As well as the usual gifts of jazzy ties, plentiful piles of socks and sugary treats, this Christmas I got a copy of Mario Kart 7. Being a casual Mario Kart fan since Super Mario Kart on the SNES, I was pleased I could finally get some extended hands on time with the new game.  I have always preferred the arcade style of racing games over the more realistic car simulators, for example I never got on with the likes for Forza Motor sport or Gran Terismo as they seem to realistic for me. I have always favoured the ‘Race to the finish line using any means necessary,’ approach to racing games and Mario Kart 7 fits nicely into this genre.

Mario Kart 7 has a good selection of single player modes to choose from.  Classic Grand Prix mode pits you against several AI Karts in a four race ‘no holds barred’ battle to become King or Queen of the road. In Time Trial mode you have to beat a course of your choice in the fastest time possible. There is also Balloon Battle, where you are thrown into an arena littered with weapons to pop you opponents balloons before they pop yours. Finally there is Coin Battle where you have to pick up as many coins as possible in the allotted time. All of these modes are fun to play in both single player and in multiplayer, however for me Grand Prix and Time Trial mode have always outshone the rest.

The racing mechanics of Mario Kart 7 are what fans have come to expect. This game is fast and really easy to pick up, making it a great game for new comers as well as experienced pro’s. It also fits in well with the portable gaming style of the 3DS. The power sliding technique is back, however this time round they have made it a little easier. Taking a page from Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 doesn’t require you to wiggle the circle pad from side to side while power sliding to gain a mini turbo boost. While this is a good idea to stop people from snaking (Constantly power sliding to get a turbo boost) in my opinion it has toned down the skill of the game slightly.

This is the first Mario Kart game to come out for the Nintendo 3DS system and I must say graphically the game looks really good both in 2D and 3D modes. Just by looking at it you can tell that Nintendo have really invested a decent amount of time into making the game look good on the 3D hand held device.  The sounds that have become synonymous with Mario Kart and indeed the Mario Franchise make a welcome return to Mario Kart 7, making Nintendo fans such as myself  feel at home when playing this game.

There are thirty two tracks to choose from including sixteen brand new tracks and sixteen tracks from previous Mario Kart titles. In my opinion there is a great selection of classic tracks such as Mario Circuit 2 from the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES, Kooper Beach from the N64 and Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS. All of the tracks have been slightly re-imagined for Mario Kart 7 to make them fit in perfectly with the newer elements of the game. Don’t forget about the new tracks though, as they are also brilliantly made and worth a race too. Most tracks have elements that are new to the Mario Kart Franchise.  These elements include underwater sections where a propeller sticks out the back of your kart as you motor under the water and massive ramps which turn you kart into a mini glider. Personally I feel the underwater sections aren’t that great as they slow your kart down a little too much, but the glider sections do add a great skill element as you try and balance height with speed to gain a lead on your adversaries.

Much like previous titles in the series, Mario Kart 7 brings a fantastic arsenal of weapons and power ups to aid you in your battle to the finish line. Fan favourites such as the heat seeking red shell, the speed boosting mushroom and the slippery banana make a welcome return. There have also been new additions that in my opinion add more skill to the game. The Tanooki tail can smack opponents off of the track as well as flick bananas and mushrooms away. The fire flower has also been added so that you can throw fireballs at anyone who tries to get in your way. There is also the lucky 7 which gives you the a collection of weapons and power-ups to use including a Banana, a Green Shell, a Red Shell, a Bob-omb, a Super Star, a Mushroom and a Blooper. Be careful though, as with the Lucky 7 opponents can steal power-ups from you and if you are hit by a passing Bob-omb  you can lose your entire Lucky 7 arsenal. Game balancing power-ups  such as the Spiny Blue Shell and Bullet Bill also make a comeback, but I feel these are a bit overpowered this time round. There have been countless times when I have been in first place and have been Blue Shelled just before the finish line, which then lands me finishing the race in 5^th. I also find that Bullet Bill pretty much always puts the player into first place which it never seemed to do in Mario Kart DS.

Coins also make a welcome return to the Mario Kart franchise increasing your top speed as soon as you have collected ten. They also go towards unlocking new elements to the game such as new parts to customize your Kart. This brings a great sub-objective to the game which some of the later titles were unfortunately  lacking.

Mario kart 7 brings a great collection of characters for players to choose from. You have Nintendo fan favourites such as Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Troopa and Princess Peach, but you also have some great new additions such as Rosalina from Mario Galaxy and Latiku the cloud surfing Mario Kart race officiator. In true Mario Kart fashion all these characters have their own stats and attributes which effect how you race. There is a total of eight characters to unlock in Grand Prix mode and you also have the opportunity to unlock you Mii as a driver.

