You Can Drive Through Tokyo Streets In A Go-Kart Dressed Like Super Mario Characters

Growing up with Mario Kart, most of us lamented the idea that we would never actually be able to race each other in tiny vehicles while throwing bananas, lightning bolts and deadly turtle shells (especially those pesky red ones).

It's a video game, and we have to grudgingly accept that there's no way to actually bring that stuff to life. Or is there...? Some companies in Japan have come as close as possible and it looks absolutely epic.

While you might not be racing down Rainbow Road or tearing it up on Koopa Troopa Beach, the streets of Tokyo are still pretty decent.

MariCar is one of the bigger companies putting on this epic treat for Nintendo fans and not only do they provide the 50cc go-karts, but they've also got a range of outfits so that you can dress up as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad and everyone else.

You don't even need a special license.

The maximum speed you're allow to go during the journey is 60 km/h - which, to be fair, is pretty damn quick. The scary thing is that you're using roads that the general public use so it can be a bit frightening having to manoeuvre between cars.

One person wrote: "It's one of the funniest things we have ever done in our life, we loved the course, it is safe, people are very respectful of the go-karts on the street, and pedestrians are always amazed of seeing MariCAR on the street.

"We loved it so much, our tour guides where very attentive and always aware of everything. If you are in Japan and love Karting, you have to do this, it's something you will miss so much."

Another added: "I expected to have fun, but it was so much more than that. This was an unforgettable experience. We went on Friday, it's now Sunday and we are STILL talking about how much fun we had! The employees were so nice, fun and helpful."

But while foreigners are lapping this up better than a blue shell, it seems as though local police aren't fans.

In March, there were 50 accidents involving go-karts and 86 percent of those involved tourists. American males in the 20s were the biggest offenders.

Four months earlier, after a spate of other incidents, Japanese police installed measures that required Mario Kart enthusiasts to wear seatbelts and have the vehicles fitted with taillights - all pretty reasonable.

Sounds like a decent reason to book some flights to Tokyo.

Featured Image Credit: Nintendo

Topics: GAMING, Entertainment, Interesting, Nintendo, Technology, Japan

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie