As anyone who’s been around a while knows all too well, the Mario Kart series is one of the most heavily modded in all of gaming. Indeed, with the number of Mario Kart Wii custom tracks numbering in the thousands and mods for 7 and 8 being nearly as common, it’s clear that the fanbase will add any character or track imaginable to any game in the series, no matter how crazy or unrealistic it might seem.
Yet despite the main series getting a near endless supply of tracks and characters, the arcade games are a very different story. Released by Namco from 2005 to 2017, they tend not to get much recognition by either Nintendo or their fans, with the most interest coming from ports of their tracks to games like Wii and 8 Deluxe rather than the other way around.
But now it seems things might be changing. Why? Because thanks to a modder named Atlas, we now have our first few mods for Mario Kart Arcade GP.
These include a recreation of a scrapped track from the game:
A version of the classic Pipe Frame kart for the game:
I’ve been working on a model importer for Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. Here is the first ever model import for the game: the Pipe Frame! Custom Tracks soon👀 pic.twitter.com/GfYW5qkvtG
— Atlas (@AtlasOmegaAlpha) July 10, 2025
Plus, an entirely new track based on the Slot Car Derby mini game from Mario Party 1:
They’re not the most technically impressive imports, given the community’s understanding of the game’s file formats is very limited right now…
But they’re neat to see nonetheless, and show the potential for Mario Kart Arcade GP DX modding further down the line. After all, the game does seem to be between 7 and 8 in terms of visual fidelity and tech power. So, perhaps tracks from those games could be added here at some point. Or that we’ll see characters and karts from Mario Kart World make the switch as well.
Regardless, thanks to Atlas for their work reverse engineering the game and making mods for it, and thanks to you for checking them out. Here’s hoping for even more Mario Kart Arcade GP DX mods further down the line!
Source:
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX — MP Slot Car Derby 1 (MKAGPDX Custom Track)