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Wacky Wheels is a shareware behind-the-back kart racing game developed by Beavis-Soft and published by Apogee for DOS PCs on October 17, 1994.
Inspired by the 1992 SNES game Super Mario Kart, Wacky Wheels puts players in control of one of eight anthropomorphic animals as they race go karts in a comical manner. It features a similar pseudo-3D style to Super Mario Kart, replicating that game's "Mode 7" effect.
The game includes 15 tracks in a variety of colorful environments, split into three circuits. It features a unique weapon system where players run over hedgehogs to pick them up, then hurl them forward as projectiles. This weapon system is also used for the game's six-zone battle mode (or "Shootout"), which can be played in both multiplayer (in one-on-one duels) or single-player (with players having two minutes to shoot as many duck decoys as they can). Both race and battle modes can be played in two-player multiplayer, whether via split-screen or online modem ("Comm-Bat Play").
During development, the team originally sent a prototype to Copysoft (as "Wacky Kart") before being funded by Apogee. However, Copysoft got hold of the prototype's source code and used it to create and release a similar game, known as Skunny Kart, before the release of Wacky Wheels.
The game was later digitally re-released for the PC, Mac, and Linux (all running DOSBox emulation). It later received a release on Steam on May 6, 2015 (as part of the "3D Realms Anthology", bundled with 31 other games), with standalone purchasing sometime after. It also received a high-definition remake by Cascadia Games, known as Wacky Wheels HD, in 2016.