Mario Kart 7 also brings vehicle customisation to the table. Here you can mix and match wheels, Kart bodies and gliders to make your perfect Kart. For me this is a great element to add to the Mario Kart franchise, but I feel it could have been taken a step further maybe with colour customisation and fine tuning you kart. Hopefully we will see more Kart customisation in future Mario Kart games.

The thing in Mario Kart 7 that has impressed me the most is the multiplayer. Mario Kart games have been infamous for their local multiplayer however Mario Kart 7 takes multiplayer to the next level with its online multiplayer option. You can now create communities online for you and your friends to join in and race. Not only that but you can also set community preferences such as what weapons will feature in your races. The multiplayer fun doesn’t stop there as you also have some great features over street and spot pass where you are able to race against your friends’ ghosts on their favourite track. The 3DS can also take the ghost data and convert it into an AI which features in your single player grand prix races. This is a huge step up for Nintendo and online multiplayer and I hope to see much more of the same kind of thing in the future.

Pros:

+ Great Visuals
+ Gliding Mechanics that bring a good element of skill to the game
+ Great Re-envisioned tracks which complement the new game play elements
+ Well thought out online multiplayer
+ Kart Customisation

Cons:

- Some power-ups and weapons seem overpowered
– Underwater elements slow down the races too much
– Revised Power sliding makes the game easier.

8/10 – Mario Kart 7 is a great new addition to the franchise and to the 3DS. The new game play elements such as gliding are welcome but it is a shame that some of the power-ups and weapons feel a bit too overpowered. With brilliantly thought out multiplayer options this is a must have title for any 3DS owner.

- Garv

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is the third title in a relatively new series of games which focus on the characters and settings of Sega’s history. The first two titles in the series were ‘Sega Superstars Eyetoy’ and the commercially successful ‘Sega Superstars Tennis’. SSAR (Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing abbreviated) has thus far proven the hit itself, having sold 2.37 units worldwide to date. It has been praised far and wide by critics and fans alike for its cartoony visuals, Outrun-esque driving style but, most of all, its fun factor. In addition, Sega fans were also delighted to see the return of some familiar elements from Sega’s past, perhaps most notably the much-loved Ryo Hazuki from Shenmué, who hadn’t been featured in a new game for almost a decade. On a personal level I absolutely adore the console version of SSAR, and consider it to be, perhaps, my favourite kart racer ever.

SSAR was released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS last February, with arcade and PC versions popping up since. June 18^th 2011 saw the release of the iOS version, and it is this particular incarnation that this review will examine. Available on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad this portable racer will set you back $4.99 (or £2.99), and is a tidy 293 Mb in size. This review will look at how the game controls on the iPhone (the format I play it on), the different modes, the graphics and the sound, before making a judgement on whether it lives up to the high standard set by its console counterparts.

There are two control-sets. One sees you control your character by tilting your iOS device to the left and right, as if you were steering a vehicle. The default sensitivity is cranked pretty low, and I’ll tell you something ; having to turn your iPhone to odd angles frequently during play really messes with your visibility, not something that is welcome in a game so heavily reliant on responding to the ever-changing events on screen. Mercifully this can be corrected in the Settings menu, and playing with the tilt controls can actually feel pretty good once you get the hang of it.

The other control-set has you determine left or right movements by sliding a switch. This can be problematic, especially at the beginning of the race or after a crash, as you first have to put your finger on the slider before you can move it in the direction you want to go. However it works pretty well when you’re in the thick of the action, and I can understand why the developers chose this over a d-pad.

Which ever way you choose to play it has to be said ; this game is a hell of a lot harder to control with an iPhone screen than with a nice chunky 360 controller, and never quite as fun.

All the modes from the home console version are here, from Grand Prix and Multiplayer right down to Shopping and even Achievements. Grand Prix and Single Race, as you might imagine, are poor man’s versions of their Xbox 360/Playstation 3/Wii counterparts. Its not that they don’t work well or that they’re completely devoid of entertainment, its just that the home version was really something special ; whenever you played it you can really feel the hussle and bustle on the track, and you never felt alone somehow.

In this version’s favour, the Mission Mode is actually preferable to the console version, even though its obviously harder. Perhaps it works better here because its slightly slower paced and less reliant on scene-generation. The portable factor doesn’t hurt either, making the missions truly pick-up-and-play.

