Game Reviews

Shrek Kart

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Shrek Kart
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| Shrek Kart

Most kart racers run on sunshine, smiles, and rainbow wishes, but Shrek Kart is fuelled by gas. Ogre and friends are back, this time hitting the portable screen in this brightly coloured racer featuring great characters, power-ups, and modes. Unfortunately, imperfect controls stink things up, preventing it from being the freshest kart racer around.

Joining Shrek in his racing aspirations are nearly a dozen cast members from the film franchise including Donkey, Fiona, Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, and others. Six at a time buckle up for races across four single player modes. Tournament mode, which consists of six cups of multiple races apiece, tracks each character's attempt to become the kingdom's most decorated driver.

Additionally, there are one-off Single Races and quick-fire Challenges that have you speeding through time trial laps and collecting items. Arena mode completes the list of modes, dumping you into an enclosed space within which you try to nail competitors with items and avoid getting hit yourself.

Both Single Races and Arena events are also available in multiplayer. Local wi-fi supports a surprising maximum of six players, whereas Bluetooth allows you and buddy to play head-to-head. The lack of online play disappoints, though there are more noteworthy flaws that warrant raising a stink.

Even with the inclusion of a fully-featured online experience, Shrek Kart would still have to wrestle with imperfect controls. Accelerometer and touch schemes are offered, the latter surprisingly preferable.

While still playable, the accelerometer provides for less precision than the touch option. The trade off comes in more difficult drifting when using touch controls. Tapping the brakes to drift while simultaneously touching the edges of the screen to steer is awkward.

For both methods, the handling and sense of speed are slightly off. You never get the sense of full control over your kart. Instead, you're always on edge, expecting Gingy to spin out, his delicate gingerbread head torn off as whiplash does him in. As entertaining as it would be to watch the gingerbread crumble, the controls aren't as tight as they need to be.

Exacerbating the issue are technical tricks that have the game slowing down when you soar over jumps and competing racers popping in and out of view. Graphical slow down annoys, though it doesn't have the game skidding to a stop.

The short draw distance is of concern, however, because it complicates battles in Arena mode, where opponents are already difficult to target. Tracks are always rendered far enough on the horizon for you to know what's up ahead, but for some reason competing racers pop in and out as they move closer and farther away from you.

It's a shame technical issues keep Shrek Kart from shifting into gear because it has some of the most unique power-ups and interesting characters of any kart racer. Lobbing pumpkins and take-a-break fairy posts to impede your opponents is good fun. The tracks - 12 in total - also entertain with candy-strewn lanes, mucky swamps dotted with geysers, and fiery mountain caves.

Shrek Kart doesn't possess the same phenomenal multiplayer of competing racers, though it does bring its own style to bear on a formulaic genre. Tighter controls and improvements to make the game run more smoothly are definitely needed, but for a fun racer it'll do, Donkey, it'll do.

Shrek Kart

A funny twist on the formula, Shrek Kart gasses up on great characters, tracks, and power-ups, yet needs a tune up to address slightly off controls and technical sputters
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.