History Main / MinecartMadness

* ''VideoGame/TheSmurfs1994'' by Infogrames had a mine cart level late in the game (Act 11). While jumping was not possible, the hero had to crouch under obstacles and activate ''all'' switches under the penalty of reaching a dead-end.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKart Wii'' features the Wario's Gold Mine track, apparently takes place on one of the roads that mine carts use, though you drive your normal vehicles and instead dodge mine carts in some sections. ...[[{{Pun}} mine kart]], anyone?

* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has some rather straightforward mine cart rides in the Cragnons stage.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' has some considerably less straightforward ones, including a couple of segments that require paperization to complete--one of which it isn't immediately obvious that this is the case for until you've missed the jump a few times.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' had one of these as a sort of minigame after completing one of the dungeons. In between sections of sidescrolling, some parts used Mode 7, and you had to hold left or right to make the correct turns. The only penalty for going off the rails was the loss of a bit of time as your car slid back onto the track. [[DoWellButNotPerfect Since there was a reward for beating the current record, it was advantageous to miss a few turns and jumps.]]
* The first two ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' games have a minecart racing minigame. You and your teammate must tap the A button to gather speed, and must lean the cart in the corners. If you go too fast or don't lean properly, you'll fall and lose the game.

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart Wii'' features the Wario's Gold Mine track, apparently takes place on one of the roads that mine carts use, though you drive your normal vehicles and instead dodge mine carts in some sections. ...[[{{Pun}} mine kart]], anyone?
** You can do something like this in ''Videogame/CrashTeamRacing'' on the mining level if you have the invincibility mask on.

* ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' has a stage in World 8 where you ride atop skeletal snake-dragon platforms that act like real-world roller coasters; they slow as they go up the track and speed up as they go down, and there are a lot of gaps, dips into molten lava and jumps over lava fountains. It's a pretty hard stage, and the snake-platforms screeching like demons every now and then doesn't help.

* ''VideoGame/YoshisStory'' actually did this with Chinese dragon heads.
* Some of the levels of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' feature large green monorails that are operated by having the player step on two large arrows facing either end of the monorail, causing it to go in the direction the arrow points. If the monorail moves over a geyser or a lava eruption it will bounce up and land on a higher track. Also, the final level of the game had you go through [[BigBad Bowser's]] castle on a skeletonized version of these.

* The first 16-bit ''TheSmurfs'' videogame (by Infogrames) had a mine cart level late in the game (Act 11). While jumping was not possible, the hero had to crouch under obstacles and activate ''all'' switches under the penalty of reaching a dead-end.

* "Enemy Mine" in ''MedalOfHonor: Frontline'' is an UnexpectedShmupLevel on a minecart. No, not ''that'' EnemyMine.

* "Enemy Mine" in ''MedalOfHonor: Frontline'' is a RailShooter level on a minecart. No, not ''that'' EnemyMine.

* ''PacMan 2: The New Adventures'', where you have to shoot obstacles out of the way to clear the way for Pac-Man, and other than that can only speed up. You also have to shoot Pac-Man to get him to jump over obstacles.

* Armored Armadillo's stage in ''MegaManX'' has several brief minecart moments.

* ''{{Banjo-Tooie}}'' has Glitter Gulch Mine, where at you must race a character in a mine cart twice.

** The worst level in that entire game is the seventh. GoddamnedBats indeed. Although it's not a mine cart one, unless riding the logs through the lava counts.

* Seen in a ''LuckyLuke'' game, ''Desperado Train'' for the GameBoyColor. Despite being NintendoHard (aptly enough), may be the BestLevelEver once you get used to it. [[spoiler: If you wanna give it a try, the password is Gun, Gun, Sheriff Star, Horseshoe.]] Also present in the PS1 ''LuckyLuke'' game.

** VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' has these yet again, this time using the TwoPointFiveD perspective to feature curving tracks and parallel rails that you have to jump back and forth between.

** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' you can also lean left and right during the minecart sections, and use this to choose between two paths where it splits on occasion. In the final ride, very hidden in the seventh world, you also have to hop between tracks with your minecart to dodge various obstacles, including the attacks of the [[MiniBoss Demon Resident]].

[[caption-width-right:261:''[[IndianaJones "Indy!"]]''[[note]]Clockwise from top left: ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', ''KirbySuperStar'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure'', ''LaMulana'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap''[[/note]]]]

* {{Minecraft}} has craftable minecarts and placeable tracks, both useful for transportation and for custom roller coasters.

* {{Kirby}} had his share of minecarts as well. ''The Great Cave Offensive'', one of the games packed into ''Kirby Super Star'' had one segment between each of the four major áreas. These segments are rather relaxing, actually, as there's no need to dodge enemies; they all die when you run into them. Plus, hitting walls destroys the cart but leaves Kirby totally unharmed. It becomes a little more difficult in ''Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'' where you have to jump over rocks and gaps in time.

* The freeware game ''WithinADeepForest'' had one of these very briefly to get from point A to point B in an exploration area. Getting back was easier.

