LittleBigPlanet Karting

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: United Front Games

The karting game is a niche, but fiercely competitive genre. Few developers turn their hand to it, but the ones that do have to be prepared to bring their A game. That big Mario shaped elephant in the room aside, the PS3 alone is home to a small but brilliant selection of kart racers. Encouragingly for Little Big Planet Karting, developer United Front Games (UFG) are no strangers to the genre, with their last game Modnation Racers sitting neatly atop the HD karting pile. “How can it possibly go wrong, then?” I hear you ask. They have a fantastic licence to build upon, and an already proven pedigree when it comes to building fun games. Somehow though, UFG have managed to make a mess.

Little Big Planet Karting brings with it all the bells and whistles that it could muster, but fails on too many of the basics to make this an enjoyable experience. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments of fun to be had, but with such apparent flaws, as well as other games on the market that do things so much better in all aspects, it’s hard to recommend this game to anyone other that that one guy sitting at home with his PS3, desperate for a karting game because he has bled dry every karting title ever to be released.

A personal bugbear of mine is that UFG have already made a brilliant karting game. Released back in 2010, Modnation Racers is still a game that boasts a vibrant community, which semi regularly pulls me back in to play. MNR even has a solid kart and track creation system with a set up that allows players to collect items on levels to unlock parts for your kart and character. In essence, UFG have already created a fantastic LBP karting game that lacks only Sackboy and the commentary of Stephen Fry. How, then, have they managed to mess it up?

Something that players will immediately become aware of is the shocking level of rubber banding that the game employs. As a test, I allowed myself to be over half a circuit behind the racer in 2nd last place going into the final lap. On my first item pickup, I was given a fast forward item that threw me into second place, I was then given a missile which I used against the leader and easily won the race. Taking this a step further, the game’s AI is also brutally harsh towards the player in the lead. Payers will find that they are hit by a blue missile (this game’s version of the blue shell) over and over again to the point that they can’t respawn for more than a few seconds. Good karting games have always boiled down to player skill, with some rubber banding that allows lesser players to feel like they are competing. LBPK does very little of that.

Another blatant issue that will present itself to those who choose to pick this up is the shoddy spawn points and seemingly incomprehensible places at which power ups and items will run out of steam. The previously mentioned fast forward item will, at times, fast forward players over a gap in the world, or an unavoidable object that ends up putting the player in a worse position than they were already in. A similar thing will happen with the boxing glove (Bullet Bill) in that it will run out over a gap and drop players to their death. The spawn points are often no better. There were times that I found myself spawned in a place that seemed impossible to escape from without being killed, only to be respawned in the same place after my inevitable death.

These issues aside, mechanically is where the game shows its more favourable traits. The karts handle nicely, and once players get to grips with the controls, they will be able to throw the karts around the track in a way that feels responsive and fun. The track design in story mode is also generally well made and fun to look at, which is lucky because you will be seeing plenty of it. Each track consists of three laps, which will often feel as if they drag by because the sense of speed in LBPK is almost non existent. This lack of pace also scratches loose a realisation that basic aesthetics aside, this is not a LBP game. The art style and colour palettes are there, but the entire world lacks that quirky feel, which is a real shame because it is the quirkiness that really shines through in the more traditional LBP games.

I am very aware that I’m being extremely negative towards LBPK, but that’s because its weaknesses are so glaring. The things it does right seamlessly slot into the experience and players may find that they miss them as a result. A big problem with UFG’s last title was that the loading screens were very long, and this has largely been addressed in LBPK. The creation tools are also generally intuitive, if a little thin on the ground. Editing your sack person or kart is easy, but unfortunately the lack of choice means that players will try out a couple of designs before settling on something and not coming back to the editor. Thankfully, online works as it should, and there are a few little tweaks that now allow the better tracks to float to the surface for you to play – which is brilliant as it may add some longevity to the game that the single player sadly lacks.

It’s not that LBPK is a terrible game – it certainly isn’t. All too often it feels as if the game is attempting to merely ape what Mario Kart has done, but in reality players will find that the game rewards defensive abilities above offensive, which is at least a nice change to the genre. The game handles well, and the tracks are well designed, but sadly this is about as far as it goes. LBPK is a LBP game in name only. The slow speeds of the karts and the terrible oversights in terms of power ups and spawn points will most likely ruin the few things that this game does well. If you are really in love with the karting genre then maybe this game will work for you, but given recent releases, there are better games out there that will scratch the same itch. It pains me to say it, but Little Big Planet Karting won’t do enough to keep LBP fans on board and there are plenty of better games around at the moment of the same ilk.

3 Good Points:

+ Karts handle well.

+ Solid online infrastructure.

+ Sackboy.

3 Bad Points:

- Items implementation is poor.

- Spawn points are almost game breaking.

- Karts feel slow.