Screw it, Mario Kart in Microsoft Flight Simulator, why not
Wahoo!
Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting an official racing mode soon, but composer and environment artist Illogicoma had their own very bright idea: what about flying these beauties through some Mario Kart 8 tracks? Having the skills to make it a reality, this pioneering aviator just went ahead and did it (thanks, Kotaku).
So anyway I thought mario kart 8 tracks would also be fun when you play them in flight simulator so I put mario kart 8 tracks in flight simulator and played them and it was true. pic.twitter.com/Gbn5kRfg92August 29, 2021
The below video is timestamped to the point where Illogicoma and chums get down to the serious business of taking some planes around Mario Kart tracks. As they note themselves, planes were not exactly built for karting tracks (and vice-versa), so there's some shonkiness going on with the collision detection and turns that are impossible to make with the game's mechanics.
It's particularly nice to see planes flying around Rainbow Road, for some odd reason. As Illogicoma would be the first to say, this mod is something they hacked-together for a laugh, it's a bit rough, and thus currently unavailable for download. However the attention it's garnered has led to them considering what to do with the work.
"As a proof of concept, [the mod is] not available right now," writes Illogicoma. "Sorry!" The video description adds "I really wouldn't be happy releasing it in the current state (it wasn't actually built as a proper package—we loaded from source) and I don't have masses of time to spend on it, but I would like to see about making this a bit more polished and maybe adding some more tracks. Never say never, but don't expect a big drop anytime soon." With a nice smiley face at the end.
Should it happen, we'll be up there in the clouds at Wario Stadium. In the meantime, here's the best Microsoft Flight Simulator mods you can play now.
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Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."