Ratalaika Games has quietly become an important player in the world of video game emulation and preservation. Over the last three years, the studio has brought back into the spotlight Turrican, Wonder Boy, Cyber Citizen Shockman, Gleylancer, and Gynoug, among others. Its latest offering is Rider's Spirits, also known as Bike Daisuki! Hashiriya Kon. A 1994 racing game previously exclusive to the Super Famicom, Rider's Spirits starts with the Super Mario Kart template and branches off in different directions to create its own identity.

Anyone familiar with the Super Nintendo and its Mode 7 visual trickery will immediately appreciate what's going on behind the scenes in Rider's Spirits. A behind-the-back 2D racer with pseudo-3D effects, it resembles a Super Mario Kart sequel or spin-off. However, while it looks and handles like the landmark SNES game, it tries a few unique things — some good, some not-so-good.

Let's start with the good. While Rider's Spirits has the punchy action, snappy controls, and forgiving physics of a kart racer, it actually leans just a little toward simulation. For example, items are far less important here than they are in most Mario Kart clones. In fact they appear only in the pit stop area. This means that players must decide whether to veer off course — and potentially lose a spot or two — to collect a weapon that might, down the line, ensure victory. It adds a bit of tactical decision-making to each race.

In addition, the game comes with a secondary mode called Endurance, which forces players to enter the pit stop to exchange racers and refill their gas tanks. With support for two players and options for one, three, or five-minute races, it's a fun, atypical mode that helps separate Rider's Spirits from the competition.

The core of the game, though, is the Grand Prix. This is divided into four cups with five tracks apiece. The tracks themselves are quite good. You'll encounter different terrain types like asphalt and dirt, plus plenty of obstacles and gimmicks, including traffic cones, ponds, stone pillars, jumps, and boost pads. Moreover, each of the first five courses has a distinct look and feel. You'll start on a sunny racetrack surrounded by green grass, move on to a city course at night, enter a sandy desert area, and finish in two motocross stadium maps.

It's here, though, where the good stuff begins to bleed into the not-so-good. As you start to compete in higher cups, with more serious AI competition, you'll notice that the backdrops never change. The same five environments are repeated in each and every cup. To be fair, the track layouts change significantly, becoming trickier and more complex, but the backgrounds remain the same throughout. The game lacks the visual variety you'd expect from a kart racer.

The biggest issue with Rider's Spirits isn't the lack of visual diversity, however; it's the rear-view mirror. For some reason, the original developers at Masaya split the screen into two sections: a bottom half for the forward-facing action and a top half to reflect what's behind each racer. It's an intriguing idea in theory, but a poor decision in reality. It would have been far better to allow the regular racing to take up the full screen, or to fill one half with a useful overhead map. The mirrors, unfortunately, add very little to the experience.

If you can look past those superfluous mirrors, though, you'll find quite a bit of content, for one or two players simultaneously. In addition to Grand Prix and Endurance, the game includes a Time Trial mode and something called Chicken Run. This is a short, surprisingly addictive mode where two players compete to see which one can get closest to the edge of the road without falling off. Furthermore, Rider's Spirits boasts eight playable characters, each with specific speed, acceleration, and handling stats. Regrettably, the stats aren't on display, so you'll have to experiment to make sense of it all.

Since this is a Ratalaika port, it arrives with all the studio's usual customization features: mappable controls, display and filter options, save states, and rewind. It also includes a gallery with box art and manual scans. Finally, the game comes with both the 2024 port (translated into English for the first time ever) and the original Japanese version of the game. As for the emulation, it seems flawless. 

Thanks to the programmers at Ratalaika, an obscure fourth-generation kart racer gets a second chance to prove itself. Rider's Spirits won't make anyone forget about Super Mario Kart, but it's deserving of a purchase, especially at the current $6 asking price. The driving is snappy and satisfying, the light simulation elements add a touch of strategy, and the Mode 7 experience goes a long way. A lack of backdrop variety is a bummer, as is the screen-hogging rear-view mirror, but the pros outnumber the cons in this spirited racing game.