You Can Now Play Mario Kart In GTA Online
The wild and wacky world of video game crossovers has taken another big leap forward, as Grand Theft Auto players are seeing what it would be like if Mario Kart came to GTA. Get ready on the starting line, prepare to burn some rubber, and polish those blue shells.
While Grand Theft Auto V came out in 2013, its ongoing success is largely down to GTA Online helping expand the world of San Andreas into the genre of online multiplayer.
GTA Online has changed a lot over the years, and although the introduction of Heists in 2015 was probably the biggest overhaul, continued updates have kept things fresh - despite what Shroud thinks. Now, you can play your very own GTA version of Mario Kart.
How can you play Mario Kart in GTA Online?
Although it's got nothing to do with the release of Fast and Furious 9, GTA Online's Los Santos Tuners update includes the addition of the LS Car Meet. Here, petrolheads can get together and celebrate all things to do with cars.
One Mario Kart fan has found another use for the update, and quickly put Nintendo's gaming franchise into this world of crime capers.
On the r/gtaonline subreddit, redditor u/iosgamer2day showed off a clip that featured them and a group of others holding their own Mario Kart-inspired race on the new underground racetrack. Hammering home the Mario Kart comparisons, the players are even dressed like Nintendo favourites including Mario, Bowser, and Princess Peach.
Just like later Mario Kart games, the GTA Online crossover lets you pick between racing in go-karts or a motorbike. Although the signature item boxes with bananas, lightning bolts, and shells are sadly missing, there's all the usual chaos of a Mario Kart race. The clip is appropriately set to the Coconut Mall track from Mario Kart Wii.
What else is in the Los Santos Tuners update?
The motoring madness doesn't end there. The Los Santos Tuners update has 17 new cars - including the Finka RT3000, Annis Remus, and the Vapid Dominator GTT being added at a later date. In the LS Car Meet, up to 30 of you can meet in a warehouse and show off your hot rods.
Being your very own Dom Toretto, you can then mod your cars in real-time and take them for a spin. Of course, the Mario Kart version means you're a humanoid Donkey Kong. Players are loving Los Santos Tuners, with Rockstar confirming it's pulled in the most players ever for an update, and even beat the Cayo Perico Heist.
In a thank you post, the developer said: "A huge thank you to our amazing GTA Online community — we're extremely humbled to share that more players joined GTA Online for the launch of Los Santos Tuners than any update ever! In thanks, we’re dropping GTA$250K in everyone’s accounts shortly. See you on the streets of LS!”
Interestingly, this isn't the first time Mario Kart has appeared in GTA Online. In 2015, one modder added an impressive Mario Kart mod to GTA V and gave us a taste of checkered flag victory. Finally, players on the GTA RP NoPixel Server recently had to face off against a rogue Wario who'd invaded the map. If they'd waited a little longer, they could've bested that moustachioed menace in a race.
