Mario Kart Arcade GP on Wii U – Don’t you think it’s time?

I still remember that pleasant surprise when finding a Mario Kart arcade cabinet in my local bowling centre. Once you were snug in your seat, a camera would take a picture of your face, to be used on-screen to identify you to other players. Although a nice touch, us Mario Kart fans weren’t exactly lining-up for this mug-shot feature…it was the new engine, unique tracks and exclusive playable characters that had us reaching for our change.

Mario Kart Arcade GP offers unique tracks and playable characters. We want it on Wii U!

So, isn’t it time to see the Mario Kart Arcade GP series on the Wii U store? Of course, they would have to be tweaked here and there due to difficulty settings and lasting appeal (arcade games are purely designed to suck-up money) but this would be yet another killer app that would help shift more Wii U consoles (especially with the success of Mario Kart 8).

Mario Kart Arcade GP spawned 3 games. GP, GP 2 and GP DX. Throughout this series, completely unique tracks, redesigned tracks, characters and modes helped enhance the arcade Mario Kart experience!

To the surprise of many, the Mario Kart Arcade GP series was developed by Namco. This not only lead to exclusive Pac-Man playable characters, but exclusive Mario Kart tracks that have never been recreated for any console or handheld version of Mario Kart. The latter alone, would make Mario Kart GP a superb addition to the Wii U store.

Mario Kart Arcade GP was developed by Namco. This allowed them to add exclusive Pac-Man characters to the Mario Kart world!

Mario Kart GP gave players a new engine and unique tracks. GP 2 added tracks, items and a couple more new playable characters. However, GP DX (this may be hard to find outside of Japan and the US) redesigned those unique tracks, added new modes and flying and underwater gameplay mechanics (similar to that seen in Mario kart 7).

Mario Kart GP has now been in arcades for more than 8 years! We’re sure you’ll agree that Nintendo would be doing themselves a huge favour porting the Mario Kart GP series to the Wii U store (or maybe even a retail release?). Lets hope legal issues with Namco don’t prevent this from happening, because this is one port that would really benefit the Wii U.