One of the big surprises in gaming of the last year was the announcement of Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift. The first game was… something. Regarded more for its meme than the game itself. But it seems Microids are aware of that, as this new game is developed by Eden Games. Yes, the developer behind the Gear.Club Unlimited series. So does that racing experience pay off here?

To immediately jump into a race, I hit up the Grand Prix. Picking my beloved Odie to drive around these tracks. All the usual suspects are here from these eight characters, with Garfield, Jon, Liz, Nermal, Squeak, and Arlene all ready to race. With this game not basing itself on The Garfield Show, Harry is not the last one on the roster. Instead replaced by Big Dog, one of the oldest frenemies of Garfield.

One interesting thing to note is that the game does not include 50cc difficulty, leaving 100cc and 150cc. And mirror mode, which is here from the start. Things do feel lacking when it comes to content, as there are just three cups to choose from. All themed based on the name of the cup. City, Pirate, and Western. There’s a decent variety of change when it comes to tracks in a specific cup, though nothing too wild. Especially when it comes to the Western Cup.

Into the racing, things feel smooth. Drifting is easy to utilise and easy to understand. The same goes for the items. There’s good reason for that, of course. As Garfield Kart 2 feels the most blatant copy of Mario Kart I’ve ever played. Holding items behind me, triple items automatically spinning around me, even dodging a blue bowl by using a lasagna boost to get out from under it. Copy they might be, but the items do fit the Garfield theme.

The tracks feel they fit the Garfield universe less, though there have been times where Garfield has been a pirate, so a pirate themed cup does make sense. The vehicles, however… there’s very little in the way of recognisable Garfield elements to them. The customisation options of front, rear, and wheels feel based on real life vehicles. Even the paint and decal options lack anything recognisable as being Garfield-like. The one decal that easily stands out as being Garfield related isn’t even unlockable. Being a free DLC instead.

The visuals of Garfield Kart 2 are good, having a nice cartoony style. Eden Games seems to have gone too far with the comic-like visuals in one regard, as the game utilises a filter that covers the screen with small dots. Barely recognisable when things are light, but easily seen in the dark. If you find yourself wanting to turn it off for whatever reason, there’s no option to do so. The options in general are light, and nowhere is that more apparent than online.

The only option there is to join a match. It will search for people, then put everyone onto a track. There’s no choice of track, either. This is the most basic of online implementation I’ve seen. And it doesn’t even work smoothly. During races, people can usually be seen jumping around. Their position on the track can even be wrong. In one race, it looked as though someone was resetting onto the track just before the line. I overtook them, happy to get first. But the results showed I was second.

There also seems to be very few people playing online, even with crossplay boosting the numbers available. So sticking to the offline modes, or local multiplayer, is the best way of enjoying Garfield Kart 2. Getting three paws on all cups is a nice challenge for Grand Prix, even with just the three cups. Free race is a nice way to enjoy the tracks away from Grand Prix, with a few options such as number of tracks, AI level, speed, and the order of the tracks to change things up.

Then there’s Time Trials, which is great fun with the mechanics of the game. Each track has a bronze, silver, and gold time to beat. The ghosts of all three times will race alongside me, plus my own ghosts once I’ve set a time. Bronze and silver times were easy enough for me to beat, with the gold ones proving to be a challenge. That gold ghost is also a great way to discover the shortcuts of the tracks, of which there are quite a few.

It’s a pretty mixed bag, then. Visually, aside from the comic-style dots, Garfield Kart 2 looks great. Everything, even the animations, are smooth. The tracks are great fun to drive around, even if there’s no wild variety to the theming. Lack of options and the basic online affect how I think of it. Meaning that, while I can recommend Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift, I’d advise you to think how much the negatives will affect your enjoyment of the game.

Images Taken From:
Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift | Xbox Series S