16th July 2014, 10:24 PM
Nintendo used to be one of the best racing game developers and publishers in the business! This was true for several decades... and then came the current generation, and Nintendo abruptly abandoned everything other than kart racing games. In volume Nintendo's racing game library was its largest on the N64, but the Gamecube and Wii both had some great games to partially make up for the lesser number of titles in total. On handhelds the Game Boy Advance has the most racing games from Nintendo; other handhelds all have only a few each, though the 3DS is the only one with nothing but Mario Kart and a NES remake, unsurprisingly. It's the same on the Wii, only Mario Kart and NES Excitebike stuff in NES Remix. It was too bad that Nintendo had fewer racing games on GC than N64, but at least the top ones were still great. On the Wii the games were still good, again, but sadly F-Zero, Wave Race, and 1080 all permanently (so far) vanished. Excite did return with three quality titles, though, which was great.
But then came the current generation, and so far at least, there has been nothing but Mario Kart. It's horrible! Yes, I know that the Mario Kart games now are some of Nintendo's best-selling games, but I don't think that games like Wave Race or F-Zero compete with Mario Kart for sales! They're completely different, and just as great -- or better, in the case of F-Zero -- things. There is a rumor that Nintendo might be working on a new Diddy Kong Racing game, but that's another kart racer of course, and would not fix this issue on its own.
I hope Nintendo reverses this soon, because we need Nintendo racing games again beyond just the kart racers. I mean, I like Mario Kart a lot, but I like Wave Race or F-Zero more.
Here's a list of Nintendo-published racing games, to show what I mean. Kart racers bolded. Games are first-party (developed by wholly owned Nintendo teams) unless noted with a 'second party' (partially owned teams, ie Rare or Left Field) or 'third party' (outside studios contracted to make a game for Nintendo, or making a game Nintendo exclusively published).
Arcade
--
Vs. Excitebike
Vs. Mach Rider
F-Zero AX (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (third party developed)
All three Cruis'n arcade games were also licensed by Nintendo, who owned (or owns?) rights to the Cruis'n name.
NES
--
Mach Rider (J version supports Famicom Basic Keyboard + Famicom Data Recorder for saving custom track data)
Excitebike (J version supports Famicom Basic Keyboard + Famicom Data Recorder for saving custom track data)
R.C. Pro-Am (third party developed)
F1 Race (J only)
Slalom (third party developed)
Nintendo also published the third-party game Rad Racer in the US and Europe, but not the original Japanese release.
Famicom Disk System (J only)
--
Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race (not the same as the Famicom cart game)
Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (supports Famicom 3D System 3d shutter glasses)
Vs. Excitebike
Game Boy
--
F-1 Race
Super R.C. Pro-Am (third party developed)
Wave Race
Nintendo also published the third-party game Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing in Europe, but not the later US release.
SNES
--
F-Zero
Super Mario Kart
Stunt Race FX (third party developed)
Uniracers (third party developed)
Mini Yonku Let's & Go!! Power WGP 2 (J) (this is sort of a "racing" game, maybe)
Nintendo also published the third-party game Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing in Europe, though not in other regions (it was first published in Japan.)
Virtual Boy
--
None, but one, Zero Racers, was near-completion when cancelled
SNES Satellaview (J only)
--
BS F-Zero (port of the original SNES game, separated into three parts by cup)
BS F-Zero Ace Cup (new cup with new cars)
BS Excitebike Bunbun Mario Battle Stadium (in four parts)
N64
--
Cruis'n USA (third party developed)
Wave Race 64
Mario Kart 64
Diddy Kong Racing (second party developed)
1080 Degrees Snowboarding
Cruis'n World (third party developed)
F-Zero X
Ridge Racer 64
Excitebike 64 (second party developed) (supports the Expansion Pak)
Mickey's Racing USA (second party developed)
Star Wars Episode I Racer (third party developed and published, supports Expansion Pak) was exclusively distributed by Nintendo, though Lucasarts did technically publish the game. Nintendo also released a system bundle with the game and an N64 in the US.
Nintendo also published the third-party game F-1 World Grand Prix in Europe in Japan (though not the US, where it released first), and published the Europe-exclusive N64 version of F-1 World Grand Prix II as well, though the game was published by other publishers on other platforms. Cruis'n Exotica was also licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights, though Midway self-published the game.
Game Boy Color
--
Mickey's Racing Challenge (second party developed)
Star Wars Episode I Racer (third party developed)
Mickey's Racing USA (second party developed)
[The two Mickey's Racing games are kart racers in theme, but in gameplay they're probably as much or more R.C. Pro-Am as they are Mario Kart, so I don't know if they should really be bolded or not...)
Nintendo 64DD (J only)
--
F-Zero X Expansion Kit (requires a J copy of F-Zero X for the N64)
Game Boy Advance
--
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (third party developed)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
F-Zero: GP Legend (third party developed)
F-Zero Climax (J only) (third party developed)
Bit Generations: Dotstream (J only) (third party developed)
Classic NES Series: Excitebike
E-Reader Excitebike (cards for E-Reader card-reader accessory)
Nintendo also published Top Gear Rally in the US and maybe Europe, but not the original Japanese version. Also Cruis'n Velocity was licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights..
