The latest video from YouTube production studio Dark Pixel gives a tantalizing glimpse at an alternate universe in which Nintendo’s mascot characters pilot a fleet of ships from the Star Wars film series, resulting in a Mario Kart mashup that turns fanboy dreams into reality.
Dark Pixel’s production puts Mario behind the controls of an X-Wing fighter, with Toad serving as the R2-D2 to Mario’s Luke Skywalker. The mashup only gets wilder from there, as a group of familiar competitors set out on a race that exceeds the already ridiculous standards set by the Mario Kart series’ twisting tracks.
Other racers and craft featured in Star Kart include Luigi at the helm of a Y-Wing, Yoshi in an A-wing interceptor, and Bowser and Bowser Jr. each controlling TIE Series starfighters. The video’s attention to detail extends to heroic characters piloting rebel vehicles, while Bowser and his son control fighters normally reserved for the Empire elite.
Shy Guy also makes an understated cameo as the pilot behind Boba Fett’s Slave I ship, matching the bounty hunter’s reticent nature with a limited amount of voiced dialog. Once again, the attention to detail is quite remarkable.
The video does more than pay tribute to specific characters and vehicles, however. Shortly after the race starts, competitors equip themselves with an arsenal of weaponry plucked from the Mario Kart universe. Among other things, it’s interesting to see that Mario Kart’s infamous banana peels have just as dramatic an effect on Imperial craft as they do on terrestrial go-karts.
Nintendo’s Mario Kart series has remained a favorite among gamers over the last two decades, with the most recent series entry, Mario Kart 8, arriving for the Wii U in 2014. Mario Kart 8 in particular introduced a number of elements from other Nintendo properties, including tracks based on the publisher’s F-Zero, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda universes.
Mario Kart 8 also added The Legend of Zelda’s Link as a playable character, along with Animal Crossing’s Villager and Isabelle. In addition, a sizable amount of downloadable content premiered in the wake of the game’s release, adding oddball vehicles like Mercedes-Benz GLA, 1957 SL 300 Roadster, and 1934 W25 Silver Arrow.
Mario Kart 8 showed that Nintendo is willing to explore outside the series’ established conventions in order to court crossover appeal, so the race featured in Star Kart may not be as far-fetched a possibility as it initially seems. C’mon Nintendo, get Disney on the phone. Let’s make this happen for real.
