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Of all the collaborations that left the strongest impression on me in KartRider Rush+, the appearances of Jin Ramen and Porsche stand out the most, each for entirely different reasons.
In this post, I want to look back on the Jin Ramen collaboration, which turned a familiar instant noodle into a playful kart, and the Porsche collaboration, which captured the feeling of driving a real-world sports car inside the game.

When people think of game collaborations, they usually picture other games or anime characters first. KartRider Rush+, however, also partnered with areas that felt far less predictable, from the food brand Jin Ramen to the real-world automobile brand Porsche.

The two collaborations had completely different atmospheres. The Jin Ramen collaboration leaned into lighthearted, playful fun, while the Porsche collaboration offered the distinct appeal of driving a real luxury sports car in-game. They pointed in very different directions, yet both added a new sense of purpose and a fresh mood to the familiar racing of KartRider Rush+.

An unexpected meeting where ramen became a kart

When I first saw the news of the KartRider Rush+ and Jin Ramen collaboration, it felt a little unexpected. A racing game teaming up with a car brand is easy enough to imagine, but ramen and a racing game do not naturally seem to go together.

Once I actually saw the collaboration items, though, they suited the atmosphere of KartRider Rush+ much better than I had expected. The kart design, which immediately brought a Jin Ramen cup to mind, stood out right away, and I liked how the theme of ramen had been translated into the game’s driving elements.

What especially stayed with me was not just the Jin Ramen kart itself, but also the chewy noodle skid and rich broth aura. Skids and auras usually exist to emphasize speed or visual flair, but turning Jin Ramen’s defining traits, noodles and broth, into driving effects was an unexpectedly cheerful idea.

As the kart ran along the track, it left behind traces reminiscent of noodles, while an effect evoking rich broth appeared around it, creating a mood quite different from the usual serious competition over records. It did not suddenly change my racing skill, but it definitely made the act of watching the screen more enjoyable.

The decorative items, such as the Jin Ramen bag, balloon, band, and Ottogi costume, also captured the collaboration’s mood very well. It was not simply a matter of adding a single kart; because the character and surrounding items could be matched to the same concept, there was real fun in fully building out the Jin Ramen theme.

When I choose a kart, I usually look at performance and handling first. But with the Jin Ramen kart, I wanted to try it before comparing any of that, simply because of the design. The image of a ramen cup racing around the track was amusing in itself, yet it also somehow felt perfectly suited to KartRider Rush+.

I also remember that actual Jin Ramen products featured KartRider Rush+ characters. You could see Bazzi and Dao on Jin Ramen Spicy and Mild products, and coupons included with the products could be used to obtain in-game items.

It was not an event confined only to the game, because seeing Jin Ramen products again in convenience stores or supermarkets could bring the KartRider Rush+ collaboration back to mind. There was also something distinctive about the way ramen purchased in real life connected directly to rewards in the game.

What made the Jin Ramen collaboration feel special was that it did not merely borrow the name of a well-known brand, but transformed the characteristics of ramen into karts and driving effects in a genuinely entertaining way. Elements with no obvious connection to cars at all, like noodles and broth, were expressed surprisingly naturally as racing items.

That is why the Jin Ramen collaboration remains, for me, one of the hardest-to-predict collaborations in KartRider Rush+ and at the same time one of the most cheerfully memorable.

The Porsche collaboration that let me drive a real-world dream car

If the Jin Ramen collaboration offered unexpected fun, the Porsche collaboration let me experience that admiration for real cars within the game itself.

Porsche is a brand that fits a racing game relatively well, but there was still something special about seeing a model based on a real automobile appear among KartRider’s distinctively cute and compact karts.

The center of the collaboration was the Taycan 4S, Porsche’s electric sports car. What impressed me most was the chance to choose a vehicle that would be difficult to experience in real life and take it directly onto the track in a mobile game.

If the Jin Ramen kart drew attention through its playful design, the Taycan 4S kart offered the pleasure of appreciating the smooth form and refined atmosphere of a real automobile. Even within KartRider Rush+’s bright visual style, Porsche’s signature design language came through clearly.

When I selected the Taycan 4S and stood on the starting line, it felt a little different from using an ordinary KartRider Rush+ kart. It looked as though a real vehicle had been scaled down and brought into the game, so it felt less like equipping a simple in-game item and more like briefly borrowing a real-world dream car.