Although all the modes are the same they’re implemented quite differently in places. You will, for example, see a fair bit of deviation in the tracks used in the iPhone version. Mission Mode, itself, no longer works on a graded system (which ranked players’ performance between A and E), it now relies soley on stars. These are welcome developments for those of us who finished the game in its home console incarnation ; its refreshing to revisit that much-loved old territory, then to take to it using new challenges and criteria, and to see things are slightly differently.

The graphics were never going to be on a par with the 360/PS3/Wii version. To expect them to be would be to significantly over-estimate the iPhone’s graphical prowess. The game’s visuals are, however, up there with the very best Playstation 2 games which, for a portable title, puts this release in very good stead indeed. And for an iPhone release ; among the very best the format has to offer.

The view you’re presented with on screen makes use of the entirity of the iPhone’s resolution, and, furthermore, this is a game that really pays attention to the small details. There are little moments, such as Sonic looking back and smirking at your player from the starting line, which will genuinely leave portable game players open-mouthed in admiration. In addition the game’s cartoony style has lost none of its appeal here, and those who persevere with the hard-to-learn controls will find much to gawp at, from the gorgeous checkered twisty tunnels of  Whale Lagoon, to the Latin loveliness of Studio Amogo.

Its worth pointing out that this is a racer that doesn’t suffer from the usual big complaints that plague racers in general, and portable racers in particularly ; pop-up and fog. With the right control settings the player almost always has a good impression of whats coming next on the track, which is an achievement for this game’s creators that should not be under-emphasized.

In addition the menus, it has to be said, look slicker than ever, and work like a dream with the touch controls.

My only bone of contention as far as the graphics go are with the framerate, its even worse than the abysmal DS version’s. In other gaming genres this might not make such a difference, but in a racer this can really affect your reaction time. It also seriously harms the flow of a race, and makes play feel less organic somehow.

I believe that the area where the iPhone version suffers most is with the sound. Don’t get me wrong, the music tracks and voice samples they have included sound damn good. But there just isn’t enough of them. The huge soundtrack and veritable catalogue of voice bites featured in the home console version really helped contribute to its fun factor ; I mean, heck, for once you could race to ‘Super Sonic Racing’ in a game that didn’t suck! (sorry Travellers’ Tales!). And the voice bites were legendary, especially the commentator’s comments which were full of delicious innuendo such as ‘Tails takes a pounding’ and ‘Big, showing he can take as well as give!’.

Thats been mostly been stripped away in this version, and playing it is a lesser experience for it. Sure its understandable why the developers did it, most of us can appreciate how much sound files can bump up the overall size on disk of a project and, when cuts need to be made, its easy to appreciate why sound is the first place developers look. But it really is a lesser experience for it.

In conclusion, the iPhone version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is one of the prettiest games on the iPhone, and a decent (although not brilliant) racer on a format where I didn’t think such a thing was possible. Like all versions of this title, its fan-service is top-notch, and the creators have done the likes of Crazy Taxi and Shenmué proud.

Some of the areas where it deviates from the original group of SSAR titles also make it shine in its own stead in surprising ways. The overall increased difficulty and track variations are refreshing and, as I said, the Mission Mode is, I believe, superior.

But now I’m going to be mean and admit that I never played any version of SSAR with the mission mode in mind. In terms of my interests, and I think many will back me up here, this title really fails to deliver. Grand Prix races are jerky and boring, and you never really get that sense of the aforementioned hustle and bustle of the main versions, which it sucks without.

Its a shame because it really isn’t a bad port at all. Quite the opposite ; its clear that every effort has gone into emulating the experience of the original versions. And while it succeeds in doing just that in many respects, it falls down hard on the most important aspect ; fun.

Pros:
+Great looking
+The tracks which are included sound great
+Fun Mission Mode
+Offers new challenges to fans of the original

Cons:
-The controls are hard to learn and not as pleasant as their console counterparts
-Fails to recreate the buzzing atmosphere of the main console versions
-The music’s not as diverse
-The cheeky innuendo of the originals is much missed
-Slow framerate gets annoying

Score: 6/10 – Mediocre version of a brilliant game. It has its pluses, but ultimately it never measures up to the superior home console versions.

- Helen Doherty

Last Thursday Plus XP was invited to the Motorstorm: Apocalypse Live event in London. For me the event was a fantastic evening, allowing me to get to know some great people and having a laugh while this huge post-apocalyptic tournament was taking place right before my eyes.

Both before and after the tournament event I got the opportunity to play the game itself, and even though I had only a brief stint on the game I come away with some feelings both good and bad. Sit back as I dive into what I thought about the game below the jump.

For those for you out there who aren’t in the know, Motorstorm: Apocalypse is the 4th title in the Motorstorm franchise. While the other titles have been straight-up racing affairs, Apocalypse bring a new depth to the franchise; offering break neck speed, catastrophic landscapes and environments, and even a campaign narrative which kind of makes sense. I say “kind of makes sense”, because narratives in racing games tend to fall flat on their arses.

