apr 21st 2008 1:13PM

Not to be rude or anything but why is it that this site constantly puts up mario kart wii news.

What I am trying to say is that this much attention is not given to other games, and then people will be complaining that 3rd party games dont sell on Wii. Shouldn't the attention be put on games that people might overlook?

I mean its not even like brawl which was actually a decent game. Its not even like the game has really added anything to the franchise that is worthy of mentioning, but yet people continue to try and hype it despite the fact that is not a good game.

I like what you did with Zack and Wiki, but why stop there? There are other hidden gems that you could seek to find rather than go over and over on the same game.

David Hinkle @ Apr 21st 2008 1:24PM

Well, as a game blog, we try to cover what readers like. With Mario Kart releasing on Sunday, we figured it would be appropriate to herald its release with a week full of features. And, to tell the truth, most readers really dig the first-party Nintendo games, so we try to give them what they want.

Thanks for your input, though!

hutze @ Apr 21st 2008 1:42PM

"Its not even like the game has really added anything to the franchise that is worthy of mentioning.."

Bikes? Online Play?

Anyway, I'd so totall buy Super Mario Rickshaw.

Kururugi Suzaku @ Apr 21st 2008 1:50PM

Mario Kart DS has online play. And although I haven't played the game THAT much (due to disappointment) it seems like bikes don't really change the game mechanics at all.

However this is all my opinion and I'm very happy if people disagree.

Orion @ Apr 21st 2008 3:46PM

the difference is that the online on this version is much more robust. I mean, i couldnt even play the DS online after the first few weeks after release becuase everyone snaked their way through the levels.

This version has smooth, 60fps online, with up to 12 players. The DS didnt have that. It also seems to go A LOT faster than the older mario karts, which i have been wishing for for ages. The trick system, and the bikes are new.. and they seem to have improved the "cars" a bit instead of having a bunch of silly ones like cribs. And honestly, the menu system is very much lik ethe 64 in sound and feel, and i cant tell you how much that makes me happy.

I just find it hard to understand where Brawl succeeded in your mind where Kart apparently fails? They both keep the franchise the same with minor improvements. Double Dash was by far my least favorite Kart. I'm happy with what they are dishing out this time. The fact it doesn't seem to be targeted to 2 year olds this time makes me happy enough!

And remember, not even Brawl had the ability to import your Mii. That is a nice feature to me.