* The ''HalfLife'' series has two. The first, "On the Rails" in 1, has an electric cart that crashes off the tracks at the end if you jam the throttle forward. And the finale of Ravenholm in 2 has a mine cart with spinning blades on it that you can use to decapitate all the zombies nearby.
** As well as in Episode Two when exploring the abandoned mine with the Vortigaunt, where you fall down a hole and land in a big mine cart that goes careening out of control down a sloped track, smashing through wooden structures and slaughtering zombies in its wake before finally sending you down a deep pit and landing in a pool of water. There's no racing, shooting, or dodging involved ([[VideoGameSetPiece or at least not any required]]), but it is [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome incredibly awesome.]]

[[caption-width-right:261:''[[IndianaJones "Indy!"]]''[[hottip:*:Clockwise from top left: ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', ''KirbySuperStar'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure'', ''LaMulana'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'']]]]

* Appropriately enough, the ''HarryPotter'' games have levels like this whenever you go to Gringotts - dodging collapsed pit props and trying to catch coins. It's an even worse setup for a bank than the book version, at least they kept the money in vaults...

* ''TombRaider 3''. In this case, the main objective is to get the minecart to go fast enough to jump gaps, but not so fast as to fly off the track and kill Lara. Lara can bash switches with a convenient wrench to change tracks.

* ''{{Taz-Mania}}'' for Genesis.

* The thought lost game ''Bio Force Ape'', when recovered, was discovered to have a strange one: the second level is set in mines, and you can jump into a minecart...but it just scrolls automatically, you can't die and it seems to be one of many elements solely put in to demonstrate how great their programming was.

* ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' has a stage in World 8 where you ride atop skeletal snake-dragon platforms that act like real-world roller coasters; they slow as they go up the track and speed up as they go down, and there are a lot of gaps, dips into molten lava and jumps over lava fountains. It's a pretty hard stage, and the snake-platforms [[NightmareFuel screeching like demons every now and then]] doesn't help.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' features even ''more'' minecart levels, with more than just broken tracks to deal with. Hazards include [[StalactiteSpite falling crystals]], crumbling platforms, and one miner mole actively tossing bombs onto your track to blow holes in it. You can at least tell the two varieties of carts apart: Minecarts loaded with blue crystal ore won't jump when you do, because DK rides ''on top'' of them rather than sitting down inside.
*** One boss is even fought on a train of minecarts.
** In ''DonkeyKong64'' you can also lean left and right during the minecart sections, and use this to choose between two paths where it splits on occasion. In the final ride, very hidden in the seventh world, you also have to hop between tracks with your minecart to dodge various obstacles, including the attacks of the [[MiniBoss Demon Resident]].
* ...And, of course, ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesGreatestAdventures'' had this as the penultimate level of the "Temple of Doom" portion of the game. It was, of course, NintendoHard -- making even one mistake would be a one-hit KO.
** Let's not forget ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheInfernalMachine'' which featured a minecart sequence as an homage to said scene from ''Temple''.
** ''LEGOIndianaJones'' also has a mine cart level, obviously from Temple of Doom
** The famous scene in question was also recreated in the arcade game adaptation of the movie by Atari Games.

* ''PacMan 2: The New Adventures'', where you have to shoot obstacles out of the way to clear the way for Pac-Man, and other than that can only speed up.
** You also had to shoot Pac-Man to get him to jump over obstacles.

** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' has some considerably less straightforward ones, including a couple of segments that require paperization to complete--one of which it isn't immediately obvious that this is the case for until you've missed the jump a few times.

* {{Kirby}} had his share of minecarts as well. ''The Great Cave Offensive'', one of the games packed into ''Kirby Super Star'' had one segment between each of the four major areas.
** These segments are rather relaxing, actually, as there's no need to dodge enemies; they all die when you run into them. Plus, hitting walls destroys the cart but leaves Kirby totally unharmed.
** It becomes a little more difficult in ''Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'' where you have to jump over rocks and gaps in time.

* Part of Stage 8 of ''The Subspace Emissary'' in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', which was influenced by ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''. An added bonus: In riding the carts, you often got to run over several GoddamnedBats in the process.
** Really, it was probably inspired more by "Kirby Super Star", in that you got to plow over enemies with impunity. There may have been a few parts where you had to jump to avoid being dumped in a pit, take a better route, or abandon the cart and grab a pickup, though (to translate this into TVTropes-speak, these would be "PressXToNotDie", "Press X to Make The Game Easier", and "Press X to get OneHundredPercentCompletion", respectively.)

* Referenced in ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'', of all places. In a secret area in the Canada level, there's a minecart rail that can be grinded on, causing the player to smack into a minecart which zooms off down the track. Grinding the rail to the end scores a bonus called "Obligatory Video Game Minecart Sequence".
** Apparently, this is only in the PlayStation 2 version of the game. The Canada area on the PS1 has no such section. :(

* Seen in a LuckyLuke game, ''Desperado Train'' for the GameBoyColor. Despite being NintendoHard (aptly enough), may be the BestLevelEver once you get used to it. [[spoiler: If you wanna give it a try, the password is Gun, Gun, Sheriff Star, Horseshoe.]]
** Also in the PS1 ''LuckyLuke'' game.