Eat your heart out, Daytona! Best Menu Song Ever. There. Do you need any more incentive to get this game? You do?? Crack head! Alright then, despite being a Super Mario Kart (SMK) clone done by a third party, I can not help but recommend this game to anyone who remotely enjoyed the classic SNES game that started it all. The presentation, characters, tracks, and well, nearly everything is just so unique to the Japanese Konami universe, it makes the game feel fresh. And that is a good thing. Martha Stuart quote?? Somebody hand me a gun.

I’ll shoot myself right after I’ve finished playing the game, honest. As previously mentioned, Krazy Racers’ presentation, well, you don’t see it that often. After receiving an email (the main menu is a computer) inviting you to a World Circuit, you’re offered with the option of choosing one of many single player and multiplayer racing modes, various tests (usually consisting of one on one races or limited time trials), a message board, and an Item Shop, which lets you buy various weapons.

The gameplay rocks, flat out. Racers controls very similarly with SMK, complete with hopping and all. Weapons or Boosts are picked up by running into either a red or blue...bell. You have your standard artillery at your command (after a random weapon is chosen), consisting of the norm like rockets, bombs, and the ability to turn all of the other racers into...small...pigs. Ahem.

One area when Krazy Racers excels over its kart ancestor is the tracks. Though the full reflection of your racer (and all of the other racers) on the glassy Moon tracks, and the various animations of getting burnt or falling are very nice touches; the track design and a few elements really make the game stand out. Some long straightaways feature a lot of harmful items getting put in your way. In the lava level, numerous fireballs are pelted onto the track and bounce off. While rounding the lethargic bases in the baseball stadium, the dirt path from third to home features practically a dozen different baseballs all bouncing across. Getting stuck by items like these can easily determine the outcome of the game, and it is well appreciated that Konami tried to add more to the formula.

Krazy Racers features some familiar characters to the normal gamer (Goemon, Dracula, and Ninja from Metal Gear Solid), and some others which are a tad more obscure (Takosuke from the Parodius Series, Nyami from the Poppin’ Music Series, you know, the usual). While there is a little love lost over not getting to play as Nintendo favorites like Toad, it is quickly earned back with the visual variety the Konami characters showcase. Where else will you see an octopus zip by Dracula as a Giant stone head and a cybernetic ninja bump into each other? And no, I’m not counting drugs into the equation...

The gameplay is very fun, as the tracks are just fun to play, with multiple surfaces (which affect your driving) ranging from ice, fire, sand, pavement, and more affecting the race. Jumping large gaps opened the floodgates of memories from the final track in SMK, which was much appreciated.

Finally, the levels themselves are greatly helped by Konami’s franchises. Were it not for the Power Pro Baseball series, we probably would not have gotten to race in a giant baseball stadium. And don’t get me started on how awesome it is to race on the MGS tracks with the techno version of the MGS theme. Though some say the game is good, though you may want to wait for Mario Kart Advance, I am telling you right now, that this game is more than worth it if you were/are into SMK. If MKA comes out, and slaps this game silly, you can always trade it in, but why the hell would you want to miss out on an awesome experience right now? No, I am not trying to convince you to buy a PS2, but I do highly recommend this game, as it is in the upper echelon of cart racers for sure. Good job, Konami! Expect a review shortly.