Karts

**Karts** (**Go-karts** to be specific) are the primary mode of transportation in *Speed Freaks*, driven by the playable characters.

## Overview

Similar to how the characters have a super-deformed, limbless appearance in the vein of *Rayman*, the karts consist of four, disembodied wheels with a seat and a steering wheel. The chassis, accelerator and brake pedals are not visible. The wheels and tires come in three different sizes, from normal to large, and each kart has a hubcap design, and an engine sound unique to each character.

In the early alpha version of *Speed Freaks*, the karts each have a generic hubcap design, consisting of four "crash test" wedges in a circle. Two of the wedges are yellow, and the other two are of a different color for each character;

* Tetsuo/Tempest - Red wedges
* Monty - Purple wedges
* Tabatha/Cosworth - Gold wedges
* BEEMER - Green wedges
* Monica - Blue wedges
* Buster & Wedgie/Brains - Orange wedges

### Tempest

The kart that was stolen from Tetsuo by Tempest has exhaust pipes. In the official artwork and opening sequence, the exhaust pipes are connected to where the seat is, but in-game, they are disembodied like the rest of the vehicle's parts. It has two normal-sized wheels at the front, and two medium-sized wheels at the rear. The hubcap design consists of a black nuclear hazard symbol against a yellow background. For a neat visual effect, the sheen on the exhaust pipes move when the player steers Tempest during a race.

### Monty

Monty's kart has normal sized wheels, and its hubcap design is a red capital letter T in a small white circle against a blue background.

### Monica

Monica's kart also has normal sized wheels, and it is similar in performance to Monty's. Her hubcap design consists of a moderately sized heart icon surrounded by a thin ring of magenta, against a pink background.

### Cosworth

The kart driven by Cosworth also has normal-sized wheels, and its hubcap design consists of a white dog bone against a red background, nothing too special. But, considering that Cosworth weighs less than all of the other characters, this makes his kart one of the best in the game.

### Buster & Wedgie

This kart is shared by the not-so-dynamic duo, and is the largest in the game. It has two normal-sized tires and two large tires in the rear. Its hubcap design consists of a white skull symbol against a black background, representative of Buster and Wedgie being schoolyard bullies.

### Brains

Brains' kart features medium sized wheels, and the hubcap design is that of a light blue or white plus-like symbol with a blue outline against a purple background.

### Tabatha

This kart features normal-sized wheels, with the hubcap design depicting a pink-petaled flower against a magenta background. It is similar in performance to Brains' kart. In the opening sequence of the game, Tabitha threw one of her (in)famous tantrums to get her father to buy it for her at Go-Go Karts.

### Tetsuo

When Tetsuo had his kart stolen by Tempest, the former used another one that was parked nearby, and took off in pursuit of the red-haired delinquent with it. It has medium-sized wheels, and the hubcap design consists of a red circle against a white background, as if representing the Japanese national flag.

### BEEMER

BEEMER's kart features medium-sized wheels with chromed hubcaps, which are texture-mapped. This kart has also appeared in the opening sequence where Brains had accidentally caused a malfunction that made it drive into a crash wall, activate its airbag, and launch the ejection seat out of the garage...with Brains' grandma sitting in it! This kart was modified to have extremely high performance, befitting of a racing robot like BEEMER.