SRB2Kart. One year later.

On this day, One year ago, SRB2Kart has released.

A lot has happened during this time.

We have been showcased by Lythero, ScottFalco, and Vinny Vinesauce (inb4 big name youtubers showcase it (Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, vgdunkey, etc.) :^>)
5 official updates have been released, including a few for bonuschars
94 map and mappacks have been released, making for over 200 stages available in Kart
427 character and character packs have been released, this game has truly become the MUGEN of Kart racers

We have grown a lot since this initial release.

But, let me take you to a time where kart didn't exist.

I was into SRB2 ever since Late 2017, and I used to diligently host maps, characters, and add-ons for the ms.
Around this time, the ms was very small, and only getting smaller, especially since v2.2 is under development at the time (and still is, albeit finishing up at the time of this writing)

I heard about Kart through hear-say and posts on the MB, I decided to join their Discord server at around 2018.
Keep in mind, Kart was far from finished when I joined, as I joined bc. I liked the progress Kart Krew, as a whole, were making as a game.
I had confidence in them, especially after finishing Top Down.

Kart Krew's server, at the time, was mostly filled with people who have already finished SRB2, and been around the community for awhile (including me to an extent).
So, about 20 or 30 people. 50 at most. It was very small compared to even SRB2's official discord (the size was comparable to the SRB2 community discord that still is around after all this time)

I remember being excited after every little gameplay video they published. Especially after the November 14th trailer.
Oh god that trailer, the hype was very real.

The first days of Kart overloaded the ms with live servers. Literally no server was empty, even the ones I hosted were pretty full and fun.

I also remember thinking that Kart was going to be a one-off thing, similar to Top Down, but I'm SO glad I'm wrong.
I hope they put in the effort and passion in v2, it looks especially good, even now.

To close off, I would like to thank Kart Krew for the wonderful game as it is, and give them the best of luck when developing v2 onwards~

I still remember how a pal from Sonic Retro's Discord posted there one of the pre-release gameplay videos of Kart, and I was blown away in how good it looked. After trying out the older versions while I waited for the release, soon enough the release trailer packed with splitscreen, 16 players and 100 tracks had me jaw-dropped.

Needless to say I still got some bunch of GIFs I had recorded when I was playing Online for the first time on Kart, which was that same release day.
Kudos to everyone in Kart Krew for all their effort and dedication; it really was fun for me to get friends to play it with me, as well as fiddling with Zone Builder until I started getting a proper hang of it. V2 will be a big step with the extra mechanics and Grand Prix, which is why I will keep hanging around to see when it comes out.
Wish you all good luck!

Going by my own timezone I suppose I'm a bit late here, huh.

I've been following kart since it was still part of SRB2 Riders, and Riders since before it was a source code mod at all. I'm sure I've talked about it more than once, and my relationship with it hasn't really changed all that substantially since then - other than having more submissions, more new joiners, and the occasional reaching of srb2.org's bandwidth cap that is. Increased workload for myself and the staff or no, I'm happy we're able to offer a home to SRB2Kart and its thriving mod community.

It's a great game top to bottom, with the benefit of a narrow scope, an easier workflow for custom content, and a core design with a well thought-out foundation... for a start. With more yet to come, I'm excited to see what comes next!

Speaking of the future though, kart krew themselves have put out a video for the anniversary previewing their next major version. They've not put it up on the boards anywhere yet, but here seems as good a place as any.

Man this game aged well.