Mario Kart and Modnation Racers are Neck and Neck. Who Will Take The Flag?

The kart racing genre has been overrun by many contenders looking to have the success that Mario Kart had. I remember playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Gamecube (Mario Kart Double Dash) and thinking it was a good blend of karts, tracks and character combos to choose from. Eventually though the title did get old without having online support or anyway to update tracks. When the newest Mario Kart for the Wii came out I was a little disappointed by the fact that they had mixed in some old tracks instead of creating a completely fresh new list for people to play through. It was lazy and while I do understand that they were giving a nod to previous titles (and courses), I would rather have new tracks to learn and master instead of treading on tracks I have played too many times to count. That is the problem really with any racing game. At some point you have seen all the tracks, unlocked all the cars and have used all the racers. Online play can obviously extend a game’s life but at some point you would like more. A game where you can change up my cars the way I like, make ridiculous looking characters and dare I say it, create tracks in order to keep things feeling fresh! Well just so has it that I am in luck (funny how that always happens when I am looking for such a specific thing). Let’s take a look at the nation of Mods and see what they have to offer.

Modnation Racers was billed as a mix between Little Big Planet and Mario Kart (I have even heard Sims references thrown in there). I do think that is a fair comparison but that puts it in a weird grey area. Is the focus on the game customization or is a solid kart racer with crazy power ups? Thankfully I can say it has both and both are wonderful. One of the first things I would like to bring up is that MNR (Modnation Racers) feels faster than Mario Kart. There were points in MK (Mario Kart) that I felt like my kart was putting along. Now whether it is the track designs I have raced so far or something else you get a much better sense of speed in this game (that is not to say you will confuse this for Burnout). As I stated earlier the driving is responsive but like any game you have to get used to the way the vehicles handle. Unlike MK you won’t have karts separated by their stats. Every kart is essentially the same (from a performance standpoint) minus two options. You have the choice between acceleration vs. speed and handling vs. drifting. Once you find a combination you like you can then progress into the story mode. Wait a story! In a kart racing game! I have to hear more about this!

STORY:

Yes MNR has a story. A cheeseball story but a story none the less. In short, you are a newbie kart racer looking to make a name in the MRC (Modnation Racing Championship). The single player story is really just a place to hone your skills, unlock items and get comfortable with all the game has to offer before you move on to online and offline multiplayer. From the single player campaign you can unlock new parts for your mod (your driver), your car, and your tracks. I noticed a few things about the races that I am a huge fan of. Every race has multiple objectives and in order to progress through the story you usually need to finish third or better (there are times where only a first place finish will do). For instance you will get a stipulation that asks that you draft for a certain amount of points and come in first, or that you take out a rival in the race (and come in first). It would be great if you could run every race only once and get all the objectives in one shot but seeing as every race is so crazy and learning all the shortcuts takes time I doubt that will happen. But after a few times around the track you will learn the best paths to choose and strategically using your power meter and power ups, which I will expand on in a little bit, is a huge help. Unlike the MK games I love the fact that you don’t run races in a series (when you have four tracks, or more, that you race one by one). It was very frustrating to place in the top two or three spots in three out of four tracks in MK just to get beat up on and ultimately lose everything at the end and have to redo every track over again. Here each track takes about two to four minutes to complete and if you need to do it over again it doesn't feel like climbing that mountain again. All this being said the single player campaign is very tough. There will be instances where you ran a perfect race and get passed or hit at the last second. In order to pass some of their stipulations you should be ready to do a track many times in order to pull it off. The computer players are ruthless and there will all fight for that first place spot. And the dreaded rubber band effect comes into play here (rubber banding means that once you build up a big lead the computer players are able to make up that gap in a matter of moments). While it is very frustrating it only makes the game better when you beat a rival, or meet a track goal and see the sweet stuff you have now unlocked.