When I first picked up the controller it was very hard not to pull comparisons from both Burnout (which I love) and Split/Second (which is crap) while I was thrown straight into the action with a 4X4 truck. The controls are standard; you have accelerate, break, and boost, the standard affair that comes with all arcade racers. The boost function wasn’t like anything I was used to; you had unlimited boost, but if you boost too much your engine overloads and you spontaneously combust, a nice little touch I think.

As you race the city falls around you and you have to make split-second decisions as to where to turn next, which turned out to be a pretty good game mechanic that really had me on the edge of my seat. Burnout had this same quick decision-making, but not to the same extent that Apocalypse offers the player. The game also brings a good balance when it comes to the A.I racers; not too challenging, yet not stupidly simple to the extent you’re lapping them, something this game manages that other racers these days need to focus more on.

One of the things that did niggle me quite a bit made itself apparent through some of the things that made you total your car. For example, a fair few times I crashed through burning rubble and self destructing buses completely unscathed, but when I came up against the likes of a tree or a lamp-post my car was suddenly totalled and I had to respawn. The way the game ignores some incidents and makes a meal out of others makes the crashing feel slightly inconsistent at times.

The graphics and scenery in the game are very good indeed, with the effects when buildings come crashing down being very well done and it really does feel like you are in the middle of a city under destruction. Something I picked up on were the hordes of rioters that were destroying the city. These rebels do anything to take you down whether it be through throwing molotov cocktails or even trying to mob your car whilst you race at breakneck speed. I loved the fact that on several occasions I had a random people grabbing the side of my car and flailing helplessly as I got up to speed, it’s little details like that in games I do really enjoy.

Even though I only got a little hands on time with the game, I feel that despite the little niggles, Motorstorm: Apocalypse is a definite competitor for one of the best arcade racers for 2011.

As Jokesound said at the event. “Motorstorm: Apocalypse is like they punched Split/Second in the face with awesome!”

Motorstorm: Apocalypse is out on 18th of March for PlayStation 3.

Garv

When it comes it racing games you are always going to see me playing Arcade racers. I love games like Burnout and most of the Need For Speed games. I even had a brief love with Wipeout but the hatchet on that game has been long since buried.

Burnout paradise is my main arcade racer at the moment as it brings all I really want from any racer into one game that is fast paced, aggressive and addictive. Also I am always about the heart pounding speed, I love the fact that burnout gives you breakneck speed that pushes you to the boundary of totally losing control of your car. Its Brilliant. But there seems to be another racing game that is on the horizon that may change the face of arcade racing, and that games is Motorstorm: Apocalypse.

The 3rd title in the Motorstorm franchise is not just another average racer, sure the launch title for the PS3 may have played it safe when it comes to racing games by giving us an average joe racer but the sequel looks set to rock your world, quite literally. The title kind of gives it away really, as you race your way through West Coast City the enviroment around you comes crashing down, suspension bridges collapse as you race across them, office blocks domino into one another as you race under them. All sorts of carnage and destruction is happening before you as you race. remember that sence of speed and control loss I like when it comes to arcade racers? Adding this apocalyptic element pretty much nails that on the head for me, yeah, this game is gonna be awesome.

The single player campaign takes place over a three-day stint in West Coast city, at the start of your visit the city you begin to see the city take a turn for the worst by the end, there won’t be much of the city left at all. You have the choice of three characters to choose from to play out the campaign, the info i have managed to dig up is on a character called Mash, who appears in the city after his ship drops him off on the coast. His first race takes place in the suburbs as gang warfare tares up the place. Gang members will even grab hold of your car and try to tear it apart, so no time to take in the scenery here and that’ll be your first race of seven throughout day one of the 3 day competition.

Other races will include a crumbling multi-storey car park, and self-destructing subway race and a downtown race that by the end of it sees a helicopter smashing itself into a skyscraper for your visual pleasure…awesome.

Not much else is known about the game thus far, but multiplayer will be playing a huge part in this game as you will be pitted against friends and foe’s alike in a crumbling metropolis. Will this game be a Burnout beater? I’d like to think so.

If you would like to see the game in action tune into Eurogamer.net at 18:45 PM GMT on Thursday the 10th of March for Motorstorm: Apocalypse LIVE. Where four readers from the sites Eurogamer.net, IGN uk , Games Radar and also FHM Magazine will be pitted against each other for the chance to win a 3D TV, Copies of all the PS3 exclusives (including Motorstorm: Apocalypse) for 2011 and tickets to E3. You can also follow the Motorstorm UK Twitter for tweet by tweet coverage of the event. The Plus XP team will be at the event and will be supporting  Eurogamer, so don’t miss it.

