With Mario Kart 8 on the horizon, you wouldn't be judged for wiping away a lone tear when thinking of some of the many great kart games of yesteryear. But as with any retro-binge, we are sometimes faced with a terrible realisation after a race down memory lane – these classic titles are lacking many of the beloved modern-day features we have come to take for granted.
Super World Karts GP is set to rectify that problem, providing us with a SNES-inspired kart game but throwing in all of the modern features that we know and love, such as 1080p HD resolution and Achievements.
Drawing inspiration from karting games of the past, and boasting an eye-catching Mode-7 art style, Super World Karts GP features a host of different characters, a bunch of weapons to hurl into one another, boost pads and shortcuts.
Each race ends with a 3-star ranking, with only the highest ranks being achieved if you manage to collect rings that have been scattered along each track, as well as finding and collecting golden mushrooms.
Super World Karts GP also boasts 3 speed classes - 50CC, 100CC and 150CC - so you'll manage to squeeze plenty of life out of each track.
Creator Paul Hamilton wishes to make an authentic, retro-inspired kart racer and cites Mario Kart as one of his many inspirations for the title.
Super World Karts GP is inspired chiefly by the original Mario Kart game from the SNES, StreetRacer from the MegaDrive, and Wacky Wheels on the PC. It is something I've longed to do, and to do right. I often try new kart games I see popping up on the app store but they're almost always uninspired advertisements for kids movies (and play terribly).
This KickStarter project, originally billed for iOS, Android and Ouya, but now also with a Wii U stretch goal of $25,000, currently stands at just over $4,500 and has 10 days to go.
You can learn more on the campaign page. Are you excited for this retro-inspired racer?
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 36
I want to play as Bentley Bear!
and i want to find a better game!
I'm a little confused by the stretch goal. I guess the game makes sense for iOS/Android platforms, but if Super Mario Kart gets released on the Wii U VC, there will be literally no reason to buy this. Why would anyone buy the rip-off when they could just buy the real thing instead?
@CaviarMeths At the rate Nintendo's releasing Wii U VC titles, I'm sure this game will be out well before SMK is.
Sadly it doesn't look like this project will make it. Real pity and I'm in no condition to contribute to any more kickstarters right now.
No thanks, I'll take any mario kart over this.
WIth Mario Kart U on the horizon and the potential of Super Mario Kart, the timing couldnt be worse
@Mattiator @CaviarMeths The gamepad stand + Wii Classic Controller isn't too bad for playing Wii VC games.
I think this game looks nice but surely it's a waste of time trying to do a Wii U version. There's enough Kart racers out now or coming next year. I want someone to make an Indy FPS. Nicely styled but not too fancy graphics. Smooth multiplayer with lots of gameplay options. Basically a new Timesplitters game..
I'm actually quite exited about this, the way I see it. Mk 8 will come out later than I want it too ( whenever that is, it's still feels too late!!). I need something to plug that gap and this has , by the sound of it the one thing the mk series lacks.....collectable s!! Its one of the things they should have brought in once diddy Kong racing did it so well, the coin collection, boss Chase and challenges levels were the diversity the kart games needed but there's been no sign of change since then, I miss rare =(
I thought the rings could have been unintentional... until I heard "Game over, yeah" at the end.
Might be cool, after all.
Looks pretty cool and pretty polished, for a bit of a knock-off.
It's clearly meant to be a niche game and not a competitor to Mario Kart 8. It aims to be more technical and skill-based than the modern Mario Kart games. At the same time, it will support better controls, more players, and wide screen support compared to an emulated version of Super Mario Kart from the SNES. I think there's a pretty big gap between the new and the old that Super World Karts could fill. It isn't an either/or proposition.
0:39 Wilhelm scream
The developer is shooting for June 2014, so I don't see this appearing before MK8.
Super Mario Kart is still the best mario kart ever. Tracks are too big nowadays.
@Nintenjoe64 I'd buy that.
What's the point of 1,080p when the game looks like THAT? I have to wonder where people's priorities are.
Well that was very intresting! I liked the panda 'But seriously who is going to get this on Wii U after Mario Kart 8 is out?? Not saying this game is bad just once Mario Kart 8 is out everybody will be playing that.
@Raiko
Exactly what I was going to say... it even has you collect mushrooms. Okay, not for the same reason as any Mario game, but still, why would anyone hoping to avoid Nintendo's wrath even touch mushrooms? Not only are they copying Nintendo's style, they're calling attention to it. Has nobody learned from the Ghouls and Ghosts incident?
Its funny how ive never questioned the actual "gender" and randomness of the mario kart characters. We got turtles, girls, guys, monkeys and italian plumbers. The characters for this kart game looks pretty weird though. Looks like a bunch of animals broke out of the zoo.Could have had more interesting looking racers.