POWER UPS AND POWER METER:

Mario Kart for the most part didn’t have a lot of strategy in the game. If you did make it to the front of the line your best option was to hold on to a couple of items (like a triple set of bananas) so that if someone threw something at you (unless it was that dreaded and almost possible to get away from blue shell) it wouldn’t do any damage. MNR has taken power ups and strategy to a whole new level. First, there are only four power ups to get your hands on (a rocket, nitro, lightening, and a shockwave). Although there are only four powers each one can be upgraded. If you collect a rocket by running over a power orb and then collect two other power orbs you now have a level 3 (which is the max for any weapon) set of rockets which is so much more powerful and deadly to your opponents. But there is a risk of powering up every weapon to the max. If someone hits you it is possible to lose everything and will put you back to square one. If you are in last place this is no big deal but if you are in the middle to front of the pack do you risk it to possibly gain a few spots or use everything as soon as you get it. The reason I say “possibly” is the second half of the equation which is the power meter. The power meter is a bar on the bottom right hand side that fills by you doing tricks (drafting, drifting, etc). The power meter can be used in a many ways. You can sideswipe your opponents (temporarily stunning them), you can boost until the meter is depleted, or you can use a shield to block any incoming attacks. So again, how do you want to play? Do you try to be really aggressive and build up the meter to try to attack the other racers? Do you build up the meter and try to outrun everyone? Or do you build up the meter and try to other measures to get into first and use the shield to try to protect from other people’s attacks? It should be noted that while the shield is an awesome addition it takes some experience to get the timing down. The shield only last a few seconds before it is gone so it is vital to know exactly when to get your shield up to avoid the heavier level three hits. And of course every power has a different point in which you want to put the shield up. Just before you get hit there will be a warning telling you which power is about to hit you. That being said the timing of a level three lightening storm is much different than that of a level three shockwave. But with practice most attacks can be blocked. It gives a great sense of balance because you are not punished for being in first but the people trailing do still get a chance to try and take you down. Holy crap I have been writing forever and I haven’t even touched on the heart of this game yet!

CUSTOMIZATION:

This was (by far) the biggest selling point of this game. The fact is, at some point the characters, karts, and tracks get stale and it is awesome to be able to change everything up to keep the replay value high. You can share your creations online or if you have no interest in creating you can go online and download other people’s work. You can literally work from a blank slate and create anything your imagination can come up with. I created The Flash and I have seen Sylvester the Cat, Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Mario, etc. Kart customization acts in the same way. You start with a basic frame and can build it up from there. You choose body types, paint jobs, tires, steering wheels, etc. One thing to point out is this is all cosmetic of course. Whether you put a car battery or a jet as your engine it will not impact the performance of your car. The track editor is ridiculous! You begin by laying your track down and although you do have a limited amount of track it is enough to get the job done. Then you can either hit the auto populate button, which will add in the surround buildings, objects, power ups and more, or you can go in and add in every aspect yourself. You also have the ability to tweak anything from the auto populate feature (if you don’t like the placement of a boost or ramp you can go in and delete it or move it). The level of customization is outstanding and very intuitive. You can control the direction of sunlight, the width of certain parts of the track, if you want power ups on the course at all, scenery in the background and so much more! As an example my wife and I spent about three to four hours playing with and completing our first track. At no point did I get bored and the minute I finished I couldn’t wait to make a bigger and better one.

MULTI-PLAYER & ONLINE PLAY:

When you are ready you can take a break from all the customizing and try your skills offline and on. When racing offline you can set all the parameters to your liking and play split screen. When you do venture online, you will have a few race types to choose from. You can race for XP (experience points) or you can do a casual race. Only the casual mode can be played in two player like in Mario Kart. The benefit of racing for XP is you are awarded points based on where you placed but also how you raced. You may have come in last place but if you were very aggressive and sideswiped and hit people with a lot of items you will be rewarded for that. I have heard that you also get rewards (possibly new kart bodies or other unlockable items) but I have yet to see it happen so I can’t say for sure. If that is true that adds another level to an already very deep game.

It is fair to say this novel I have written tells my feelings towards this game. For me Mario Kart is now in the rearview mirror trying to catch up to everything that Modnation Racers has to offer. In no way is this game perfect but for a first installation it is damn close. I think there are two things that might hinder the game, one of which is how big the online community will get. Since the game is coming out at a tough time (Red Dead Redemption, Blur, and Split Second have all come out around the same time) it will be interesting to see how many people pick this one up. The second concern I have is one that was raised after reading a review on Giant Bomb and that is legal issues. As I stated earlier I have seen some pretty iconic video game characters created by people and I wonder if at some point Sony or someone else will try and curb that kind of creation to protect trademarks. That being said this game has put its foot on the gas and left many of its competitors in the dust. At least I hope so.