Garv

The other necessary part to this is that I love Formula One. Since my dad got me into it in 1998, I’ve been watching avidly every year, been to Silverstone several times, and make events of watching it with friends. It’s the only sport I hold any interest in, and several F1 games haven’t rekindled the same love I got from F1 World Grand Prix on the N64 or Grand Prix Manager 2 for the PC. F1 2010 again, looks to change all of that. But why is it that this one game seems intent on rekindling my love for ‘Serious’ Racing games?

F1 2010 obviously contains all of the drivers and races in the current season with up-to-date information, including the yet to be finished Korean grand prix, and the updated Silverstone, as well as the British World Champions Button and Hamilton. It’s also handled by Codemasters, basically the Champions of racing games, with the Colin McRae series and the Race Driver series under their belts, and so there is probably no better developer around who could best handle the series. They’ve used all their experiences from all their racing games beforehand to create an F1 game that could recapture the hearts of racing fans who have been itching for an F1 game since the last efforts on the PS3, or those who forgot F1 2009 was released on the Wii last year.

The Ego engine that the recent Race Driver and Colin McRae games have been based on will also be utilised for the new F1 game, and the game will feature what is promised to be the most dynamic and complicated weather system seen in a racing game, as well as an ‘evolving track’, both of which are integral to making it the most intensive and realistic racing game. This means when the rain begins, some areas of the track will get wetter than others due to overhanging trees or dips and indentations in the tarmac, so areas of the track will have more or less rain than others, meaning that you’ll have to be more careful when racing in the wet and hitting the wet spots. When the rain stops, the ‘dry line’ will start to appear, giving you the safest racing line with more grip in that area than others, and the further away from the dry line you are, the less grip you’ll have and the harder it will be to drive. This grip system will also be important for the ‘evolving track’ dynamic mentioned before, with this grip system being effective throughout the race weekend; the racing line will be the place with the most grip, and deviating from those lines too much will dirty your tyres and make them less effective. The track each weekend will start out ‘green’, and have a lot less grip, but over the course of the weekend, there will be more and more rubber laid onto the track, meaning by the race, there will be a lot more grip than there was in the practice sessions. This’ll also be important for strategies, as since there’s no refuelling this season, drivers will have to manage their tyres more, which’ll blister, marble and puncture as the race progresses. You’ll also be able to change wing angles, brake balances and engine performances on the fly, and have to manage your fuel. Race too hard and too aggressively, and you might have to go into the pits for tyres more and have less fuel to fight at the end of the race. Nurse your tyres and you can make them last longer to maximise your strategies.

The game’s career mode will probably suck me in more than any other in a racing game. The idea of the career mode is allegedly to help you feel more like a driver than any other, giving you the live not only on track but off it too, with interviews and the media also being a dynamic part of the career. An opening press conference will give you the chance to pick your career mode which’ll consist of 3, 5 or 7 seasons and which team you drive for. Each team will also have their own objectives, with racing for Ferrari and McLaren meaning anything other than both Championships is effectively failure, whereas a midfield team like Force India would be “consistently score points”, Virgin Racing (for the first few races at least) would be “Try to finish without running out of fuel” and Hispania Racing “Try to finish less than 5 laps behind”. Media interest will also differ if you’re a top end or low end driver, impromptu interviews will take place alongside official interviews at the end of the races. These interviews can also affect your output with the team and the way they react to you. Slag off the team, and they’ll be peeved with you. Talk about looking at other teams and you’ll start to attract interest from other teams at the risk of alienating your own team and risking losing your place there.

The cars will also progress throughout the year due to the research feature in the career mode. Over the course of the season, the car will progress and the team will develop new parts and upgrades to eliminate weaknesses and get faster and faster to help catch up, stay in front, or battle with rivals. Team-mate rivarly will also be an important part to this as well, as you’ll have to out-do your team mate consistently in order to get the new parts and upgrdes as they are developed. You’ll be in close contact with your team mate throughout the year, as you are able to interact with them, your engineer, agent and media throughout the career.

