Wacky Wheels

In 1992, Nintendo released Super Mario Kart and all we PC gamers were terribly envious of our friends with a Super Nintendo. In 1994, Beavis Soft came to rectify the situation and gave us our own Mario Kart clone "Wacky Wheels".

People rejoiced and everybody thought it was a really great game. But was it really? Or were we just happy to see the PC finally being able to handle games console players had had for several years at that time?

While obviously a clone, there are several major differences between the original and Wacky Wheels. Is it still a good game? If not, does the nostalgia help?

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") are Lars ("fastwinstondoom"), who's returning from the Dungeon Keeper episode, and Rees (from "ctrl-alt-rees") who made a video on Wacky Wheels some years ago (see links below).

No voice message this time, shame on all of you! (Just kidding, but not really).

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (85 mins, 97 MB)

We once again got lots of help from DGC member console with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

RELEVANT LINKS:

* Wacky Wheels review & history by ctrl+alt+rees

* Phil’s Wacky Wheels Site (archived, updated until 2015)

* Big Wacky Wheels FAQ on gamefaqs.com

* Wacky Wheels HD on Steam (discontinued) and itch.io

* The Skunny Extended Universe which includes Skunny Kart

* Kart Race obscure South Korean kart racing game that resembles Wacky Wheels a lot

* Epic MegaGames was discussed earlier on DGC in episodes 19 (Tyrian), 46 (Jill of the Jungle), 75 (One Must Fall: 2097) and most recently in 86 (Jazz Jackrabbit)

24 Oct 2024

3 Replies to “Wacky Wheels”

TigerQuoll says:

You mention in the episode that there is nothing in the way of lore or story in this game. I would argue that is not true – if you watch the title animation, it clearly shows all the animals driving out of the zoo, as if they’ve just escaped to have some joy rides!
It’s hardly an intricate plot, but it does show *something* in the way of explanation.

TigerQuoll says:

Oh, and one more thing: don’t be taken in by that Australian “new old stock” Wacky Wheels on eBay. It’s just a digital download bundled with DOSBox. The same seller (or several like them) “sell” a number of these overpriced scam games made to look like boxed copies.

Tijn says:

Ah yeah, you’re right. Good observations there, TigerQuoll!

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