Even while driving, I kept finding myself noticing the design. The Taycan’s exterior caught my eye in the moments before the race began, when the vehicle filled the screen, and again when the body came into view while taking corners. There was enjoyment not only in its performance, but in racing while appreciating the vehicle itself.

What I liked about the Porsche collaboration was that it did not stop at simply adding a kart item. Time attack and tournament content built around competing for records with the Taycan 4S were held alongside it, which gave players a clear reason to use the collaboration vehicle in actual races.

When many users compete for records in the same vehicle, driving skill, things like corner entry, drifting, and booster timing, begins to feel more important than differences in equipment. The concept of using the same model and comparing records, almost like a real motor race, also suited Porsche especially well.

To me, the Porsche collaboration was more than an event that simply added a stylish car. What made it stand out was the chance to drive, within the game, a luxury sports car that feels distant in real life, and then use that same vehicle to compete over records.

Two collaborations that stayed with me more because they were so different

Jin Ramen and Porsche are brands that seem to have very little in common. One is a ramen you encounter often in everyday life, and the other is a luxury automobile that is not easy to own.

Yet within KartRider Rush+, both brands were connected naturally through the shared form of the kart. Jin Ramen appeared as a kart built around imagination and humor, while Porsche appeared as a kart that captured the appeal of a realistic automobile.

When I used the Jin Ramen kart, much of the enjoyment came from simply watching how funny and cute everything looked on screen. With unexpected effects like the noodle skid and broth aura, I found myself appreciating the collaboration idea itself.

By contrast, when I used the Porsche Taycan 4S, the appeal came from taking in the body design and sense of speed while enjoying the feeling of driving a real sports car.

Jin Ramen made me see an ordinary everyday product in a new way as game content, while Porsche brought a car that is difficult to experience in real life much closer through the game.

Neither collaboration changed the game’s basic driving system. What they did change was the meaning attached to which kart you chose and what kind of presence you brought onto the track.

I think that is the greatest pleasure of game collaborations. They do not simply end with the addition of new items; they make you look at a familiar game again from a different angle.

During the Jin Ramen collaboration, I logged in because the sight of a ramen cup racing around was entertaining in itself, while during the Porsche collaboration, I kept running tracks because I wanted to set a record with the Taycan myself.

Although the atmosphere and goals of the two collaborations were different, both remained memorable because they gave me reasons to play KartRider Rush+ that felt different from the usual ones.

Even unexpected combinations can suit a game surprisingly well

I do not think game collaborations always need to happen between similar genres or character franchises. On the contrary, an encounter with a completely unexpected brand, as in the case of Jin Ramen, can leave an even stronger impression.

What matters is not simply attaching a brand logo to a game, but how the brand’s defining qualities are expressed in a way that suits the structure of that game.

Jin Ramen turned its cup design, noodles, and broth into a kart and driving effects. Porsche connected the design of a real vehicle and its racing image to in-game karts and record competition.

Because both collaborations kept placing the qualities associated with each brand directly on the gameplay screen, they did not fade away as brief events, but remained with me as memories of races I actually played.

In the end, it was difficult to choose only one as the most impressive collaboration in KartRider Rush+. The most unexpected collaboration was Jin Ramen, while the one I most wanted to drive for myself was Porsche.

The Jin Ramen kart turned a familiar instant noodle into a cheerful racing item, while the Porsche Taycan 4S offered the experience of driving a real-world dream car directly inside a mobile game.

What stays with me most is how two completely different brands suited KartRider Rush+’s tracks so well in their own distinct ways.

To summarize the key points from today’s post:

The Jin Ramen collaboration was memorable for the way it turned the ramen cup, noodles, and broth into a kart and driving effects.
It also offered a distinctive experience by linking real-world Jin Ramen purchases to in-game items.
The Porsche collaboration felt special because it let players directly drive the Taycan 4S, a real electric sports car, in the game.
Through time attack and record competition, there was real enjoyment in putting the collaboration kart to use in actual play.
Though completely different, Jin Ramen and Porsche each brought either playful charm or automotive aspiration to KartRider Rush+.

Among the collaborations you have encountered in games, do unusual partnerships with distinctive brands stay with you more, or do collaborations that let you directly use a famous real-world car or product leave the stronger impression? If there is a game collaboration you would like to see again, feel free to share it in the comments.