Tag Archives: Mario

The Greatest Racing Game…

…Is not Forza, Gran Turismo, or some other ultra-lifelike simulator. It’s Mario Kart, specifically on the ancient N64 console. Because where else can a dinosaur annihilate an Italian plumber with a dead tortoise? Exactly.

Flickr’s cshowd has captured the vintage Mario Kart madness wonderfully, and although his characters from the iconic video game are only built in digital form, if anything their slightly pixelated appearance is more appropriate!

There’re more to see of Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Mushroom and the other Mario Kart characters at his photostream – click the link above and fire that green shell!

Itsa Me… Anti-Gravity Mario!

People have been lobbing green shells at one another for three decades, and the glorious carnage that is Mario Kart is just as appealing now as ever!

Mario Kart 8 was released in 2014, enabling Mario and his assortment of fellow racers to hover in ‘anti-gravity’ mode for the first time. And you could still lob green shells.

Cue Stephan Froden, who has recreated everyone’s favourite Italian plumber and his anti-gravity go-kart from nearly 23,000 LEGO bricks.

There are LED lights inside as well as motorised movements, and there’s more to see of Stephan’s wonderful homage to Mario Kart 8 at Ryan McNaught’s ‘Brickvention 2022’ album on Flickr, of which Stephan’s model and many other equally stupendous creations are part. Click the link above to lob your green shell!

Itsa Me – Mario!

And Ima here to ruin your day!

No one wants to be blue shelled, but it looks like we’re going to be thanks to Cecilie Fritzvold‘s ‘Iron Builder’ entry. Mario’s kart might just be two wheels, a steering wheel, and an ‘M’ badge for all we can see, but so wonderfully edited is this shot it’s all it needs.

Join the race via the link above and cross your fingers for a Starman power-up!

Itsa Me, Mario! For Some Reason…

LEGO have had a lot of officially licensed themes over the years. Some have been marvellous, including the current tie-up with a multitude of vehicle manufacturers to recreate real-world vehicles (keep these coming LEGO!), whereas some… Micky Mouse? Pirates of the Caribbean? Scooby Doo? Even we’d forgotten about the last two.

The new Nintendo Mario theme is, we fear, going to drop straight into whatever the equivalent of a Bargain Bucket is for LEGO sets. Still, this most tenuous of upcoming partnerships hasn’t stopped TLCB regular SP_LINEUP from building his own Mario-themed model, creating this neat Mario Kart complete with a brick-built Italian plumber on board.

Neither has the absurdity of LEGO’s newly licensed theme stopped fellow Flickrist BenBuildsLego from creating his own Mario-themed MOC either, with his admittedly rather wonderful homage to some of Mario Kart 64’s most infamous tracks, including the perilously difficult ‘Rainbow Road’ which makes us nervous just looking at it.

Click the links in the text above to fire up your engine and to fire that red shell, whilst we await LEGO’s new theme with minimal excitement.

 

Itsa Me – Mario!

Lego Mario Kart

First appearing in 1981’s ‘Donkey Kong’, Mario the dumpy Italian plumber has had quite a life; rescuing princesses, collecting gold, featuring in over 200 video games, and in doing so becoming the single most successful video game franchise of all time.

His highpoint (in our opinion) came in 1992 on the SNES, when he took a break from rescuing princesses in castles to start his own racing series. ‘Mario Kart’ is very probably the greatest racing game ever made, pitting a variety of unlikely characters together in a gloriously whimsical race for glory.

This brilliant depiction of Mario’s finest hour comes from polywen of Flickr, who has created a marvellous cuboid ‘Brickheadz’ style Mario, his go-kart, and a green shell in Lego form. Click the link above to join the race for 150cc Cup!

Itsa Me… Mario!

Lego Mario Kart

It’s everyone’s favourite Italian plumber! Unfortunately he looks like he’s about to spin off the edge of rainbow road courtesy of that cunningly dropped banana skin. You can join builder Cecilie Fritzvold by frantically pressing the L and R buttons, or alternatively you can click the link above.