Atari Karts

Atari Karts is a kart racing game similar to Super Mario Kart featuring single-player and multiplayer modes, where the main goal is to finish a race ahead of other racers controlled by the computer and other players. Before each race, a traffic light will appear to start countdown and the race begins when the light turns green. The players take control of one of seven characters available at the start of the game, each with differing capabilities, and drive karts around tracks from a third-person perspective behind the player's kart. When selecting a character, another player can join at any given time. Among the roster of racers, Bentley Bear from Crystal Castles (1983) is a playable character. The players can access an options menu where various settings can be changed such as controls and the type of terrain display when racing. The players race against computer-controlled characters in three cups consisting of multiple tracks over four difficulty levels. The player can access the "Miracle Race" challenge by winning all of the three cups at the selected difficulty level of challenge, but only the easiest difficulty is initially available. In the Miracle Race, one or two players race against one of four boss characters and when defeated, they become playable characters. There are 11 playable characters in total. As with Super Mario Kart, each cup consists of five-lap races and each one takes place on a distinct track, with more being unlocked on higher difficulties but in order to continue through a cup, a fourth or higher position must be achieved in each race. If a player finishes in fifth to eighth position, they are "ranked out" and the race must be replayed at the cost of one of a limited number of lives until a placing of fourth or above is earned. During the gameplay, there are power-ups placed at predetermined points in the tracks as tiles. These power-ups give special abilities that can either benefit or harm a player's kart if the vehicle passes over them. Some of the power-ups include a rabbit icon that give players a speed boost for a few seconds, as well as a red icon that reverses the vehicle's controls for brief period of time. During two-player races, a green icon that reverses the opponent's controls is the only offensive power-up available on the game. If the player has no lives when they rank out, the game is over, though players can pick up a heart icon placed in a fixed spot of the track for an extra life. The game features support for the ProController. == Development ==

Atari Karts was developed by the Belgian group Miracle Designs. The team wanted to make video games after visiting Visual Impact, a Ghent-based development company founded in 1994 by Kris Van Lier and Claude Verstraeten, who were working on Hyper Force for Atari Jaguar. They walked into the Atari booth at the ECTS and applied to be developers, receiving a Jaguar development kit and resulting in Miracle Designs' formation. Impressed with the demo, Atari decided to make a title that combined F-Zero and Super Mario Kart with a cutesy atmosphere, becoming the starting point for the game's production. Neither Gillet nor the people responsible for the artwork are listed in the game's credits, with the instruction manual just referring to them as the "Miracle Designs Team", though Duval and Jen Smith provided additional graphics and sound. Smith was also responsible for the cover illustration. == Release ==

The game was formally announced in early 1995 under the working titles Kart and Super Kart. It was also previewed under the name Super Karts, which led to confusion in a supplementary 1995 issue by Edge magazine that Virgin Interactive's SuperKarts was being converted to the Jaguar. Additional internal documentation from and magazines listed the game under the name Atari Kart, being advertised with a September 1995 launch window. It was first showcased to attendees at the 1995 ECTS Autumn event. The game was also featured in a promotional recording sent by Atari to video game retail stores on October 9, and shown during an event hosted by Atari dubbed "Fun 'n' Games Day" under its final title, Atari Karts. The game was first published in North America on December 22, 1995, and later in Europe in January 1996. In 2022, Atari Karts was included as part of the Atari 50 compilation for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Xbox One, marking its first re-release. In 2025, publisher Songbird Productions, in association with Atari, made a re-release of the game limited to 250 copies. == Reception ==

Atari Karts garnered a mixed reception from critics, all of which compared it to Super Mario Kart. GameFans Dan Granett found the game visually impressive for Atari Jaguar standards, citing the use of details, colors, and parallax-scrolling backgrounds. Nevertheless, Granett criticized its lack of depth and easy completion, as well as the soundtrack. Marc Abramson of the French ST Magazine lauded the game for its pastel-toned visuals, music, sound effects, controls, and two-player mode. However, Abramson lamented the lack of support with the JagLink and Team Tap peripherals for more players, and criticized the positioning of power-ups on the tracks. Next Generation agreed that it was chiefly geared to a younger audience and lacked sophistication, and further criticized that the various tracks are visually different but handle and feel the same. However, they said the game "does have a certain charm that makes it hard to avoid." Author Andy Slaven regarded Atari Karts as one of the best racing games on the Jaguar. Christian Roth and Nils of the German website neXGam gave the positive remarks to the game's mode 7-style visuals and two-player mode, but its controls and lack of battle mode were seen as negative points. == Legacy ==

After the release of Atari Karts on the market, Miracle Designs began working on a sequel but never moved forward beyond the planning phase. Merlin Racing, a 2000 racing game created by Miracle Designs and released for Nuon, is considered a spiritual successor to the game. In 2003, Miracle Designs split the game's content across four separate titles released for PlayStation: Rascal Racers, Miracle Space Race, ATV Racers, and XS Airboat Racing. Miracle Designs would later work on titles such as Hooters Road Trip and an adaptation based on the 2003 action comedy film Taxi 3. == References ==