Ludography
66/100
Players22 ratings
More scores
Metacritic usersuser score
56/100
GameFAQsEasy
3.72/5
Player reviews
89% positive91 reviews
Runs on
Windows, Mac
Price
US$4.99

Where to get it

Wacky Wheels cover

1994 · Racing · Vehicular combat

Wacky Wheels

Nothing beats the excitement of playing against other human racers, and in Wacky Wheels, you can do just that. You and a friend can play at the same computer or you can race against challenging computer opponents who have adjustable degrees of difficulty. Either way, Wacky Wheels is packed with the features you want: non-stop action and variety, heart-racing music and furious 3D point-of-view vivid VGA graphics and animations. It's so fun, you'll hate to finish.

Released
17 October 1994
Platforms
MS-DOSWindowsmacOS
Genres
RacingVehicular combat
Developers
—
Publishers
Apogee Software
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
ActionFantasy
Country
United States
Age ratings
USK 6
Languages
English
Time to beat
1hmain story4hcompletionist

About

Wacky Wheels is a kart racing video game released by Apogee Software for MS-DOS in 1994. The game strongly resembles Super Mario Kart from the Super NES, but the karts are described as lawn mowers and the eight playable characters (panda, moose, pelican, raccoon, shark, camel, elephant and tiger) are animals from a zoo.

The game was re-released on GOG.com with support for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS on August 20, 2014, then for Steam on May 6, 2015 as part of the 3D Realms Anthology.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

While racing, players can collect hedgehogs, bombs and other objects that can be used to shoot or distract opponents. The game features both single and multiplayer play, with split-screen, modem, or direct serial link. In multiplayer mode, two human players can either race against each other or battle in special arenas where the sole purpose is to hit the opponent a certain number of times with hedgehogs. This last gaming mode, called Wacky shoot-out, is similar to the classic deathmatch mode from first-person shooter games or the Battle Mode of Super Mario Kart.

The game was and still is distributed as shareware, with only a few characters and courses active. Registration is required to unlock the remaining characters and courses. It is also the first game to feature a Dopefish cameo appearance.

Development

Developers Andy Edwardson and Shaun Gadalla of Wacky Wheels were inspired by Super Mario Kart, and wished to create a similar experience on the personal computer. During development, he sent out a playable demo that included its source code to Copysoft to canvas interest in funding the project. They rejected it and instead Apogee began funding development. However, just prior to the release of Wacky Wheels, Copysoft released a similar game titled Skunny Kart. Edwardson and Gadalla accused Copysoft of copyright infringement, noting the similarity in the games, but no legal action was ever taken.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
MS-DOS17 October 1994Worldwide
macOS5 May 2014Worldwide
Windows5 May 2014Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Included in
3D Realms Anthology

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Genres

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.