The Rainbow Road to Smash - Mario Kart Riders for Smash 5

[Ben Holt]

That's right! Mario Kart, despite being a major AAA game, has no direct character references in Smash Bros.
The idea came to me while I was making my dream roster, and I noticed that there are so many Mario characters that are simply too, well, canonically weak to be serious fighters. You may say that Mario has too many characters already, but with Pokemon and Fire Emblem always getting new character representation, Mario needs to reestablish his dominance as the most popular video game franchise of all time. And isn't this just the Sakurai thing to do?

Skepitcal? Well, consider that Mario in a Kart was playable as a costume in Super Mario Maker.
Sorry, that's all I got, but hey, it worked! Why not give Smash a go?

Moveset:
B: Banana - A simple banana throw, just like Diddy Kong's, only thrown forward. Can be B-reversed.

B>: Mushroom Boost - A simple forward boost that can be charged similar to Ike's, Luigi's, and Pikachu's side B moves. Can be used for recovery.

B^: Lakitu - Lakitu fishes for the Kart and carries it for a short time. Does no damage.

Bv: Item Box / Shell - Summons a Green, Red, or Blue Shell to be thrown. The item box take a moment to spawn an item (about as long as in Mario Kart when mashing the item button), but it charges while moving, and can be cancelled by shielding. To keep balance, they would break as soon as they come in contact with anything. They would all work slightly differently than the standard Smash items. Green Shell, which has an 80% chance of appearing, works just like a green shell in Smash, but with the instant breaking mechanic, so no bouncing. Red Shell, which has a 15% chance of appearing would work as it did in Melee, only exploding when it makes contact with a character, rather than juggling. Possible kill move around 100%. Blue Shell, which has a 5% chance of appearing would work exactly as it does now in Smash 4. I'm not sure if this would be broken, as I've only experienced it in Single player and found it easy enough to dodge, but that's not to say that a possible Shy Guy main in the future couldn't exploit it, but it seems alright at 5%.

Final Smash: Bullet Bill - Turns the Kart into a Bullet Bill that can be controlled to rack up damage and KOs.

Normal Moves:
A: Piranha Plant Bite
A (repeated): Piranha Plant Bites in rapid succession.
Side Tilt: Slight acceleration attack with a small amount of forward momentum
Down Tilt: Tanooki Tail Spin
Up Tilt: Glider shoots out and upward.
Dash Attack: Drift that shoots sparks forward then returns to initial position.

Smash Moves:
Side Smash: Slams Green Shell directly downward, breaking instantly.
Up Smash: Super Horn has a medium sided hitbox above the driver's head
Down Smash: POW Block Small shockwave similar to Charizard Down Smash

Aerials:
Neutral Air: Spins Green Shells around that disappear if they do not hit anything.
Back Air: Exhaust pipes shoot sparks behind the driver and provides a slight forward boost, like ROB's bair.
Up Air: Green Shell thrown upward.
Down Air: Green Sheel thrown downward. Can spike if it hits near the beginning of the move.

Grab and Pummel: Piranha Plant chews on the opponent and spits them out.

I'm not going to even try to give percentages to moves, as I am not at all qualified to balance them.

Spoiler: Alts:

 

[FamicomDisk]

It's a neat idea, but most attacks would have to be based off of slamming opponents with the kart - which Bowser Jr. already does with the Clown Car - or items from the series, many of which already are already available in Smash. Right now, the banana, Bob-Omb, Green Shell, Red Shell, Blue Shell, POW Block, Lightning Bolt, Mushroom, Star, and Tanooki Tail already appear as items, with many functioning based off of their Mario Kart appearances. It's not impossible, but I'm not sure if they'd want to have so many attacks based off of items already in the game.

I do like quite a few of the ideas here, though! The Lakitu recovery and Item Box moves are fun. I just think it might be somewhat difficult to form an original moveset around that won't clash with the items available.

 

[Sailor Waddle Dee]

At first I thought this was a silly idea
but then as i read through i realized, this IS a silly idea! and that's what makes it so good!

While yes, a lot of items from Mario Kart are already items in Smash, and Bowser Jr. already has the vehicle combat concept. this could still be a pretty neat "character" and a way to utilize more of the minor mushroom kingdom denizens. Do I think it'll ever happen? probably not. but kudos for creativity.

 

[ErenJager]

Honestly I could see this happening.

Since it would essentially be a mech character in a similar vein as Bowser Jr. I could see this being a way to include some of the C list Mario characters.

Or perhaps it would be for Baby Mario and you could palette swap Baby Mario with any other Baby character.

 

[Wiziliz]

Honestly I could see this happening.

Since it would essentially be a mech character in a similar vein as Bowser Jr. I could see this being a way to include some of the C list Mario characters.

Or perhaps it would be for Baby Mario and you could palette swap Baby Mario with any other Baby character.

I'd hope it wouldn't be Baby Mario. I think Standard Kart would be a funnier name for the character. Actually... Waluigi would be a good rep for Mario Kart. People would complain that he isn't representing the other spin-off games though.

 

[BonafideFella]

I think the Mini Bomb Kart would be a good alternative to this idea. It's an established part of the Mario Kart lore and could forbode all those cool concepts you mentioned.