Wacky Wheels screenshot (Steam Deck)

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1. Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Saturday, 16-Dec-2023 12:25:16 UTC Chris Trottier

   Released in 1994, Wacky Wheels is a kart racer. It is the first game in the Wacky Wheels series.

   We don’t need a story for this game. All you need to know is that a bunch of cute animals are competing for the podium. There’s a tiger, an elephant, a shark, and more!

   This was a title published by Apogee. I often wonder if this game would have been more well known if they put well-known Apogee characters like Duke Nukem and Commander Keen in this game. Nevertheless, the decision to use animals certainly hit their target demographic.

   You see, in 1994, many kids didn’t have a Super Nintendo (SNES). Parents often told their young whippersnappers, “We have a PC that can do everything – go play your games on there.”

   And believe me, lots of PC gaming kids envied Super Mario Kart. There was not much like it on PC. Then Wacky Wheels came along.

   Is Wacky Wheels as good as Super Mario Kart? Not at all. But for a cheap shareware title with gamepad support – that also had split screen multiplayer – this was a godsend for all those kids who only gamed on PC.

   That’s right, not only could you play Wacky Wheels with a keyboard, but you could also hook up a Gravis PC GamePad. Not all PC games did that back then. Even now, Wacky Wheels controls spectacularly with a modern gamepad, and let me tell you, it works like a dream!

   The courses are not as varied as Super Mario Kart, but Wacky Wheels makes up for this with many game modes.

   You can choose the speed of your karts (or “lawnmowers”, as the game calls them), which drastically changes your winning strategy. If you go for the 12HP karts, you’ll be relying more on your handbrake; with the 6HP karts, lots of power-ups are a requirement.

   If you have young kids, there’s a “kid mode” that makes the competitive play more kid-friendly.

   Multiplayer is really where Wacky Wheels shined. You had a two-player race as well as a two-player shoot-out. But there was also Comm-Bat play – which allowed you to compete with another player remotely through a LAN. Again, this was available in 1994 – it would be decades before Nintendo would offer such a feature with Super Mario Kart!

   Graphically, Wacky Wheels wasn’t as good as its SNES counterpart. The pixels were more chunky, and the frame-rate wasn’t as smooth. But there’s a reason for that. Wacky Wheels was a $5 shareware title that was intended to be played even on a 386 CPU.

   It’s the sound department where Wacky Wheels really shines. It’s full of SoundBlaster goodness. And wow! Does the music get my heart pumping when I’m in the midst of a race!

   To run Wacky Wheels on modern hardware, you need a 1.8Ghz single core CPU and 512MB of RAM. However, if you want to run this on DOS, you need a 386 CPU, 4MB of RAM, and 6.9MB of space. Wacky Wheels has native compatibility for Windows, Mac, and Linux – although the Steam version doesn’t run on Linux natively. Nevertheless, the Steam version runs well on Linux via Proton. On a Steam Deck, it is fantastic.

   Wacky Wheels is a PC exclusive. It has never been released on mobile or console platforms.

   There’s no microtransactions, neither is there DLC.

   Beavis-Soft developed Wacky Wheels. They made a previous game called Phylox, but this was their last game.

   There was some hijinx involved with the development of Wacky Wheels. The eagle-eyed among you might notice this has a resemblance to Skunny Kart. That’s because they share some of the same code. Regardless, Skunny Kart is based on an earlier version of Wacky Wheels – which is why most people prefer Wacky Wheels.

   There’s also a modern remake called Wacky Wheels HD. I have not played it, and it’s no longer on Steam – though it is available free on itch.io.

   On Steam, Wacky Wheels has an 89% positive rating based on 77 reviews. Meanwhile, GOG.com gives this a 4.2/5 user rating. Most people love this for nostalgic reasons, as it gives them fond memories of gaming as a child. Detractors feel that it has not held up to the modern era.

   Personally, I feel like Wacky Wheels has indeed held up. Sure, it’s not the best kart racer ever – not by a long shot. Yet, the controls are tight, and the competition is still fierce. And just look at it. Wacky Wheels is full of DOS goodness!

   Wacky Wheels sells for C$5.49 on Steam. Meanwhile, GOG.com sells it for C$8.19, though it has a -79% discount at C$1.69.

   I recommend it – perhaps not for everyone, but definitely for anyone who has a fondness for DOS gaming. There are more beautiful, more technically impressive kart racers out there. But how many of them feature VGA graphics with sweet SoundBlaster tunes? And how many of them allow you to control a cute panda who throws hedgehogs at the competition? If this appeals to you, Wacky Wheels is your ticket!