Super Mario Kart was one of my favorite Super Nintendo games growing up. I replayed it endlessly by myself, or with friends, even past the point of relevance well into the PS2 era of consoles. That said I never continued on with the series past it, but for good reason. When I adopted into Sony’s gaming family with the original PlayStation it took a long time for me to jump back on the Nintendo train, because PlayStation was catering more to what I wanted in video games. Sure I still played Nintendo stuff at a friend’s, or relative’s house, but those experiences never made me want any of them until Chrono Trigger got ported to the Nintendo DS in 2008 wherei💖n I finally caved and bought a Nintendo DS.
Suffic🍌e it to say I missed out on a bunch of Mario Karts in that time period, but it wouldn’t be until 2012 that I would catch up. That year marked the series’ 20th anniversary and it was also my second year as a video game journalist. With the anniversary at hand, I decided to research and play them all for a little retrospective and that was one of the first instances where diving into older games became my career’s passion. They were all pretty good, but in that process I discovered a lot of kart clones. So instead of writing about the series again for its 25th anniversary, I wanted to highlight how these games outdo the originals in one way or another. Before you jump down my throat on some of these entries, know that I value Mario Kart as the founder to the mascot racer or kart genre. That 📖said I think it’s safe to move on without fear of retaliation.
20 Mega Man Battle and Chase
Weirdly enough, this Mega Man spinoff released only in Japan and Europe with the initial PS1 debut. It was later bundled with the Mega Man X Collection nearly a decade later for the U.S. Launch. History aside, this Mega Man racer has a few additions that stand out above other copycats smartly utilizing mechanics from the franchise. Characters range from the early Mega Man games to the most recent entry at the time, Mega Man 8, and use abilities similar to their mainline counterparts. Unlike a lot of other clones, this one kept the map of the racetrack from Super Mario Kart, which helps with navigation although it takes up precious screen space. It retains that classic Mega Man feel albeit on a smaller, and easier scale.
19 Saru Get You: Pipo Saru Racer
That name may look unfamiliar, but Saru Get You is actually the Japanese title for what we Westerns know as Ape Escape. Saru Get You: Pipo Saru Racer is then the name for this racing spinoff, which was also a Japanese exclusive for the PSP. Now if you’re familiar with the series, you’re probably imagining a bunch of cute monkeys riding around in little go-karts and tossing banana at each other right? Well sort of, except the monkeys have been turned into cars with parts artificially grafted onto them, which is oddly disturbing when you think about. Horrific monkey experimentation aside, it's a smooth experience on the PSP and a wonderful, cheap spinoff for Ape Escape, which consists mainly of side projects actually. Of thosಌe, though it's o🐎ne of the better entries.
18 Charinko Hero
This has Japan written all over it and I mean both literally as the GameCube box has Japanese text, but figuratively as well. Charinko Hero is based on the Kamen Rider and Ultraman franchises. It’s not like those two series are unheard of in the West, but in te🥂rms of everything else, yeah, it’s pretty Japanese focused and I can definitely see why it never released overseas. The characters aren’t recognizable, the courses are kind of bland, and it visually doesn’t look great, but there is one aspect that makes me love it. Instead of go-karts, or other miniature motor vehicles, most ꦿcharacters ride around peddling tricycles. Combine that with their abnormal head sizes and it’s pretty hilarious. So it has that to lord over Mario.
17 SD F-1 Grand Prix
Most clones for Super Mario Kart came out during the next generation of consoles, i.e. the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. As evidence would point out from this list, the PS1 had a flood of copycats. It’s kind of insane. Anyway there was actually one on the Super Nintendo too. This F1 Grand Prix spinoff uses cartoon sprites to represent real life drivers. It looks identical to Super Mario Kart, but with slightly better textures as it came out in 1995, three years after it, so the developers had more time to harness more power out of the Super Nintendo by that point. Strangely there🎀’s a lack of music, which instead is replaced by F-1 announcers. Even though I couldn’t understand a word, it was technically miraculous to play.
