I took the jump on Bamtang Games’ Nickelodeon Kart Racers with the third game, despite not being a general fan of the collected works of Nick. While I recognise many, there are only a few I have given my attention to. It was a fun kart racer, even if it couldn’t keep a stable framerate. So, to see that Bamtang were going for a different studio for their next racer, and one I have a lot of love for, I knew I’d be going for it. And that racer is DreamWorks All Star Kart Racing.
There are plenty of things to note right from the tutorial in how the DreamWorks racer has improved upon Bamtang’s last Nickelodeon project. The first being the voicework. There’s a lot more interactivity between characters with DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing, as Shrek teaches Donkey to drive. While that tutorial is specifically designed with that interactivity in mind, it paves the way for what is seen in races.
Characters will call out to each other upon attacking or overtaking, calling them by name or at least some form of address. It gives the racing an extra bit of personality over what could be considered recycled voice clips from other media. It’s a delight to hear the banter, even with such small things such as Alex saying, “Move aside, Shrek,” or Fiona with “Pardon, Sir Knight,” to Hiccup. Even when they aren’t acknowledging each other, there’s still a fair few voice lines that convey the personality of the characters.
The other things the tutorial shows improvement on are with the performance. It is just so smooth! Across the hours I’ve played, on the Series S just as with Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3, I’ve had no frame stutters or drops. And smooth gameplay means the act of driving is fun, with no overreactions because the game counted input for longer than you held it for. The only issues I’ve encountered with driving are when you stop dead for a second owing to the game detecting a collision with a wall that actually is just a small incline, such as a ramp.
The franchises represented in DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing are the most well-known, with Shrek (and the Puss In Boots side-series), Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How To Train Your Dragon, and Trolls having most of the focus. Trolls also influences the game mechanics. Alongside those are The Boss Baby, The Bad Guys, and Megamind. In total, there are 20 characters and 20 tracks, with two extra characters you can add to the game with the Rally Edition or the overpriced Rally Pack DLC. Which I guess is to push people to the Rally Edition of the game.
Every character has a kart unique to them. Each kart has several variations that alter the stats of it, with unique wheels, engines, and spoilers to that kart which also have several variations that alter the stats. Each character also has an item unique to them, such as Shrek having an onion. Speaking of items, there are two types. The regular ones that come from item boxes on the tracks, and the Trolls Surprise. The former mostly deals with attack and defence, while the latter mostly deals in speed boosts.
To get a Trolls Surprise ready for use, collect music notes on the track to fill up the gauge. Once it’s full, one of the Trolls Surprise items will appear in that slot. Whether it be three shorter boosts or a longer one, it’s handy to keep these always at the ready. The Trolls also influence more than just that item slot, as on-road mechanics, such as the Magic Path and Drift Trails also feel that influence. As does the race start where you have to collect the three countdown notes to build the starting boost.
The tracks are a varied bunch, each taking a location from one of the films represented. The music theme of each track also styles itself after that used in a scene the location appears. It’s a joy to drive around the New York City Zoo to a theme similar to the joyous beat heard during the a day in the zoo section of the first Madagascar. And the same can be said of all those themes.
There’s the usual options when it comes to choosing how to race, with Cups acting as the campaign. Four speed difficulties and seven cups, getting three stars on each is as simple as coming first in all four races of a cup. The first five feature all unique tracks, with the last two pulling from those other five cups. Stars aren’t the only thing for completionists to worry about, as the Trolls also act as hosts for tracks.
What that means is each of the six Trolls represent an increase in a specific track element, such as music notes or boost pads. In free race, the host can be selected depending on your preference. For Cups, it is random. That wouldn’t matter too much, except that the game is tracking whether you’ve completed a cup with each host. That’s six times for each cup, across all four speed difficulties. Not that you need to be doing all that if you aren’t a completionist, of course. You only need to complete a cup once for a new character to be unlocked.
Characters are also unlocked through the challenge mode. Here, you have six tiers of challenges, with six challenges in each tier. The last of those challenges is a boss race against the character you will unlock. To earn the right to challenge that boss, you need to complete four of the other five challenges. These challenges test your skills on track, whether that be activating and travelling along the Magic Paths, hitting characters with items, or completing the three laps before the clock hits zero.
It’s not just solo play, with local multiplayer and online play available. With the multiplayer modes, there’s either single races or cups to compete in. With cups, each player chooses from a selection of eight tracks, with the four most popular tracks being the ones to make up the cup racers compete on. The online runs well, but there doesn’t seem to be that many people on it. I’d only managed a few online matches in my time trying, and it usually only found one or two others for me to compete against.
DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing is a fun time for fans of the studio. While not all their franchises and films are represented, what is here are the most popular. And Bamtang have done a good job at recreating those locations into race tracks. While the Magic Paths are touted as shortcuts, they don’t exactly feel like it. At least if you’re skilled at drifting. But that doesn’t affect the racing at all, as the track design provides plenty of fun.
It is a joy to see these worlds of DreamWorks properties come to life as a kart racer, seeing these characters interact through the medium of racing. For any fan of the major DreamWorks properties, this is a delightful modern racer that is an easy recommendation to give. Even for those who might not be familiar with the properties, there’s enough personality showing that I feel it doesn’t matter. The presentation and mechanics are great, which means I can give it a great recommendation in general.
Images Taken From:
DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing | Xbox Series S
