Atari Karts

Atari Karts is a kart racing video game developed by Miracle Designs and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in North America on December 22, 1995, and Europe on January 1996. In the game, the players take control of one of several playable characters, each with differing capabilities. One or two players race against computer controlled characters in four cups consisting of multiple tracks over four difficulty levels. During races, the players can obtain power ups placed at predetermined points in the tracks and use them to gain an advantage. It plays similarly to Super Mario Kart and features Bentley Bear, main protagonist of the arcade game Crystal Castles (1983). Atari Karts started production when Belgian programmers Filip Hautekeete and Peter Vermeulen received a development kit for the Jaguar from Atari, creating a demo featuring an emulated interpretation of the Mode 7 graphics mode seen in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Impressed with the demo, Atari decided to make a game that combined F Zero and Super Mario Kart with a cutesy atmosphere, suggesting the usage of Bentley Bear and other Atari characters that did not make it into the final release. Atari Karts garnered mixed reception from critics and retrospective commentarists, all of which compared it to Super Mario Kart. Miracle Designs began development on a sequel after release but never moved forward beyond the planning phase, however, Merlin Racing (2000) for Nuon is considered a spiritual successor to the game. In 2022, the game was included as part of the Atari 50 compilation.

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. The team wanted to create video games after visiting Visual Impact, a Ghent based game developer 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 the company's 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.

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. The game was also featured in a promotional recording sent by Atari to video game retail stores on October 9, and showcased 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 on January 1996. After its release on the market, Miracle Designs began working on a sequel to the game 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. 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.

Atari Karts garnered 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.