Does Mario Kart finally have some real competition?

Little Big Planet Karting has been talked up as a "real competitor" for Mario Kart, but I'm not 100% sold on this just yet. Don't get me wrong, it is a great game with plenty of content, super fun graphics and gameplay, but i think it might be more suited for a slightly younger audience who would enjoy the customisation and frivolous gameplay.

As with any other Little Big Planet game, you are introduced to the game and it's features by Stephen Fry, a feature that should have you instantly begging for this game. His soothing educated voice draws you in just like any other LBP game. You will be instantly mesmerized and not wanting to skip over any cut scenes. You play as Sackboy and after you acquire your kart Stephen Fry will soon be using his magnificent voice to guide you through the tutorial, with some very funny one liners along the way. The gameplay is very straightforward and is just like any other racing game, so you will pick it up in an instant.

big difference between this racing game and almost every other one, is that it has a story line. It's a fairly simple one but it's quite effective in giving this game more of a meaning than just racing. The Story Mode features Sackboy racing against The Hoard, which plan to steal the Craftverse's prizes for "no reason other than to hoard them."

It's amazing how well the developers have made this game feel like a normal Little Big Planet game. Everything feels right and all aspects of the LBP games are in this one too, such as stickers, prize bubbles, and the endless customisation of yourself, your kart and your pod. Prize bubbles in the tracks are a nice way to earn extra points and they help stick true to the LBP games. This game also uses the same special items from the previous games in the series such as the grappling hook for jumping over large chasms and such. The best feature of this game is the drifting. According to Stephen Fry, "drifting means taking the corner in a really cool way" and with this game he is definitely not wrong. This game is made for drifting and it rewards you with a boost of different strengths for how well you do it.

Like most games, this one also has its downsides. I found the main downside is that everything is played through the story part. There is no separate spot for multiplayer or battle arenas and it's hard to find a track that has more than single or double player. This game has a small amount of fun interesting items, my favourite would be the fast forward button that zooms you along like the game has just been fast forwarded. This being said, there isn't a huge variance in items but having the ability to lean out of your kart and slap players that get too close almost makes up for this, cos it's just that fun!

For me, this game didn't seem to have that sense of urgency and competition like in Mario Kart or other racing games. Doesn't necessarily feel like you're racing against other people, more of just a fun racing game whose focus is on the world of Little Big Planet rather than the action of racing.

Being able to drive around and further explore the magical world of Little Big Planet is the real thrill of this game. The graphics, the objects and the music is what makes this game what it is, the fact that its racing just makes it even better. I think this is a fine game but, like me, you might find yourself trading it in because you complete it or you simply tire of it. 7/10 from me.

PROS - Great graphics, the best voice over person ever, plenty of content and a various amount of tracks and game types, given the choice of acceleration - x button or R2 button - which is a nice feature (I went with the x button).

CONS - very slow start with the initialising game data, limited multiplayer tracks, not a huge range of weapons.