But while this all sounds incredibly serious and in-depth, as an F1 fan I’m salivating furiously, the gamer side of me is drooling, and even my “Non-Serious” side is dribbling with the fact that there’ll be stuff for the non-serious racer too, with plenty of things available to help the people like me who can’t commit too furiously and want to enjoy it without being some kind of racing god or a bit of an obsessive. There’ll be plenty of these, with optional driving assists and opponent difficulty settings, allowing you to make the other cars easier to race and the car easier to drive for you. The handling will be authentic without being too difficult, so it’ll be predictable enough that you can learn the tracks easily and focus on putting in consistent lap times. There’ll also be colour coded racing lines available if needed, and even the controversial “Rewind Feature” meaning you have a limited amount of times in a race where you can rewind the game and avoid spinning off or colliding with another car, meaning its less frustrating for the player, and an option for those who don’t want to replay most of the race again. The setups for each race will be suited to the track by default, but you’ll be able to change to a setup that’s more aggressive or defensive, and if you’re a purist, you’ll be able to tinker with everything on the setup to give you the optimum setup or one that suits your driving style more closely and midrace you can change your settings on the fly, such as brake balance, and in the pits you can change further settings still.

F1 2010 will pull up to the grid in September for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

- Jokesound

In my eyes, racing games are one of the hardest genres to do well; unlike most games that can score well in terms of storyline and characters, a racer generally has to have solid gameplay to do well. Aside from the various “racing simulators” out there, when it comes to the more fun, kart style racers there is only one title that comes to everyone’s mind: Mario Kart. Why is this? Because it has a solid engine and a decent selection of tracks. That’s pretty much all there is to it; even non-Mario fans like myself can agree that it’s a good, fair title that’s easy to pick up and play.

Since Mario Kart is limited to the Wii, it leaves a huge gap in the market for a similar title on the Xbox 360 and PS3. A few months ago, we saw the release of Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, which proved to be a good competitor for the kart genre, and probably one of the best seen on the more powerful consoles.

However, not being a total racing junkie like some, I’ve since stopped playing that, too. Unless you really love racers (or play regularly with friends), there’s only so many times you can come first in each track after having unlocked everything and played every course numerous times. Sure, S&SASR had the potential for DLC characters and tracks, but so far it’s been far too slow to keep it fresh; one new track was hardly enough to keep me interested for more than a week.

That’s where the Playstation 3 steps in with its own take on the genre – ModNation Racers. As with all kart racers, it’s a wacky, fun multiplayer racer, with drifting, boost pads and weaponry. But there’s a difference – under the “Play, Create, Share” brand shared with LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers offers something new that neither Mario Kart or S&SASR have done – content creation.

Before you even begin racing, it’s possible to fully customise your own “Mod” character in a similar style to that of LittleBigPlanet. Starting with a plain character canvas, you can choose skin colour (including different textures and abstract patterns), facial features (such as eyes, noses, mouths, ears and facial hair), as well as clothing and various other add-ons. However, it’s perhaps even more detailed than LBP, allowing you to intricately alter the colour and positioning of all different parts, and even including LBP-esque stickers to customise and personalise even further. I could easily spend a good hour playing with this, to create a unique Mod that’s specific to me.

An example of the sheer customisation that's possible with Mods

A similar system also applies to karts – starting with a basic frame you may add various bodies, alter parts and change the general look of the vehicle to your own design. There are plenty of different parts to choose from, allowing you to create many different styles of car – karts, sports cars, vintage vehicles or silly karts such as a cardboard body with a toilet seat. There really is a huge emphasis on personalization, and as with LittleBigPlanet it’s done well.

However, this is purely aesthetic and doesn’t actually affect your driving – if it’s not your kind of thing you can always select from some default Mods that are offered if you don’t fancy making your own. Sadly for sake of fairness all cars are identical in terms of speed and weight – unlike other kart racers that offer different stats for the various racers. It would have been nice to see a point-distribution system though, which could have kept balance by forcing you to choose between speed, acceleration, weight and steering – but perhaps something like this could be added in time.

That’s not to say that the gameplay is basic, though. There’s solid racing in there, and it has plenty of different features to mix it up and keep it interesting. As well as regular abilities such as drifting, there are various weapons such as sonic rings to knock opponents, missiles, and lightning strikes. There’s a twist, though – you can either fire them straight away, or hold onto them and pick up special orbs to upgrade them to level 2 or 3. The higher the level, the bigger the attack will be, increasing the power and amount of targets the weapon will hit. However, you have to be careful – hold on to a weapon too long and you could lose it if you get hit by an opponent’s attack.

Impressively, that’s not the only special thing available. You can flick the right analogue stick to ram opponents at close range, and there’s also a special thermometer style gauge that fills up as you race – this can then be expended to generate a shield to block attacks, or power up your nitros for a temporary boost in speed. All together, this adds up to some fun mayhem that’s definitely good fun.