Gamecube
--
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Kirby's Air Ride
F-Zero GX (third party developed)
1080 Avalanche
Nintendo DS
--
Mario Kart DS
Pokemon Dash (second? party)
Diddy Kong Racing DS (third party developed)
Wii
--
Excite Truck (third party developed)
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (third party developed)
Mario Kart Wii
Excitebots: Trick Racing (third party developed)
Wii Sports Resort (jetski minigame, particularly)
Excitebike World Rally (WiiWare Shop Exclusive)
Art Style: light trax (third party developed) (WiiWare Shop Exclusive) (a followup to Dotstream on the GBA)
Virtual Console: Excitebike (NES), Mach Rider (NES), F-Zero (SNES), Super Mario Kart (SNES), Mario Kart 64 (N64), F-Zero X (N64), Cruis'n USA (N64), Wave Race 64 (N64)
Also Cruis'n was licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights.
DSi
--
Crash-Course Domo (third party developed) (DSiWare Shop Exclusive)
White-Water Domo (third party developed) (DSiWare Shop Exclusive)
3DS
--
Mario Kart 7
3D Excitebike (A port of the NES original but with 3d layers added to enhance the graphics)
Virtual Console: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA), Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA), Mach Rider (NES)
Wii U
--
Mario Kart 8
NES Remix (Excitebike remix stages only)
Virtual Console: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA), Mach Rider (NES; U only so far), Excitebike (NES), F-Zero (SNES), Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Is anything missing?
Mario Kart is one of the great racing game series for sure, but F-Zero is my favorite Nintendo racing game franchise. F-Zero, F-Zero X, and F-Zero GX are all incredibly, incredibly great, some of the best racing games ever made. Wave Race 64 and Excitebike 64 are right up there near them. Other things, like Excite Truck and Excitebots, Wave Race: Blue Storm and 1080 Avalanche, Uniracers, R.C. Pro-Am, and more are also great fun games. From the SNES on, the games on the list above are consistently among the better non-sim racing games of their generations, and as I don't like sim racers, they're consistently among my favorites. And we've gone from that, to... nothing but Mario Kart and NES Excitebike re-releases. Argh! It's quite sad, and I hope this changes, soon! This E3 was great for Nintendo, but seeing Nintendo announce not one single racing game, with none currently announced either, was the one downside to an otherwise great show. If that DKR sequel rumor is true I'm sure it'll be fun, but Nintendo needs to go back to making racing games beyond just their successful kart racers! Other publishers just don't always make the kinds of games Nintendo has, and their absence is noted. Losing Wave Race, 1080, and F-Zero on the Wii was bad enough, but this is exponentially worse.
But then came the current generation, and so far at least, there has been nothing but Mario Kart. It's horrible! Yes, I know that the Mario Kart games now are some of Nintendo's best-selling games, but I don't think that games like Wave Race or F-Zero compete with Mario Kart for sales! They're completely different, and just as great -- or better, in the case of F-Zero -- things. There is a rumor that Nintendo might be working on a new Diddy Kong Racing game, but that's another kart racer of course, and would not fix this issue on its own.
I hope Nintendo reverses this soon, because we need Nintendo racing games again beyond just the kart racers. I mean, I like Mario Kart a lot, but I like Wave Race or F-Zero more.
Here's a list of Nintendo-published racing games, to show what I mean. Kart racers bolded. Games are first-party (developed by wholly owned Nintendo teams) unless noted with a 'second party' (partially owned teams, ie Rare or Left Field) or 'third party' (outside studios contracted to make a game for Nintendo, or making a game Nintendo exclusively published).
Arcade
--
Vs. Excitebike
Vs. Mach Rider
F-Zero AX (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (third party developed)
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (third party developed)
All three Cruis'n arcade games were also licensed by Nintendo, who owned (or owns?) rights to the Cruis'n name.
NES
--
Mach Rider (J version supports Famicom Basic Keyboard + Famicom Data Recorder for saving custom track data)
Excitebike (J version supports Famicom Basic Keyboard + Famicom Data Recorder for saving custom track data)
R.C. Pro-Am (third party developed)
F1 Race (J only)
Slalom (third party developed)
Nintendo also published the third-party game Rad Racer in the US and Europe, but not the original Japanese release.
Famicom Disk System (J only)
--
Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race (not the same as the Famicom cart game)
Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (supports Famicom 3D System 3d shutter glasses)
Vs. Excitebike
Game Boy
--
F-1 Race
Super R.C. Pro-Am (third party developed)
Wave Race
Nintendo also published the third-party game Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing in Europe, but not the later US release.
