A few years back, someone spread the word that FromSoftware was making a Kart game set in the world of Bloodborne. It was but an April Fools’ joke, but it soon blossomed into much more.
Over two years of development and a few months of legal tinkering later, developer Lilith Walther has finally released Nightmare Kart.
You might know Lilith from Bloodborne PSX, a remake of the first sections of the PS4 classic that played and looked just like a PS1 game. It was great, but Nightmare Kart is on a whole different level. You can pick between 21 racers, 13 karts, 15 tracks, and none of it is a mere transplant from Bloodborne. While each character is heavily inspired by a Bloodborne counterpart, these are all complemented by original additions coming straight out of Lilith’s mind.
Most vehicles are original and unique, some of them to the point of absurdity. For example, Herman doesn’t even need a Kart or a Bike. The old man remains so strong that he needs nothing more than his his ultra-powerful arms to move his wheelchair as quickly as everyone else moves their motorized vehicle. Nicolas is mad, but no one even dares coming close enough to tell him about the rules, so he ditches any sort of vehicle and just runs alongside the others. Those are just a few of the quirks I’ve been able to notice in the short period of time I’ve had to try the game so far, so I’m sure there are so many more for you to find.
On top of allowing you to challenge your friends to races in split-screen mode, there’s also a battle mode where you can just duke it out against a bunch of friends or AI opponents in a bunch of very familiar arenas. Nightmare Kart not only looks like a game of old, it also features many of the multiplayer options that we miss in the games of today.
There are also a bunch of very welcome customization options, such as the CRT FX, which does a great job of filtering the pixelation like the TVs of old did. Also, this might be the closest non-modders will ever get to playing something Bloodborne-ish at 60 FPS:
The most positively surprising element for me, however, was the presence of an actual campaign, one with cutscenes and even unique boss fights.
In a world where games can’t seem to stop becoming more expensive, getting such a package completely free of charge feels almost like a miracle. Yes, you can get Nightmare Kart right now for free on Steam or pay-what-you-want on itch.io. You can also get Nightmare Kart’s fantastic original soundtrack from Bandcamp right here.