Still – maybe you’re thinking ‘Sound’s alright, but it’s nothing that new…” but this is where one of ModNation’s biggest selling points comes in, a fully fledged track creation mode. To be honest it looks a bit daunting at first, since it has so much to offer – but it’s easy to build a complete track in a few minutes and work your way up from there.

You start off with a clean sheet, chosen from a variety of different backdrop styles – such as the beach or jungle to give an overall theme to the level. From there, you can modify the shape of the landscape to create mountains and such, and once you are happy with your environment you can create the track itself. Controlling a sort of “track roller” device, you can use the accelerate button to roll across the landscape laying track. You can change elevation to create ramps and such, and it also has the ability to “auto complete”; which means you can hold X to have the game do the tricky task of finishing off the track and lining up the end of the course with the start point. As you get more confident, you can then work on adding various features such as jumps and boosts that are common in these types of games. It’s really simple to make something that works, and it’s just a matter of working up from there. Like LBP, this means that it will be easy to share tracks with your friends, and also playing tracks shared online by other users.

Yep – that fixes the one flaw most Kart racers have – there’s no longer a limited supply of tracks to eventually get bored of – you can always find something new. You’ll need to play the campaign mode to unlock everything, if you want the full selection, so it should definitely have a decent amount of play time on there. If you’ve got a few good friends to play with there’s potentially an almost endless supply of kart fun – so perhaps we’ve found a Mario Kart beater at last.

ModNation racers is like the brainchild of Mario Kart and LittleBigPlanet, and it’s looking fantastic. The game was released on Playstation 3 last friday – so go buy it! The demo is also available on the Playstation Store.

-Leon

I have now made it abundantly clear that Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (Or S&SASR as I am now going to call it to save my fingers) is a lot like Mario Kart, so lets leave this fact aside now and look at this game as a separate title.

Right from the get go the demo gives you a choice of two characters to race as, our good friend sonic and the Xbox Exclusive character Banjo & Kazooie. As this is only a demo you can only play a single race or a 2 player split screen single race; as there was no one to play with at this given time, I went for the single race, and I of course chose Sonic first - I have grown up with the blue needlemouse so I thought it would be rude not to.

As with all racing games you start right at the back of the group as the 3 second count down starts, it is then your job drive round the circuit in a three lap race trying to get over the finish line first. It’s the racing game standard that has not been changed for decades. However, in S&SASR you are have the opportunity to drive into question mark boxes which in turn give you either a power up or a weapon to use to your advantage. So you could get a considerable advantage over your racing opponents if you use these power ups tactically. Now from previous Mario Kart experience i had some knowledge of what the weapons did, as they were quite similar. But as I played through the race countless amounts of times I noticed that this game really bring in a challenge, even on beginner mode I struggled to get first place, which brings a smile to my face. I love a challenge. Mind you the countless amounts of times I did get into 8th place gave me an advantage, if you are lucky enough to hit a question mark box while trailing behind the other racers, who will get your all-star special item. Each of these is a unique power that each racer has to get back into the race. Sonic for example has all the chaos emeralds at his disposal and turns into super sonic, giving him a huge boost in speed which you can increase by repeatedly pressing A. One of my favorites though has to be Amigo’s from Samba De Amigo. He unleashed his special just as he was passing me, he got a boost in speed and then drew all of his opponents into a huge conga line. All the racers were dancing behind him, and as soon as his power ran out, the other racers exploded….Awesome.

While you are racing around your circuit, you will come across jumps, these jumps can again be used to you advantage, as you take to the air start mashing the left trigger to pull off an array of aerial tricks. If you manage to land on all four wheels you will immediately get a boost in speed, the more tricks you pull off, the more boost you will get when you land, meaning if you have a heart of a daredevil you will take some comfort in this small game mechanic.

As you can well imagine with the cast of crazy characters and a whole variety of ludicrous weaponry and power ups, thew circuits themselves aren’t going to be on the plane mundane side, even though the demo only offers you one circuit, there is a chance to take a sneak peek at what will be available track wise, in the full game, you got tracks inspired by the sonic games which will have a lot of loop the loops and helix turns. You also have tracks inspired by house of the dead, samba de amigo and super monkey ball just to name a few. So you can expect a whole variety of whack and wonderful tracks to race around when the game comes out on full release.

From what I have played and seen of S&SASR I will be defiantly keeping my eye on it, it looks to me that a lot of thought has gone into the characters for this game. I mean you would never think a monkey in a marble from super monkey ball being pitted against some hard-core fist fighters from virtua fighter in a race would ever work but it strangely does. A lot of imagination has gone into this game and I think it is a worthy competitor for Mario Karts throne.

