This is an awesome idea, and you all did an incredible job of working together to finish it! From hearing about it alone, I never would have thought an idea like this would come together so well, looking so polished. Instead of conflicting, the wonderful selection of different art styles comes together to make a pleasant contrast. It makes the personalities seem so much more distinct than if one person had done all the work alone.

I think it's fine that the drivers aren't interacting, considering that such a thing would've been pretty hard to coordinate while working with so many artists, but I think maybe some of them could've been placed closer/further from the viewing point just to give it a little more depth. It's a pretty minor complaint, though, considering how cool this is to look at.

I love it! Congratulations on creating such a masterful and interesting collaboration!

Around September of 2008, a full year ago, I read about this project, a massive collaboration among the high-tier artists of DeviantART. The subject: Super Mario, but that wasn't enough, it's Super Mario Kart, an integral part of modern culture for everyone under the age of 30, you just can't go wrong with that.

So with nothing to review for the month of September, this shows up, and my "problem" was instantly solved. It's going to be a delight to critique what is arguably among the best things to come out of DeviantART this year, and I don't mean this lightly.

It takes several minutes to truly take in everything that unfolds here. The fact that the drivers race to the right is a clever use of the web medium and allows for the viewer to "race along" to the finish line. As I scroll past the racers, I'm really not interrupted by the constant shift between artistic styles, albeit a minor "hiccup" every now and then, quite an impressive feat. One could argue that this is due to the original designs that act as some sort of unifying template, but I like to think it has more to do with Dirk's selection of the artists. It's an interesting question, but my verdict remains the same: it works.

While I am fully aware of the massive scope of the project, I have some things to say about the picture as a whole. I think it would've been awesome to see some more interaction between the characters. There's some minor weapon use, but nothing too Mario-Kart-y. I also would had loved to see some overtaking and overlapping, even if it was just a little bit. The background, serving its purpose quite well, could easily accommodate for this.

These are all technicalities, little tweaks to an awesome concept, because in the end, what really makes this an remarkable piece of art is the collaborative effort. It's a concrete, no-nonsense manifestation of the often vaguely defined community spirit of DeviantART.