Kart Fighter

a.k.a. Master Fighter II / Master Fighter III

published by Ge De Industry in 1993? *, developed by Gouder / Hummer Team, running on Nintendo Entertainment System

type: fighting
genre: Cartoon, Mario universe
series: Mario
perspective: side view
player options: single player

languages: jpn

2.8/5

bootleg(s): Mario Fighter III / Super Fighter II / City Fighter IV

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Game description from Romhacking.net:

Okay, here’s a weird one. Kart Fighter is an unlicensed “pirate original” fighting game for the Famicom which features characters from Super Mario Kart beating the holy hell out of each other, Street Fighter style. Sound like Super Smash Bros? It shouldn’t. This game predates Nintendo’s own take on the genre by several years, and in fact could be cited as a source of inspiration for the creation of Smash Bros. Well, okay, maybe not. But still.

Anyway, Kart Fighter is…well, it’s actually really good, surprisingly. Some would go as far to say that it’s the best one-on-one fighting game on the NES, though its only serious competition is Joy Mech Fight, TMNT Tournament Fighters, and all that unplayable pirated crap like those “ports” of The King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, and the dreaded Cony versions of Street Fighter.

Among its bootlegged peers, though, Kart Fighter reigns supreme. The game positively reeks of effort - all character sprites are original and unique to this game, and are large, colorful, and well-animated. The gameplay isn’t perfect, but it’s at least existent, which is more than you can say for any other pirated fighting game ever made for the NES. It’s actually playable, for chrissake. PLAYABLE! Heavens!

It’s not an excellent game by any means, but its mere concept and the decent amount of quirk contained within (dig the game’s inexplicably capable and hot interpretation of Princess Peach) make Kart Fighter very much worth playing. If only for a few minutes.

And yes, the game has a two-player mode. Press left or right on controller 2 at the character select screen to enable it. Have a fun!

Unofficial English translation available:
www.geocities.com/dvdtranslations/
www.romhacking.net/