IGN Revuew ;
LittleBigPlanet Karting exists in this weird, in-between space. This is a kart racer from United Front Games, the folks who put out ModNation Racers on PlayStation 3 more than two years ago. Those creators have taken the LittleBigPlanet franchise and wrapped it around ModNation's established racing engine. So instead of Mods as racers, it's Sackboys. Instead of races being laid out in lists, they're patches peppered on cushy planets. In other words, the worlds of LBP and ModNation have collided to make one game.
That should be awesome, but LittleBigPlanet Karting doesn't have the polish of the LBP games that have come before it, nor the kart racing fun that defined ModNation Racers. Strangely, it's a product that fails to live up to the bar set by each of its predecessors, representing a step backwards for United Front Games as a kart racing developer and LittleBigPlanet as one of Sony’s marquee franchises.
When it comes to actually racing, LittleBigPlanet Karting features some polished mechanics, but it's just not that exciting. Some tracks have crazy turns and sharp visuals, but most feel empty and forgettable, with long stretches of just driving and trying to nab the occasional score bubble. Like most kart racers out there, you drift around corners to get a quick speed burst, pick-up items to use them as weapons, and basically do whatever you can to end up in first place.
Again, all of that is solid, but LBP Karting strips out a few of the ModNation mechanics that made that game strategic and fun. You no longer have a boost/shield meter to worry about; now, you get the boost from drifting and have to decide if you want to use your item for its given purpose or use it to defend an attack when the time comes. This is a step backward. Building up the ModNation meter meant you could defend yourself from multiple attacks. Requiring me to have an item equipped and ready to use as a shield means I'm vulnerable a lot more. This leads to LittleBigPlanet Karting being frustrating.
I love kart racers and understand that cheap shots are a part of the genre, but I can't remember the last kart racer I played that frustrated me as much as LittleBigPlanet Karting does. There are a number of issues here. I'd deploy items like the Boxing Glove or Fast Forward Button (both of which propel you forward on the track), and I'd be slammed into obstructions at the end of the animation that instantly killed me. When I'd respawn, I'd be invulnerable for a few seconds, and as soon as that ended, I'd be blasted with a missile from a computerized foe and have no way to defend myself as I had just used the item I had equipped -- the item that led to my death and my subsequent spiral into last place.
Racing isn't your only option in LittleBigPlanet Karting. The game also packs Battle Modes where you race around arenas blasting other players and trying to net the most kills. These are peppered throughout the story mode and are actually less cheap than the races, but they're more fun against real people locally or online.
Like any LittleBigPlanet before it, Karting keeps the Sackboy stuff players know. The game starts with you in your cardboard pod, you create levels on your moon, and Sackboy is yours to customize via the friendly Pop-It menu. Aesthetically, LittleBigPlanet Karting does a great job of emulating what the Media Molecule games started.
But then we get into the game itself. When you best a race or a battle, a versus level version of that trial will pop up on the world. This is the one you'll use to play people online, but when you start unlocking the side missions and mini-games, the planets become overloaded with content and look a bit like a confusing snake's nest. Why not just have the one level ask me if I want to go online and race other people?
Traditional Sackboy tweaking included.
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