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"Karting Konundrum"

Ideas at Nintendo HQ have never been shortcoming. The vivid imaginations of Miyamoto etc. have given us some of the finest games ever, but in terms of enjoyment and the spawning of a new genre, one idea is up there with the very best…

The Karting game.

The idea is devilishly simple - popular games characters racing around an assorted layout of colourful, inventive tracks, all aiming for first place with the help of a few well placed power ups (well, cheating really).

But why the popularity? Simple. Whilst the premise is exceedingly simple – its really just a race to first place – the execution is superb and the fun and overwhelming satisfaction you can get from pipping your mates to the post in Mario Kart is one of the finest videogaming experiences money can buy. But it’s not just Mario now. Mario Kart has spawned a host of imitators and competitors – in essence, it has created a genre, with the latest ones being Crash Team Racing, South Park Rally, Konami Krazy Racing, and Shrek Kart.

So I got thinking. What other successful game series could make the port over to the ‘Kart’ game? There is a rich wealth of potential just waiting to be used, and, taking it upon myself to be the innovator who does it (lol), I have come up with a variety of new Karting games that will have developers beating down my door to get to me (and not just my mum telling me to tidy my room!). So, I present to you my list of Karting games, starting with…

SONIC KART

I know it’s incredibly similar to Mario Kart, and I know that Sonic may be a playable character in Mario Kart GC, but I think he would be better suited to his own Karting game. Lets face it, there would be no shortages of characters – Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big the Cat, Dr. Robotnik (oops, sorry, Eggman), Dark Sonic, Chaos etc. That’s not all. As a certified Sega game you could have other characters from Sega classics like NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon and Shenmue. In fitting with the Sonic style, this kart game would be more speed based. Tracks could be based on the Metropolis levels, and the usual grassy plains and two-toned orange blocks, and the traditional weapons would be best suited here, with the typical missiles and oil slicks. It’s something to think about…

METAL KART SOLID

Imagine the enjoyment of playing a kart version of this game! Just playing a comical version of, let’s face it, is a very serious game would be a sure fire bestseller! The world of MGS gives us a wealth of weapons to use – chaff grenades to stop other players karts, Stinger missiles to blow them up, and the sword to pierce their tyres! In various karts could be Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Solidus Snakes, Revolver Ocelot, Olga Gurlukovich, Decoy Octopus, Raiden and Otacon. Secret characters could be the likes of Vulcan Raven and Gray Fox etc. Just one thing though – I wonder what Mr. Kojima would think of it all…

GRAN KARTISMO
I know this is already a driving game, but bear with me. One aspect of Karting games that hasn’t really been exploited is the ability to upgrade your kart and add new features to it, or build a stable of karts. But what about characters I hear you shout? Well, true, a lot of appeal does come from playing certain characters. As it’s a Sony game, why not have Sony characters in it? You could have Lara Croft, Jak and Daxter, Maximo, Dante etc. Quite a diverse mix, with the opportunity to modify you kart, would be some game, eh?


And last but certainly not least, my personal favourite…

BANJO KART-OOIE

I know we had Diddy Kong Racing but think of the potential in this game – characters would include Banjo, Kazooie, Gruntilda, Goggles, Jinjo, and everyone’s favourite shaman, Mumbo Jumbo. Courses could be hand picked from the various multi coloured, vivid worlds of Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. My picks would be track like ‘Pterodactyl Land’, with dinosaurs running on the track a la Toads Turnpike, as well as tracks based on other worlds like Mumbo’s Mountain and Witchyworld, the possibilities really are endless.

With E3 on the horizon, new Karting games could be on the menu - maybe one of my picks will see the light of day?

You never know, you might just be surprised…

Thanks for reading,

Russell

Mortal Kartbat

Basicly, it's like Street Racer on the SNES. You drive around a course for a few laps and you have to reach out of your kart whenever you pass someone and punch them in the face!

gran kartismo , sounds very cool ! although it would probably never get a GC release , it would be ace to race around the little zippy karts , ahhh heaven.
banjo kart-ooie would be ace , as the final level you could have your character in his/her kart , on top of gruntilda's castle and you could have a big battle with her !! it could be story based like diddy kong was , and maybe you could morf into bee karts , or crocodile karts , ..... "foam at the mouth"

Nice post russ, Sonic racing would be cool!

Great Post there Russ! Metal Kart Solid. Lol! Very good!

And my personl favourite comment:

Nice one! ;)

nice ideas there russ. particulaly liked the conversion of gran turismo in gran kartismo! would make and interesting game methinks.

Couple of nice ideas there

Nice ideas there Russ! And I especially like the ones about Sonic - and I was expecting Sonic Drift Racing (GameGear) to be Mario Kart but with Sonic characters. But I was quite wrong, and it was a pretty lame, boring and simple game, with no real originallity.

As for the Banjo Kartooie one, I wouldn't be too surprised if there is an added multiplayer racing game on a future Banjo GC game.
Did you ever play Conker's BFD on the N64??? There were some top multiplayers from Rare on that, and one was a Wipeout-style racer.

But seriously, Nintendo could probably sue any other company that immitates a Mario Kart style game. Then again, if they brought and then owned Rare....

I think Metal Kart Solid was the best.

What about my ideas?

I think Banjo Kart-ooie was the best...

Read and replied in the sony forum thingymajig.

:)