Garv

Now we are the many gamers of the 360 and ps3 generation and the next installment of the Colin McRae game saga is just an ‘easy left’ away (/facepalm). This is the first Colin McRae game to come out after the unfortunate passing of the legendary rally driver, and what better way to commemorate him with, what promises to be, a great rally game.

So what does DiRT 2 offer that is new to the already quite full platter that is rally gaming? Well according to IGN the game is powered by the third generation of the EGO Engine’s award-winning racing game technology. Sounds pretty nifty, how does the gamer benefit? This engine provides tuned up car handling and new damage engine effect. So sounds like if you crash you will break your engine…big time. With the new game engine you will get new level of visual fidelity, so you can rest assured when you do crash, it will look wonderful.

The game also has a nice selection of cars for you to get you mitts on, from the get go you will have available to you cars from seven classes of aggressive and fast paced rally cars.  Your garage will house the best in that particular class so there is no need to rummage through fifty million menus to get to the best car. What I think is really cool, is the first drive in DiRT 2 will be in the Group N Subaru. This vehicle was the super car from the original game. Nice touch.

With all games these days Online is a standard functionality, and Dirt 2 of course is no exception. Featuring head to head races, plus new social features that have yet to be revealed, this game is set out to be any aspiring rally drivers dream.

DiRT 2 will be out on September the 11th on PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

Hey, if your in London the the 10th of September be sure to head down to The Arches for the massive launch party held by NME and Codemasters. It will feature performances from the bands such as The Rakes, Glamour Of The Kill and Dinosaur Pile Up…..awesome.

Garv!

First off the demo gives you an in site to what it is like graphically, giving you an amazing looking cinematic swooping shot across desert, derelict land ETC. Look pretty darn good. The game is set in a kind of post apocalyptic seeing, where global warming has reached its highest peak and has turned the country side into a wasteland.

So the demo then offers you the following: One Race, One Challenge and the chance to try out free ride in a small area. For the race and the free ride you are kitted out with a dirt bike, an for the checkpoint challenge you are in a kind of dune buggy mobile.

The race is just your bog standard race where yo have to race against opponents through checkpoints to reach your destination. I found this a lot like PURE so it didn’t really bring anything new to the table, you can pull off tricks whilst air born. But to me it was nothing special, just bog standard really.

The challenge again brought nothing new to the table. It was race through the checkpoints as fast as you can, each checkpoint replenishes your time. If you run out of time you have lost the challenge. Not really blown away by this either if I am to b honest. If I wanted to do a challenge like that I would rather stick GTA IV in.

Now the free ride. To be blunt it is the most pointless thing in the game. This is because it is trying to be like Burnout Paradise with the free burn idea, but hen it takes out all of the challenges and the road rules etc, and just leaves you riding around exploring a wasteland much like Fallout 3.

As you can see this is quite  short demo review, Th is because the demo really has nothing exciting in it for me. Granted the visuals look great, but if you want a visually good off road racer, get your hands on PURE. Or if you just want a good racer go out and buy Burnout Paradise. My vote: Don’t rush yourself to go out and buy FUEL

Garv!

What game am i talking about? Well if you have been seeing me on Box live recently you will probably been seeing me play Burnout Paradise constantly or hours on end.  My thoughts on the game can be viewed here But why does this particular driving game have me hooked when others don’t?

Earlier in the year i had a go at playing project Gotham 4. My house mate has a copy so i decided to give it a whirl. When i first played it, I pretty much played two or three races then turned the thing off. I could not get on with the controls, they seemed to simulated for my liking, and looking at my game collection now i can safely say i like my games to be less real as possible.

PGR4 Looks great but handels too realistically for my liking

And before i hear people start questioning my last statement i just want to say one thing. Even though people think GTA IV is pretty realistic let me point out a couple of things. A) have you ever seen a guy pull out a full scale racket launcher out of his jacket pocket? B) have you seen someone survive a bike crash by flying half a mile down the road and hitting a lamp post? and C) do you really think the police are really that stupid? :p

Anyway back to the subject in hand. What burnout paradise has that other drivers these days don’t have is Lack of realism. This is probably the only game i can think of hat has no people in it at all, You can speed round the city and 300 miles an hour for no real reason. And unlike all these car games such as stunt man, you can pull of stunt whenever and wherever the heck you want.

Now speeding around the city in an over the top car. Thats more my thing!

The mixture of challenges is brilliant. (Road rage has to be the best invention ever) and the online with friends is even better with online challenges around the city, as well as races and all sorts. This game is massive.

So a word of advice to people lik me who do not like driving games and steer clear of them. Try burout Paradise, its extreme, brutal and a great laugh with friends. especially when you go an xbox live vision camera

Grv!