There is truly no experience quite like a Mario Kart game. The arcade action of boosting and drifting around corners while using items to your advantage is a ton of fun for people of any age. Unfortunately, that series will always be locked to Nintendo consoles. If you are a PlayStation owner, you will need to play one of the other games that emulate that experience. While there are not a lot of great choices for this, there are a few games that bring similar gameplay to Mario Kart and offer a good time playing. These are the best games like Mario Kart on PS4 and PS5.
The best racing games like Mario Kart on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
The original Crash Team Racing was the first game to truly compete with the Mario Kart series on the first PlayStation console. Nitro Fueled is a complete remake of that game with content from later CTR games and an in-game store filled with cosmetics if you want to spend a little extra money. The name of the game here is drifting. Once you understand how to get full use out of the boost mechanic from drifting, you will speed along each track.
Hot Wheels Unleashed
While Hot Wheels Unleashed is not actually a kart racer, it’s a really good arcade racer that lets you drive along the orange and blue tracks with iconic real-world Hot Wheels cars. There are no items to help you in races like the other games on this list, but you will need to drift around curves and choose the right paths to get to victory. Anyone who enjoyed these toys as a kid will find a lot of fun here.
Team Sonic Racing
Team Sonic Racing may not be as good as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on PlayStation 3, but this is the first racing game to actually focus on the “team” aspect of its name. Your placement in races will only play a part in your team’s overall placement. You can be the first to finish, but if you haven’t been helping your teammates finish at the front of the pack with you by giving them items and helping them with drafts, you can end up losing the race.
Honorable mentions
The following two games are not released as of this writing, but they have much better potential to offer a good kart racing experience than some other games on PS4 and PS5.
Disney Speedstorm
Disney Speedstorm has you play as classic Disney characters and take to the streets in karts. Characters on the starting roster include Mickey Mouse, Jack Sparrow, Hercules, Belle, and Mulan. We love the crossover potential this game has with how many memorable characters it can pull from. It is a free-to-play game, so if you love these properties, you can give it a try just by downloading it.
KartRider: Drift
KartRider: Drift is another upcoming free-to-play racer that doesn’t have the property power of Disney or Mario, but the series has been a powerhouse in Asian markets in the past. This release will be its first attempt at breaking big into the western and console markets.
