What is the obsession with kart racing games? It seems that every developer under the sun feels that in order to make a successful spin-off series, they are required to put their characters inside a 150cc metal chassis and send them around a track in the sunshine. Sure, it was a lot of fun when Nintendo unleashed
Super Mario Kart back in 1992, but twenty years later, enough is enough.
Before we get into the blatant over-saturation of this little genre, I want to make mention that kart racing games simply DO NOT MAKE SENSE!
Mario and Luigi spend 90% of their days defeating Bowser and his Koopa Troopers in order to save the Princess. Bowser is defeated yet never killed, he takes a few days to lay low, kidnaps the Princess again and the cycle repeats.
The other 10% is when all the evil in the world decides to put aside their differences and settle their beef on the race track with novelty shells, banana peels and mushrooms. Why does the race track calm all their nerves?
Despite that fact, Mario already had dominance on the field, so why have we seen so many others enter the genre. For those keeping track at home, we've seen:
Mario Kart
Crash Team Racing
Diddy Kong Racing
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Digimon Racing
Chocobo Racing
Looney Tunes Racing
Jak X Racing
ModNationRacers
Nictoons Racing
Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing
Wacky Wheels
Not to mention a whole bunch of others I've missed in this list.
Now, I understand the necessity to release a select few of these; Wacky Wheels is arguably the only successful PC kart racer out there, and Crash Team Racing essentially launched the genre on the PlayStation.
BUT WHY DO ALL THE OTHERS EXIST?
We don't need to see Sonic and his band of failed franchise characters racing around a track, trying to clutch at the days when they were still relevant.
Most of all, I don't understand why Sony are intent on releasing LittleBigPlanet Karting. The whole "philosophy" of LBP is to play, create and share. Sony's other popular karting franchise, ModNation Racers shares the same philosophy. WHY WOULD YOU COMPETE AGAINST YOURSELF?!?
Sure, those blue shells may piss you off beyond belief, but aside from Wacky Wheels, no one has been able to touch the glory that is Mario Kart. Developers need to let go of this crazy notion that Kart Racing is the only way to launch a successful spin-off series. Over saturation will see the genre die out, just like those annoying music games last decade.