Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)

To win at Mario Kart on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we saw standing still last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you've snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents' cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we're wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn't help address that shortcoming.

[Thanks, Jarom]

[Shorven Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:17PM]

Must. Have. Nao.

[uhhmoney Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:11PM]

@Shorven

I'm a grown adult with a career, a wife, my own home... and I'm sitting here grinning like an idiot remembering how much fun I had as a kid playing Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. I just bought one of these :)

[fpad77 Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:41PM]

@Shorven Combine it with augmented reality and you've got yourself a winner :) .

[creepin Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:54PM]

@uhhmoney

where'd you buy these?

I want!

[Shorven Posted Jul 31st 2010 3:34PM]

@uhhmoney It takes a long time to get young. xD

[Templarian Posted Jul 31st 2010 5:24PM]

@creepin, http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/d046/

I think these are the same ones. There are 4 different ones but 2 are sold out.

[zob Posted Jul 31st 2010 8:11PM]

@uhhmoney nowhere does it says adults can't have fun ^^

[portobello Posted Aug 1st 2010 5:53AM]

@Shorven These are NOT the ones from Target or the ones from ThinkGeek, you must buy this version from Japan or... Amazon Japan

http://amzn.to/bb9P4r

[aquamarine Posted Aug 1st 2010 10:12AM]

@creepin If you're seriously interested, get me through my homepage pozland.com. You can find them throughout Akihabara here in Tokyo. I've had them for sale as a "ala carte" for my friends back home for a while now.

[diuqil Posted Aug 1st 2010 12:58PM]

These toys look like they are rear wheel drive. Putting tape on the back wheels will just make them not move at all. lol

[hicitusficitus Posted Aug 3rd 2010 12:28AM]

I'm actually the owner of these awesome racers and noticed a few questions or misunderstandings that may need clearing up.
1. These are not the ones you can get on Target and thinkgeek, the ones they provide do not have powerups.
2. I got them off of ebay and they sent them over from Japan. Do some searching and you should eventually find it.
3. There actually are shells. There are five power ups. Banana (Causes a spinout) Turtle Shell (Makes car jerk back and forth) Mushroom (Burst of speed) Lightning (Causes car to spin out and stop momentarily) Star ( Causes other car to go nuts when in close proximity)

Lastly go easy on the guy that called Yoshi Luigi he was kind enough to shoot the video for me on his shiny iPhone and upload it.

[EnergyPigeon Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:18PM]

this is awesome :D

[New Reformation Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:42PM]

@EnergyPigeon

Just wait until they come out with a BLUR version! :D

[B3astofthe3ast Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:20PM]

Nah... if you really want to master Mario kart you must master snaking

[TimStevens Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:35PM]

@B3astofthe3ast You can't snake without drifting!

[uhhmoney Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:16PM]

@B3astofthe3ast

^_^ someone plays DS! The biggest thing I remember mastering was how to do the cave/ramp shortcut on Koopa Beach (64 version) without any powerups. Recently one of my coworkers brought his N64 to the office and we all played Mkart64 and thats the only level we raced on. Bunch of IT people screaming like idiots and waxing nostalgic... good times.

[mikemantia Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:21PM]

Kids these days don't know cool they've got it. These things are awesome, I'd love to get 8 of them and do a real race.

[nuohk Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:23PM]

I'll wait for the v2.0, with the turtle shell throwing feature.

[JeremyBenthem Posted Jul 31st 2010 4:11PM]

@nuohk
this makes me realize there's actually a lot of potential for version 2

[jingchaoyu Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:24PM]

That's not Luigi.

[derwin Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:29PM]

@jingchaoyu Glad I'm not the only one that caught that.

[Console fanboy Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:03PM]

@jingchaoyu lol I heard it too

[NCase Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:27PM]

@jingchaoyu
No one pays attention to Weegee!!

[cjwild Posted Jul 31st 2010 7:06PM]

@jingchaoyu

Correction, Yoshi. We got you, no worries.

[XCZHD34 Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:24PM]

I am so getting this over regular Mario Kart

[Tkf Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:25PM]

Sick!

[SHFT Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:33PM]

They should make scalextric version of these babies!

[TimStevens Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:00PM]

@SHFT Sadly no powerups, but here ya go:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/22/mario-kart-ds-hits-the-meatspace/

[Shadow Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:23PM]

@TimStevens
Did you read the article? Did you watch the video? There ARE powerups!! That's why this is so sweet!

[Shadow Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:26PM]

@Shadow
nevermind. I misunderstood your reply. Sorry! If there were a way to delete my post, I could avoid this apology. I have brought shame upon myself and my family. My deepest apologies.

[Greg Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:30PM]

@Shadow He was referring to the Scalextric version he was linking to...

[tobsmonster2 Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:51PM]

@Shadow
Yea bitch you fail! Come on guys lets all embarrass this guy on the internet for making a mistake because it makes us feel bigger than we are in real life..YEA!

[bcd Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:52PM]

@Shadow Well I'd hope he read his own article at least once before posting it lol

[Shadow Posted Jul 31st 2010 4:11PM]

@bcd
haha! i didn't even realize that.
well, i'm off to drown myself in the pool.

[Lithium98 Posted Jul 31st 2010 1:48PM]

When did Nintendo put out Mario Kart 3D?

[engadgetcomexcludeengadget Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:09PM]

@Lithium98 At E3. Mario Cart 3DS.

[Hraefn Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:04PM]

Does that mean I won't have to deal with those f**king blue shells any more?

[ilh Posted Jul 31st 2010 3:36PM]

@Hraefn
Of course you do, in the shape of a big blue shoe...

[MVMNT Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:07PM]

A little tape? First the iphone antenna, now this. Is there anything tape cannot do?

[slipdisc Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:15PM]

@MVMNT Oddly enough, it doesn't work very well for ducts. It tends to dry out, crack and fail from the heat during the winter season.

The HVAC industry has largely moved to a metal foil tape.

[tonyprince Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:09PM]

they sell these exclusively at target for 20 bucks.

[Andrewe1 Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:21PM]

Where can I get these? Thinkgeek and target have them but they dont have the powerup features...just standard movement...

[Papytendo Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:24PM]

I already got a remote controlled Mario Kart two years ago. Different from these though.

[MrIgbo Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:34PM]

But will it BLEND?!

[Hydra Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:38PM]

Awesome the virtual powerups rock

[bcd Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:49PM]

WANT IT!! Wonder what the battery life's like.

[SOOPERGOOMAN Posted Jul 31st 2010 2:54PM]

If you want to be able to drift then you need smooth tires on the back and a couple of mosfetts for the circuit board. that would get these suckers up to about 20 mph.

[jhs Posted Jul 31st 2010 3:25PM]

Mario Kart DS Yoshi + Egg 1...FTW
My favorite for snaking....

[R94N Posted Jul 31st 2010 3:41PM]

XD it even has the sound effects. Just great.

[stringent Posted Jul 31st 2010 5:11PM]

Is it just those two karts for now? It is kinda cool and yeah I'd buy one set for the office!!