Review: Dreamworks All-Star Kart Racing

Mario Kart…there, I’ve said it and got it out of the way early.

Inevitably any kart racing game that gets released will be compared and contrasted to one of the all-time greats.

So, with that out of the way, let’s move onto the game.

It’s hard to go wrong with a kart racing game and Dreamworks All-Star Kart Racing gets all the fundamentals right and is fun to play, either in single player, local co-op or online.

The character selection choice is an absolute dream for any movie fan like myself, often ignoring the drivers stats (speed, strength, etc) just to be able to see karts driven by some of your favourite Dreamworks characters…most of which have questionable voice acting though…and of course never as good as the original voices from the movies, plus the repetition of dialogue can grate after a few hours play.

Visually the karts themselves have plenty of upgrades for you to mix and match your bodies, tyres, engine, spoilers, while the tracks are vibrant and colourful, each of them coming from the worlds of various Dreamworks movies.

The main mode is making your way through the 5 cups (each with 4 courses) , and just like the voice acting, the music played while racing these tracks is not entirely taken from the movies.

Much like in the game that’s already been named, drifting through turns will increase your speed, there’s power-ups and weapons to be collected and used, jumps to help reach collectibles, while also including “magic paths” that reveal hitherto hidden shortcuts.

While having 4 different speed levels to choose from, each and every one of them feels far too slow with not much difference in any of them apart from tougher A.I. opponents. 

Despite the niggles I had while playing, I still had that all important fun factor and kept returning for a few more races.

As always with kart racing games, the main joy is racing against both friends and strangers, and in this respect it elicited quite a few laughs while unleashing weird and wonderful weapons on unsuspecting opponents.

It’s not going to unthrone the King of kart racers, but DASKR offers enough to keep you entertained while racing with characters you’ve more than likely grown up with.

Review by Dave.