SNES
--
F-Zero
Super Mario Kart
Stunt Race FX (third party developed)
Uniracers (third party developed)
Mini Yonku Let's & Go!! Power WGP 2 (J) (this is sort of a "racing" game, maybe)
Nintendo also published the third-party game Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing in Europe, though not in other regions (it was first published in Japan.)
Virtual Boy
--
None, but one, Zero Racers, was near-completion when cancelled
SNES Satellaview (J only)
--
BS F-Zero (port of the original SNES game, separated into three parts by cup)
BS F-Zero Ace Cup (new cup with new cars)
BS Excitebike Bunbun Mario Battle Stadium (in four parts)
N64
--
Cruis'n USA (third party developed)
Wave Race 64
Mario Kart 64
Diddy Kong Racing (second party developed)
1080 Degrees Snowboarding
Cruis'n World (third party developed)
F-Zero X
Ridge Racer 64
Excitebike 64 (second party developed) (supports the Expansion Pak)
Mickey's Racing USA (second party developed)
Star Wars Episode I Racer (third party developed and published, supports Expansion Pak) was exclusively distributed by Nintendo, though Lucasarts did technically publish the game. Nintendo also released a system bundle with the game and an N64 in the US.
Nintendo also published the third-party game F-1 World Grand Prix in Europe in Japan (though not the US, where it released first), and published the Europe-exclusive N64 version of F-1 World Grand Prix II as well, though the game was published by other publishers on other platforms. Cruis'n Exotica was also licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights, though Midway self-published the game.
Game Boy Color
--
Mickey's Racing Challenge (second party developed)
Star Wars Episode I Racer (third party developed)
Mickey's Racing USA (second party developed)
[The two Mickey's Racing games are kart racers in theme, but in gameplay they're probably as much or more R.C. Pro-Am as they are Mario Kart, so I don't know if they should really be bolded or not...)
Nintendo 64DD (J only)
--
F-Zero X Expansion Kit (requires a J copy of F-Zero X for the N64)
Game Boy Advance
--
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (third party developed)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
F-Zero: GP Legend (third party developed)
F-Zero Climax (J only) (third party developed)
Bit Generations: Dotstream (J only) (third party developed)
Classic NES Series: Excitebike
E-Reader Excitebike (cards for E-Reader card-reader accessory)
Nintendo also published Top Gear Rally in the US and maybe Europe, but not the original Japanese version. Also Cruis'n Velocity was licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights..
Gamecube
--
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Kirby's Air Ride
F-Zero GX (third party developed)
1080 Avalanche
Nintendo DS
--
Mario Kart DS
Pokemon Dash (second? party)
Diddy Kong Racing DS (third party developed)
Wii
--
Excite Truck (third party developed)
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (third party developed)
Mario Kart Wii
Excitebots: Trick Racing (third party developed)
Wii Sports Resort (jetski minigame, particularly)
Excitebike World Rally (WiiWare Shop Exclusive)
Art Style: light trax (third party developed) (WiiWare Shop Exclusive) (a followup to Dotstream on the GBA)
Virtual Console: Excitebike (NES), Mach Rider (NES), F-Zero (SNES), Super Mario Kart (SNES), Mario Kart 64 (N64), F-Zero X (N64), Cruis'n USA (N64), Wave Race 64 (N64)
Also Cruis'n was licensed by Nintendo since they own the IP rights.
DSi
--
Crash-Course Domo (third party developed) (DSiWare Shop Exclusive)
White-Water Domo (third party developed) (DSiWare Shop Exclusive)
3DS
--
Mario Kart 7
3D Excitebike (A port of the NES original but with 3d layers added to enhance the graphics)
Virtual Console: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA), Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA), Mach Rider (NES)
Wii U
--
Mario Kart 8
NES Remix (Excitebike remix stages only)
Virtual Console: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA), Mach Rider (NES; U only so far), Excitebike (NES), F-Zero (SNES), Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Is anything missing?
Mario Kart is one of the great racing game series for sure, but F-Zero is my favorite Nintendo racing game franchise. F-Zero, F-Zero X, and F-Zero GX are all incredibly, incredibly great, some of the best racing games ever made. Wave Race 64 and Excitebike 64 are right up there near them. Other things, like Excite Truck and Excitebots, Wave Race: Blue Storm and 1080 Avalanche, Uniracers, R.C. Pro-Am, and more are also great fun games. From the SNES on, the games on the list above are consistently among the better non-sim racing games of their generations, and as I don't like sim racers, they're consistently among my favorites. And we've gone from that, to... nothing but Mario Kart and NES Excitebike re-releases. Argh! It's quite sad, and I hope this changes, soon! This E3 was great for Nintendo, but seeing Nintendo announce not one single racing game, with none currently announced either, was the one downside to an otherwise great show. If that DKR sequel rumor is true I'm sure it'll be fun, but Nintendo needs to go back to making racing games beyond just their successful kart racers! Other publishers just don't always make the kinds of games Nintendo has, and their absence is noted. Losing Wave Race, 1080, and F-Zero on the Wii was bad enough, but this is exponentially worse.