There’s an old saying, that you don’t want to get caught bringing a knife to a gunfight. I’d say the same is true, to an extent, in the video game world, except it would involve bringing mere middling effort when trying to take on a Nintendo first-party offering. While the series has evolved significantly since the original Super Mario Kart (which, I’ll admit is pretty hard to play nowadays beyond connecting to nostalgia), there was no doubt even then that Nintendo was onto something. 

Rider’s Spirits, which was only originally released in Japan about 2 years later, looks like it made a decent stab at capturing some of that formula, and even added some of its own flavor. The thing you’ll likely notice first is certainly distinctive, and that’s the rearview mirrors you can use to see behind you on the left and right when playing solo. Weirdly, though there are circumstances where I suppose it could be useful, this feels more like a technical achievement to me than something that obviously improves play.

Outside of that you have a smattering of options for play that range in quality and interest. It essentially boils down to modes that resemble something you’d see in Mario Kart that tend to fare poorly by comparison and some more oddball ideas that are momentarily interesting, but not much more than that. You could argue about whether the track design compares well, but that would be a matter of opinion, they’re just different. One area where it’s clearly outclassed though concerns the power-ups, which here are more generic, nondescript overall, and simply not as creative and fun.

I suppose for completionists or people who appreciate a little bit of history, especially for this being the first port to American systems, there could be some appeal. Outside of that though it serves more as a curiosity than a source of extended fun, so make your plans accordingly.