3/5 ★ – Spongyoshi's review of Nickelodeon Kart Racers.

Around 18 years after the original Nicktoons Racing, a new game of the series finally releases for modern platforms! A brand new take, more-so inspired by newest titles, less Diddy Kong Racing, more Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. But is this a great return or does it fall flat? Oh boy this game is tough to talk about, this is really not a game that likes to give good first impressions. Right off the bat, the graphics look very dated, the sound effect are very VERY "stock" with no voice acting in sign and the soundtrack is honestly some of the most baffling tunes I've had to hear in a videogame... It is really not helped by only featuring four different shows, making the roster feel very limited, and defaulting to very weird controls with auto-acceleration on, making the start of the experience really confusing. However, the actual gameplay is actually more complex that it seems. Most races are the usual 3 lap fare with your good old item boxes and coins to collect. However, there is also slime to collect/run-over on the tracks that functions fairly similarly to the boost mechanism of the first Nicktoons Racing except way better thought-off. First, it doesn't run off on it's own, making it more viable to save it up for shortcut. Second, it has three "levels", level one gives a small boost similar to one of a drift, level two gives a bigger boost maybe like a boost pad and level three is a huge, longer boost that can even hit opponents and traverse offroad. However, if you get hit by an offensive item while using your boost, your boost stops so you have to be careful to not waste it at an unfortunate time. But third, it also works as a "catch-up mechanic" as lower-ranked players get more slime while running over it and also have more chance of randomly getting slime from item boxes. In higher ranks, it's a very fun ressource to manage efficently while in lower ranks, it's a great catch-up mechanic and it's honestly a very smart and refreshing addition to the kart racers eco-system and probably the best concept of that game. And the item play isn't too bad, it's actually pretty smart by having variants of each for their corresponding "rankings". For example for protection, leading players can only get a "back-shield" that only protects their back, players in the middle can get a "counter" shield that sends backs items sent to their back and trailing players gets the classic "invincibility star" kind of item. Also, every player gets their own special attack which you're more likely to get while trailing but you'll usually get it at least once per match which I really appreciate. That variety really helps to feel the item selection fun and involved, whatever ranking you're in! The game also plays more like Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed than Mario Kart 8. While your kart automatically tricks off ramps, it doesn't hop when drifting, instead just turning while building your boost and honestly, the drifting is very satisfying and fun, it's almost as solid as the original All-Stars Racing game with it's simplicity yet versatility as you can even "pseudo-snake" with it! Your kart can also transform into a plane and fly for a limited time (although the controls are a lil wonky but I appreciate the thought) and it can also transform into a boat and ride on slime to fill-up your slime bar. The controls are the most wonky on the boat sadly as you loose your drift and you need to decelerate instead to take tight corners which feels very off, especially since a third of the tracks are "boat-only" which is sadly kind of a shame because the kart controls are honestly fantastic... The game is sadly a bit light on content. The game only has 8 real tracks. The tracks themselves aren't too bad however as they evolve and change each lap which is really appreciated but otherwise are kind of basic. There's 8 more that take place in night time and are just the same track in reverse and 8 more that are boat-only "bonus" sort of racetracks. I do like that they include new rules however, half of them are "slaloms" where you need to go left or right of each buoy otherwise you get a cross and five cross disqualifies you from the race; and the other half are "eliminations" where after the first lap, last place gets disqualified from the race every 15 seconds or so. However, the game has interesting ideas to keep the player coming back. First, the game has a "garage" where you can buy new kart parts as this game brings the classic "kart customisation" which is honestly really cool. While each player only has one real kart model, you can customize the rest, even the paint, so in the end they all feel unique which is great! However, you need to collect the coins that cover the different tracks to buy parts and you need to level up to get some parts. Yes, the game has experience points and you get a fun little minigame to get more coins or bonus parts whenever you level up and it's super cute although very confusing the first time and just really undercooked in the end... I do think this game ends up pretty alright in the end! The difficulty is honestly solid as easy and normal are alright and hard is difficult but not too much, it doesn't feel too much like bullshit, there's obvious rubberbanding but I feel like it's pulled off very well, anyone could enjoy this, from casual players to more experienced kart racers. Especially the later will enjoy the time trials that follow the same philosophy, easy and normal are more like warm-up and hard demands a solid strategy of the player. And the former will probably enjoy the battle side-mode in multiplayer as it is sadly not available in single-player.. Not perfection, but just enough to not do any major mistakes and take the right shortcut cleanly, and with the slime ressource management, I feel like it makes for really satisfying gameplay. While it lacks in certain areas, can feel grindy with the kart parts at times and has very crud presentation and some honestly weird glitches to be honest, it's still a very solid kart racer. I definitely think it's an underrated game, and while I love the movement of PC and GBA Nicktoons Racing, this is definitely the better game in my opinion, even if I give it a similar ranking. Big flaws in aspects that matter too much for a game like this but otherwise, it's a game that tries to do a nice spin on the kart racers genre, and on that front, I think it does a great job and while not as amazing as Mario Kart 8, I do genuinely think it stands on it's own.