Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is awesome, and if anyone else suggests otherwise I'll Blue Shell them. It's so awesome, in fact, that games which don't even have Mario in the title are allowed to join the dangerous dodgem party.
Both The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing now part of the standard track roster, its got me thinking about who else needs to join in on the banana-flinging, horn-tooting, self-green-shelling madness. With that in mind, here are eight classic Nintendo titles that NEED to become Mario Kart 8 tracks...
1. Pokemon
Each region in the monster-catching series has already been partitioned out into handy routes, screaming to be turned into lengthy tracks. Just imagine skidding through the long grass with wild Pokemon appearing as driving hazards, and throwing Pokeballs instead of bananas at your fellow racers. It's super effective!
2. Metroid
Mario Kart already has the whole space thing covered thanks to the various Rainbow Roads, but what it hasn't got is a track that takes you on a journey around a suspiciously dangerous planet before launches you (in morphball form, of course) into the twinkling abyss to careen around Samus's shiny Gunship.
3. Star Fox
Making full use of the antigrav wheels, this track could barrel roll through the sky, passing over the length of a Arwing before bringing you crashing down to ground level after a blue shell goes rogue. Added bonus: Slippy Toad and co provide unhelpful race commentary along the bottom of the screen. Don't forget about me!
4. Chibi-Robo
This would be the closest Mario Kart could get to being Micro Machines, with everyone charging around a messy kitchen table, with jam spills placed just after tricky corners to slow you down, and boost jumps off of Chibi-Robo's little power cord. You could even collect happy points instead of coins! Ace.
5. Professor Layton
The brilliant battle mode arenas are back in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so why not give your cranium a workout with a stage that boxes all the racers into a giant traffic-puzzle cube and sees you all frantically shunt each other around until you reach the exit. And all the coins become hint coins, too. Every puzzle has an answer! And the answer is shells.
6. Kirby
Imagine all the vibrancy of a Mario Kart track, but with a lovely plasticine sheen to all those piranha plants trying to gobble you up mid race. Or perhaps this is just an excuse to get yourself behind the handlebars of a hamster-themed motorbike. Move over Epona bike! Your time is over.
7. Fire Emblem
You drive along the edge of giant version of Lucina's sword, as she bravely battles with Chrom. The track could leap between their blades as they clash. Instead of your standard mushrooms and shells, you battle with the rock-paper-scissors set up of the traditional Fire Emblem weapon triangle of sword, axe and lance. And there would be awkward romance, too. Although I'm not sure how.
8. Monster Hunter
It's the turn of the ever helpful Palico to get behind the wheel, meowing incessantly and spitting out cat puns as you navigate a prehistoric field while being chased by raptor-like Jaggis. Harvest speed-boosting meat chunks in place of coins by running over the local wildlife. No, it's not weird. YOU'RE WEIRD.
A 29-year-old PC racing game going cyberpunk anime with Troy Baker, Initial D drifting, and cutscenes from the Metroid: Other M studio sure wasn't on my Game Awards bingo card
A speedrunner just beat Need for Speed: Most Wanted's world record by 90 minutes - by using Half-Life's Gordon Freeman instead of a car
A 29-year-old PC racing game going cyberpunk anime with Troy Baker, Initial D drifting, and cutscenes from the Metroid: Other M studio sure wasn't on my Game Awards bingo card
A speedrunner just beat Need for Speed: Most Wanted's world record by 90 minutes - by using Half-Life's Gordon Freeman instead of a car
