KartRider: Drift is a free to play Mascot Racer for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Android and iOS created by Nexon, and is notable for being the first Kart Rider game with cross-platform capabilities.
The game was announced at Microsoft's X019, and after numerous delays, was released worldwide on January 11, 2023 on PC, Android and iOS, with console versions released on March 8, 2023.
KartRider: Drift contains examples of:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The lore behind the Factory Run game mode is that hundreds of Brodi's mass-produced worker androids went berserk and began stealing karts and wrecking the Mystpole Factory, and the one android that didn't go berserk instead gained sentience unexpectedly. Except they didn't malfunction by chance, they were sabotaged by Rabbit Hole.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The R key allows the player to immediately reset their position on the track, helpful if you find yourself planted face-first in a wall.
- Art Evolution: All of the characters' designs have been slightly tweaked, such as Dao's default outfit gaining full pant legs and Brodi's jumpsuit changing colors from a bland gray to two shades of blue. In addition, the characters all have slightly longer limbs and smaller heads, presumably to accommodate the more energetic and exaggerated animations.
- Of the courses updated, Northeu has seen the biggest changes. What were once roads hovering over the void of space and barren rocky wastelands in CrazyRacing KartRider are now hovering over a lush planet with alien flora and fauna.
- Banana Peel: One of the items available in Item mode. As expected, running over one will cause your kart to spin-out of control. A later update added the Big Banana, which functions the same but is bigger.
- Big Bad: The Rabbit Hole gang is featured as the game's primary antagonists, with the usual Crazy Arcade villain Lodumani's pirate crew being Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains who get caught in the crossfire of their schemes.
- Big Boo's Haunt: The Graveyard theme. Though it's not as grim and dreary as some examples, as it has taken inspiration from Dia de los Muertos.
- Came Back Wrong: Spirit Kid is heavily implied to be Draky's little sister, devoid of memories and as a ghost instead of flesh and blood.
- Character Customization: Drift has alternate costumes, such as Bazzi of Liberty, Cabbie Brodi and Home Run King Dao. Characters also have unlockable "emote" animations, which can be set to play during victory or defeat.
- Karts can also be customized, letting you change the colors of the kart's frame, put decals on the kart's body, choose what material the kart is made of, change the tires and license plate, and even change the exhaust the kart gives off while boosting.
- Color-Coded Characters: Each character's default skin has different colors. Dao is blue, Diz is yellow, Bazzi is red, Uni and Ethen are green, Keffy is purple, Marid is pink, and Mos is orange.
- Combination Attack: In Team Speed mode, drifting also builds up an additional Team Boost meter shared by all members of the team. When this meter fills, all of that team's current Nitro items are converted into blue Team Nitro that last longer.
- Composite Character: The China and Beach themes of the original game have been rolled into the World Tour theme.
- Cute Machines: All of Brodi's robots in the Mystpole Factory have been redesigned this way, but it's especially noticeable with the new playable character Tobi.
- Cute Witch: Tiera, which is exemplified by her new animations painting her as a Shrinking Violet.
- Deflector Shields: The Shield and Angel Armor items. Shields block one attack against the user, while Angel Armor does the same for all of the player's teammates.
- Evil vs. Evil: The story of Season 5 involves the Black Company fighting with Rabbit Hole over control of the Legend Cup.
- Guest Fighter:
- Lucid and Pink Bean from MapleStory are featured as playable drivers.
- Season 2 added several playable characters from BT21 UNIVERSE.
- Several Porsche and Lamborghini brand vehicles are available as karts.
- Season 5 adds BLACKPINK's members as playable racers.
- Four-Fingered Hands: Like the original, all of the characters (including humans) have four fingers on each hand.
- Hailfire Peaks: Drift's take on the Mystpole Factory is half Eternal Engine and half Slippy-Slidey Ice World.
- Making a Splash: The Water Bomb and Water Wisp items.
- MacGuffin: The Legend Cup is a kart-racing trophy with unimaginable power, which factors into the story of the game. The trophy itself plays no role in-game.
- Modesty Shorts: All of the female characters wear these with any outfit that includes a skirt, which is appropriate given how animated the characters are this time around.
- The Reveal: The Stinger of Season 4's trailer shows that the Rabbit Hole gang is made up of Miso, Rex, and Derek.
- Shock and Awe: The Thundercloud item, which strikes all opponents ahead of the user with a bolt of lightning that stalls them.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: In addition to the Glacier theme, the Factory theme is also now set in the winter, giving it this sort of appearance.
- Stalked by the Bell: After the first player crosses the finish line, everyone else is given 10 seconds to finish, lest they be disqualified.
- Tournament Arc: Season 2 features the return of the World Kart Championship theme, with racers competing across the globe for the Legend Cup.
- Uniformity Exception: In contrast to all of Brodi's other androids looking like robot teddy bears, Tobi instead resembles a robotic cat dressed up like Brodi.
- Vague Age: The closest thing to a confirmed age any of the characters have is that Uni is a baby, and Dr. Rivaski is an adult by virtue of being Taki's father. Lodumani, Toto, Mayor Zipi, and Viktor are presumably adults given their facial hair (and baldness for the latter two), but most of the other characters appear to be somewhere in the child-to-teenage range.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Viktor's special ability plants a time bomb on another racer, which ticks faster as time runs out, at which point that racer explodes along with anyone else nearby.
- You Don't Look Like You: The Northeu characters - Taki, Erini, and Doctor Rivaski - have been drastically redesigned. Their giant gray alien-like eyes have been replaced with a Sonic the Hedgehog-like conjoined sclera with glowing irises. Erini's hair has been replaced with a pair of antennae sprouting from the back of her head, and only Taki retains their classic green skin tone with Erini and Rivaski being pink and blue respectively.
