Video games are usually meant to be fun. Sometimes, though, a game comes along that defies logic, physics, and the very concept of "quality control" to become something else entirely: a meme. M&M's Kart Racing Wii is that game. Released in 2007 by Zoo Games and developed by Frontline Studios, it isn’t just a bad racer. It is a masterclass in how many mistakes can fit onto a single Nintendo Wii disc.
If you grew up in the late 2000s, you probably saw this in a bargain bin at GameStop or a Walmart clearance rack. It looked harmless. It had the Red and Yellow M&M's on the cover. How bad could a Mario Kart clone actually be?
Horrible. Truly.
But there is a reason people still talk about it. There is a reason speedrunners unironically grind this game for world records. It’s a fascinating relic of the "shovelware" era, where publishers would slap a massive brand name on a half-baked engine just to see if parents would buy it for their kids. Honestly, the story of this game is more interesting than the gameplay itself.
The Sound That Will Haunt Your Nightmares
We have to talk about the sound. Most racing games have a pleasant engine hum or a catchy soundtrack. This game has a screeching noise that triggers every time you turn. It sounds like a dying blender or a chalk-on-blackboard symphony. Because the Wii wheel controls are so imprecise, you are basically turning 100% of the time.
Imagine sitting in your living room in 2008. You’ve got your Wii Remote tucked into that plastic wheel shell. Every time you tilt it, "SCREEEEEECH." It’s relentless.
Then there are the voices. The M&M's characters—Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Orange—have voice lines that repeat every few seconds. They aren't even the original voice actors from the commercials. It’s a group of sound-alikes who sound like they were recorded in a bathroom. When Yellow says "I'm in the lead!" for the fortieth time in a three-minute race, you start to question your life choices.
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Physics? Never Heard of Her
In a normal racing game, when you hit a wall, you bounce off or stop. In M&M's Kart Racing Wii, hitting a wall is a roll of the dice. You might stop. You might clip through the geometry and fall into a void. Or, most likely, your kart will just vibrate violently until the game engine figures out where you're supposed to be.
The "boost" mechanic is another disaster. You collect M&M's on the track to fill a meter. When you use it, you don't really go faster; the camera just zooms out and the FOV shifts. It creates an illusion of speed while you're still struggling to take a basic 90-degree corner. It feels like driving a shopping cart through a pool of molasses.
The Infamous "Shovelware" Era of the Wii
To understand why this game exists, you have to look at the market in 2007. The Wii was the best-selling console on the planet. Everyone had one—grandmas, toddlers, people who had never touched a controller before. This created a gold rush for low-budget publishers.
Zoo Games was a titan of this niche. They knew that if they put a recognizable brand like M&M's on a box, it would sell regardless of the "Metacritic" score. And boy, did it. The game currently sits with a critic score of around 22/100. Some reviewers at the time literally gave it a zero.
- The Content: You get 12 tracks.
- The Variety: Most of those tracks look exactly the same.
- The "Innovation": You can customize your kart, but the options are basically "Which color of bad do you want?"
Despite the lack of effort, there’s a weird charm to it. It’s a time capsule. It represents a period where the barrier to entry for console gaming was at its lowest, leading to these strange, corporate-funded fever dreams.
Why Speedrunners Actually Love This Disaster
You’d think a game this broken would be forgotten. Instead, the speedrunning community has embraced it. Why? Because broken games are fun to break even further.
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If you go to Speedrun.com, you’ll find a dedicated board for M&M's Kart Racing. Runners use the terrible physics to skip entire sections of tracks. Since the collision detection is essentially a suggestion rather than a rule, you can find "out of bounds" glitches that turn a three-minute race into a thirty-second sprint.
Watching a high-level run of this game is like watching someone fight a ghost. They’re fighting the controls, the camera, and the screeching tires all at once. It’s impressive in a very specific, masochistic way.
Comparing M&M's Kart Racing to Mario Kart Wii
It’s almost unfair to compare these two, but they sat on the same shelves. Mario Kart Wii came out just a few months later in 2008.
- Drifting: In Mario Kart, drifting is a skill. In M&M's, drifting is an accident.
- Items: Mario Kart has shells and bananas. M&M's has... nothing memorable. You throw things, but they rarely hit anything because the AI is either psychic or completely stuck in a wall.
- Graphics: Mario Kart Wii still looks decent today. M&M's looks like a late-era PS1 game that someone tried to upscale.
The game tries to emulate the "fun" of a mascot racer but misses the fundamental requirement: a working gameplay loop. You spend more time fighting the Wii Remote than you do racing the other M&M's.
The Myth of the "Lost" M&M's Game
There’s a common misconception that this was the only M&M's game. It wasn't. There was a PS2 version, and before that, M&M's Shell Shocked on the PlayStation 1. There was even an adventure game called M&M's Lost Formulas.
The Wii kart racer stands out because it was the most "visible" failure. It was released right when the "Wii Wheel" craze was at its peak. It tricked a lot of people. If you were one of the kids who unwrapped this on Christmas morning, I’m sorry. You probably still hear that tire screech in your sleep.
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How to Play It Today (If You Really Want To)
If you’re a glutton for punishment or a connoisseur of "so bad it's good" media, you can still play M&M's Kart Racing Wii.
- Used Copies: You can find them on eBay for about $5 to $10. It is one of the cheapest Wii games out there for a reason.
- Emulation: Using the Dolphin emulator on a PC can actually make the game look slightly better, but it won't fix the physics.
- The Experience: Play it with friends. It’s a great "bad game night" centerpiece. The sheer absurdity of the voice lines and the glitchy karts makes for a hilarious hour of gaming, even if you never want to touch it again afterward.
What We Can Learn From the M&M's Racing Fiasco
This game serves as a warning. It shows what happens when a brand cares more about "impressions" and "shelf presence" than the actual product. It’s a piece of gaming history that reminds us why we appreciate the polished titles.
But it also proves that even the worst games can find a second life. Through YouTube retrospectives and speedrunning marathons like GDQ (Games Done Quick), M&M's Kart Racing Wii has achieved a level of fame that a "mediocre" game never would. It’s better to be memorably terrible than boringly average.
Actionable Next Steps for Collectors and Gamers
If you’re looking to dive into the world of "bad" Wii games or just want to see this wreck for yourself, here is how to handle it.
- Check the Disc Condition: Because these were kids' games, used copies are often scratched to death. Ensure you see the bottom of the disc before buying.
- Turn Down the Volume: Seriously. If you’re playing on a modern soundbar, that tire screeching noise can actually be painful. Lower your treble settings.
- Try the Speedrun Strats: Don't try to race "fair." The game doesn't play fair with you. Try to drive into walls at angles and see where the clipping takes you. It’s much more entertaining than trying to win the cup normally.
- Look for the PS2 Version: If you want to see if the grass is greener, the PS2 version is slightly more stable but lacks the "charm" of the motion-control struggle.
The legacy of M&M's Kart Racing isn't about the racing; it's about the sheer audacity of its existence. It is a loud, glitchy, sugar-coated disaster that everyone should experience—exactly once. After that, go play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to remind yourself that the world can be a beautiful place.