16 Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour
By this point in 2000, Disney had so many amazing hits like Aladdin, Mulan, and Hercules to have developers base a game on, but they went with their park instead. Why they decided to do this with a roster of characters I didn’t recognize aside from Chip and Dale is beyond me. Drivers aside, the courses are actually pretty cool with rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion represented and it captures that magical Disney appeal with vibrant environments. What really interests me though is that it was developed by Crystal Dynamics in-between Soul Reaver games. They also worked on one other Disney game afterward based on 102 Dalmatians. 🅠Now that we know they’re working on a new Avengers game for Square Enix, maybe it’s not far off that we’ll see them tackle another race♋r for Disney too. Here’s hoping.
15 DreamWorks Super Star Kartz
You know a game is cool when they replace the S with a Z right? Jokes aside, DreamWorks is always trying to catch up to Disney with films for children. Critically Disney is still probably the best in the biz, but DreamWorks has a lot of popular works as well. Whether Shrek or Madagascar are good is another story, but tastes aside it was only inevitable that they tried their hand with a set of compilation video games and it’s actually not bad especially when it comes to Mario Kart, which is what I should be comparing here anyway. The big thing it has over Mario Kart is its multi platform range past Nintendo. Mario Kart sells well for them, but imagine the sales it’d do on the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Maybe one day Nintendo 🅷will go third party, but until then we have Penguins driving oversized go-karts. Sorry, I mean go-kartz.
14 Cartoon Network Speedway
I remember getting Cartoon Network in my area as clear as day. My father and I went to pick up our new cable boxes and on some of the demo stations Cartoon Network was on with Cow and Chicken. Until this point, I primarily grew up with Nickelodeon so getting a whole other series of cartoons was amazing to me and this kart racer collects my golden years with Cartoon Network including shows like the aforementioned Cow an Chicken, Johnny Bravo, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, just to name a few. Admittedly some of those don’t stand the test of time and while it may be easier and not technically as sound as its GBA counterpart, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Cartoon Network Speedway is a fun distraction filled with nostalgia.
13 Nicktoons Racing
Cartoon Network is great, but Nicktoons are a more treasured part of my past since they were around for a lot longer. I genuinely think this era, represented in the game, holds up better too like Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold!, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Nicktoons Racing implemented an early form of cel-shading, which made everything pop and fit more in line with the realm of cartoons. Great tracks from the cartoons they’re based on and weaponry pays great homage as well. Interesting enough, the PS1 version holds ties with another game from another list I wrote. Software Creations also developed Silver Surfer on the NES, which was one of Marvel’s many awful video games. It seems as though the company was capable of good stuff after all. Plok is also pretty good on SNES.
12 Looney Tunes: Space Race
We end our cartoon binge with Bugs Bunny and his crew smashing things up on the PS2. Similar to Nicktoons Racing, Looney Tunes: Space Race also uses cel-shading, but to a more familiar and polished degree thanks to the power of the system. It looks stunning on the PS2 and the use of rocket-powered machines gave the game a different, more vibrant and fast based feꦜel, compared to both Mario Kart and the other clones on this list. As these cartoons were more violent, their use of gadgets also fits in well for a racing game. The one thing that doesn’t fit is the more poppy, techno-like music. I would have preferred something zanier and instrumental to fit in with the world of Looney Tunes more.
11 Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing
Like Charinko Hero, the sheer goofiness of this game makes me love it. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace already trashed the franchise, so why not release a whacky kart racer with chibi characters from said trainwreck? What did they have to los🌃e? You think Jar Jar Binks was annoying in the film, ha, you haven't seen anything yet. Jokes aside, I do think the locations are great representations from the movie and their vehicles are pretty cool. My favorite character/vehicle combo is Yoda who uses a floating chair. If I could use Yoda in every track with Duel of the Fates blaring in the background, this game would be the best kart racer ever, but s🍨adly that track is missing. What a shame.