TL;DR
- Atlas Arcade and Animated Subtitles have recreated a Mario Kart-like experience within YouTube.
- The creators were able to create the experience by using YouTube’s 360-degree spherical video feature.
- You can change your character by selecting different subtitles.
Even if you can’t afford a Nintendo Switch 2, you can still play Mario Kart, kind of. A pair of YouTube creators has put their brains together to make a Mario Kart-like experience playable on the video streaming service.
In one of the more creative endeavors on the platform, Atlas Arcade and Animated Subtitles have put together a fan-made interactive YouTube video that lets you control Mario and friends as you drive down Rainbow Road. If you’re on desktop, you’ll be able to swerve left and right, avoiding obstacles in your path, using keyboard controls. It’s a fairly pared-down experience compared to the real thing, but it’s an interesting experiment all the same.
To make this work, the creators took advantage YouTube’s 360-degree spherical video feature. This allows a user to change their perspective in the video. So instead of being in a fixed spot, the user can move left and right.
Another neat trick to point out is the subtitle menu. The creators managed to turn the subtitle menu into a character selector. Depending on the subtitle you choose, you can be Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Wario, or even Bowser.
If you decide to give this a try, don’t go in expecting a fully fleshed-out game. As it’s just a minute-long interactive video, it has its limits. You can’t pick up items in this experience, nor are there opponents to race against. However, it does serve as a nice little time waster if you have nothing else to do.
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