I just found this on kickstarter yesterday or the day before & the first thing I thought was how I was disappointed that it wasn't coming to Wii U, but now it is!!.... Or, might be. I really hope it at least makes its initial goal at least, the video makes it look awesome! Like how Super Mario Kart might look if it was remade with better graphics & such. The characters are kinda lame looking though. Music is awesome too I can easily see myself playing this alongside MK8, just because this is so different to MK8 (clearly) & loads of fun
@1958Fury
Nintendo has been pretty relaxed about games that homage their material for some time now. I mean, if Giana Sisters got published on the DS and Ittle Dew is coming to the Wii U, what could possibly be off limits at this point?
Can I just say that it's incredibly frustrating to see all these games add /stretch-goals/ for the Wii U when it was probably Nintendo who started their spark to get into video game design? "Oh, maybe we should /probably/ add the Wii U... but we don't really want to develop for it... Ah! Let's make it a /stretch-goal!/"
Especially games like this, that are so clearly derivative of Nintendo's work. It's like, show a little respect, guys...
@flamepanther
True, but it's not like Nintendo has never sued anyone. I personally wouldn't risk it, but I do wish these people the best of luck.
This actually looks quite fun
@bahooney
It has nothing to do with disrespect and everything to do with cost. When the developer doesn't know how much funding they're going to bring in, it's either start with the cheapest platforms or risk the game not getting made at all. It's often their dream to be on a Nintendo platform, but they can't afford it without the extra funding. If it cost less to develop for Wii U, then it wouldn't end up being a stretch goal so much of the time.
Where I'd argue there's a lack of respect is when a major publisher or developer makes a Nintendo-inspired game and makes it a Sony/MS exclusive. Naughty Dog would be nowhere without ideas they borrowed from Nintendo and Sega, but what do they do? Sell themselves to Sony. Their very first game after the sale, what do they do? "Hey, let's mix Banjo Kazooie with The Legend of Zelda."
I gotta say, very impressive... I just wish they had special respawn points for when you fail a jump over a road, that way you don't have to go around to make the jump again (1:30 in the video). However, the backgrounds look so damn gorgeous!
Rings.......
Time for copyright infringement >.<
more of a rip-off than an inspiration of MK. i mean, c'mon, that short cut from the beach race looks exactly the same like the one from SMK ghost valley
Am I the only one who clearly saw parts of the maps to Mario Circuit 1 and 2 as well as Ghost Valley 1 in there? That's the kind of stuff that crosses the "inspired by" line directly into "rip-off" territory. Inspiration is fine, but don't blatantly copy.
@flamepanther I'd agree with you if it weren't for Nintendo supporting Unity; y'know, the method where all developers have to do is plop their game on the Wii U with a few tweaks? Obviously it's not as simple as that, but it sure as heck makes it a lot easier to port indie games to the Wii U, which is why it's so attractive to indies as of late.
@Omarsonic9 It's not so much the fact that they use rings, but the sound effects used when picking one up. That is straight from the Sonic games.
@flamepanther No, Nintendo has not been "lax" lately. In fact they sent a C&D order to AtariAge for selling Princess Rescue, a Mario clone for Atari 2600. Brilliant game, albeit with the characters renamed. Bam. Shut down. What makes you think they won't do it with this?
@StarDust Everything. You said it yourself, the characters in Princess Rescue were RENAMED, not new. They are obviously Nintendo's characters. It also copies Nintendo's copyrighted level designs as closely as 2600 hardware allows. It's an obvious violation.
But general gameplay concepts can't be copyrighted, only specifics like characters, music, artwork, and levels. SWK copies none of that. If you need more evidence, go look at any of the perfectly legal Mario Kart "clones" that have been published on Nintendo's systems starting with the GameCube. Anyone up for a game of Pac-Man World Rally? Unless One-Legged Seagul decides to put an Italian plumber in their game, they're fine.
@bahooney
That still takes time, unless you really like the type of garbage ports that hurt the reputations of both the console and the developer. That time costs money. And unless the developer is one of the lucky ones that Nintendo likes enough to give them free hardware, the development hardware costs around $5k. They also have to spend time, money, and effort getting approved developer status from Nintendo and navigating contracts and NDAs (lawyers cost money). That's pocket change to a big publisher, but when the budget for these projects is only $5k-10k in the first place? They'd need to almost double their budget. That means either making cuts elsewhere, setting a stretch goal, or setting the initial funding goal high enough to possibly fail altogether. Doubt me if you want, but it's a lot more plausible than the alternative "they don't respect Nintendo" theory. These devs want their games on all the platforms they can get to. They won't skip Nintendo "just because."
I don't want to sound like I'm dismissing Nintendo's efforts to be more indie-friendly. They've clearly done a lot to get their console to where tiny developers can actually consider making games for it now. The difference between a stretch goal and a pipe dream is a huge improvement, but that's exactly the change they've made.
Even if it just releases on Ouya (developement is practically free on the little fun box), I'll buy it. I am 100% broke from overspending this Christmas, so I cannot contribute. I hope they can make it without me...
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