It is common for companies to greenlight kart racing games based on an exiting property, whether said property originates from video games or not. Kart racers are popular because they combine the thrill that come with racing games and the party elements that are expected out of family friendly multiplayer romps. Mario Kart normalized the kart racer as a genre when it debuted with Super Mario Kart, and many other series that started with platformers would attempt the same thing. Many failed to compete against the plumber’s spin-off and fell into obscurity, but Diddy Kong Racing is one of the exceptions.