Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix Review (PS4)

fair
key review info
  • Game: Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
  • Platform: Playstation 4
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix key art

Mario Kart’s success was contagious to many publishers and game developers, who tried to copy the recipe of the hit SNES game by replacing Mario and co. with other characters from successful video game franchises. We have seen Crash Bandicoot trying to control the fast and light go-karts, Sonic switching his sneakers with race cars, but even Colonel Sanders battled it out with Mr. Monopoly in Modnation Racers. The genre seems to be the perfect playground for the wacky characters from the Nickelodeon productions, so much so that we received a sequel to the original Nickelodeon Cart Racers.

It is somewhat surprising since no one has asked for it, mainly because the first installment cannot be called successful or very fun. It had static races, boring circuits and it lacked any remnant of a soul. It was the perfect example of a cash grab attempt. Still, Bamstang Games insists by releasing Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix that sees Spongebob, Aang, Arnold, and others going head to head with our favorite Rugrats and not so favorite new Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, in circuits and arenas inspired by the famous cartoons series. And of course, an important role has the slime, so iconic to Nickelodeon, being featured as an important resource throughout the entire game.

The developers tried to make up for past mistakes by making everything bigger and louder. The first proof that they wanted to go all out, is the increase of the pilots' roster from 12 to 30 different fan favorites from the Nickelodeon universe. The character selection is quite varied going from Ren & Stimpy to Cat Dog or Danny Phantom. At first glance, you will notice that each driver has different attributes such as Top Speed, Turbo, Steering, and Drift, which makes them more suitable for different scenarios. At second glance you will notice that the producers made the racers fit a handful of molds, in most situations top speed trumping all other statistics.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
+6more

To incorporate even more characters from the toons, your racers are supported by a pit crew and a Chief. As a result, you will end up with a four-member team, each support role offering different bonuses. For example, Zuko will offer a burst of turbo while setting the nearby racers aflame, while Alphonse and Sophie will hurl mudpies at your opponents in front of you. To balance things out the abilities of your two-member pit crew are conditioned by cooldowns, while the different bonuses your chosen Chief brings to the race requires you to collect enough slime going round and round the circuits.

This adds a layer of strategy and a greater variety to personalization, adhering to the dogma of the producers that more is better. The same can be said when it comes to game modes as well: in single-player you can choose from Slime Grand Prix, Free Race, Challenges, Time Trial, and Arena modes. One of the most interesting ones is the Slime Grand Prix, which invites you to compete in mini championships, each featuring four different circuits. These are treated as one big race, so if you chose to restart for some reason in the middle of the third circuit you will have to replay everything, starting from the very first circuit of the series. This can become quite tedious especially in the second or third difficulty setting, where the AI becomes much more aggressive.

By completing the different challenges in all game modes you will unlock new cosmetics, new upgrades, new drivers, new chiefs, and new crew members. It is supposed to be fun and challenging, but it is rather tiresome and tedious to go through all the levels, again and again, to unlock content to help you fare better in the very same levels. The lack of variety is noticeable also in the driving experience, the difference among the racers being minor, despite their stats differences.

The control scheme is quite loose and imprecise, and you can never be sure about your trajectory. The boost you can gain from drifting is useful only in a couple of the circuits, in most levels a high top speed and avoiding the incoming attacks being the key to success. So, after playing through the single-player part we cannot help but notice that more is actually just more repetition from the producers, and it is not better, just more tiresome.

The biggest addition can be considered the multiplayer mode, which can see up to four players competing in local or up to eight players going head to head in online. Unfortunately during the review period, the matchmaking did not work at all, the game failing to find online players. Even leaving the game more than 10 minutes seeking players did not yield results. Competing against the AI is plagued by various results, the opponents either being overpowered with offensive gadgets or stuck in different places of the circuit, the only viable option being a local competition with three other friends.

In terms of graphics Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix does a half-decent job, being more colorful than its predecessor. The animations are much better and specific for each character, clearly inspired by the cartoons. Still, both the vehicles and the circuits are lacking when it comes to the level of details and they are not varied enough to keep you hooked. In the first 30 minutes, you will see everything the game has to offer visually. The audio part on the other hand is a complete catastrophe. First of all, the characters are mute, and this destroys the great effect of the specific animations. The music that should resemble the theme songs of the cartoons is as generic as they come reminding us of nothing.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
+7more

The Good

  • Lots of characters from the cartoons
  • Quite extensive customization options
  • More content compared to the original game

The Bad

  • Repetitive and flat
  • Inaccurate controls
  • Online multiplayer not working

Conclusion

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is bigger than the first installment, but it’s not better. It still is repetitive and it loses any appeal it has quite quickly. The single-player part still feels flat and boring. Despite the addition of countless challenges and a plethora of characters, the game is still very short, something the developers tried to overcompensate through repetition.

The multiplayer part was only working in local mode, the online playground being a no man’s land. You could still try to overlook the shortcoming, by saying that the game is targeting mainly the younger audiences. This statement is contradicted though by the advanced difficulty levels with an AI that does not get smarter, only more aggressive, taking advantage of the conditions feels rigged against the player. Although a better effort, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is still far from the finish line it wants to conquer.

story 2
gameplay 6
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 6
multiplayer 5
final rating 6
Editor's review
fair
 
NEXT REVIEW: Partisans 1941

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix screenshots (29 Images)

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix key art
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand PrixNickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand PrixNickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand PrixNickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
+24more