Those who enjoy LittleBigPlanet or fancy kart racers should find something to relish in LittleBigPlanet Karting.
From the opening cut-scene, LittleBigPlanet Karting appears to be like any other LittleBigPlanet game. A familiar, charismatic voice babbles on while leading you to a quick tutorial to ascertain the basics of the game. Smooth kart handling is one relieving discovery made almost instantly upon being set loose in said tutorial. As well, the drifting is seamless, largely due to the ease of controlling the kart whilst in mid-drift. Being a kart racer, it's no surprise to see various items implemented in the game. These aforementioned items range from guided rockets to swift zaps of electricity, all of which can potentially annihilate opponents or prevent yourself from becoming a pile of debris on the racing course. In all, the gameplay is simple enough to mostly be explained in the tutorial. As such, accessibility isn't at all an issue; moreover, an Easy Mode allows for even more unexperienced players to jump into the action.
The three basic modes past LittleBigPlanet games have provided (Story, Create, and Online) make a full return in LittleBigPlanet Karting. Logically, a great place to begin is the Story Mode. Standard races against AI opponents aren't the only events to partake in within the Story Mode, fortunately. Some story levels act as time trials, others implement intriguing boss battles, and others are simple, though usually amusing, mini-games. Interestingly enough, prize bubbles remain a part of the game, at least in most levels; furthermore, scores are recorded for accumulating these familiar bubbles, in addition to finishing closer to the top position. That same undeniable LittleBigPlanet charm is found within each and every level, yet the actual storyline fails to be all-that captivating. Nonetheless, the humorous dialogue, jaunty tunes, and overall splendid presentation positively contribute to making the experience of this game feel close to what has remained lovable about franchise.
Racing and conquering your way through all of the levels is, at times, a bittersweet experience. Periodically, power-ups and AI opponents feel overly cheap. However, that's oftentimes the nature of the game. To elaborate, a capable driver may lead for a majority of the race, deflecting items and running quick lap times with skill, only to be caught defenseless, consequently ending up pulverized with multiple items in a brief lapse of time. On the flip side, the chaotic nature of some races may also work out in your favor, though that's not to say the balancing aspect is quite perfected. Adding to the frenzy of vehicular combat, the tracks themselves pose copious perils such as lava pits and moving objects. Impressively, jump pads and Grabinators are thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, some track layouts prove to be a tad confusing or inconsistent. Timing Grabinator swings just right is one such example that sometimes leads to unneeded frustration. Respawning is another inconsistency, taking much too long to place you back on the track at some moments, or fairly placing you at a fixed location ahead of the crash in a timely manner at others.
Overall, in terms of the gameplay, there aren't too many negative aspects that stick out. Visually, LittleBigPlanet Karting looks great, despite the fact that not much has changed since the first LittleBigPlanet game. Once again, the audio is a wonderful element that, in terms of hippy lingo, brings the game a positive vibe. The story mode in and of itself is solid, even with some minor to moderate frustrations here and there that may lead to temporary switches to Easy Mode. Although t the final boss fight is a bit lackluster side, the variety of levels prior to that offer a fair amount of quality gameplay. However, knowing how past LittleBigPlanet games are, it's an inevitable realization that the Story Mode won't hold you over for that long. Of course, that's why the creating and sharing aspects of LittleBigPlanet games are so fundamental.
Creating content works in LittleBigPlanet Karting similarly to how it functioned in ModNation Racers. Sadly, there's no focus on kart creation as there was in ModNation Racers, arguably one of the more interesting creation components in that game. Conversely, there's much more variation in the level creation component in LittleBigPlanet Karting. For newcomers and casual creators, constructing levels remains a nightmare. Unnecessarily lengthy tutorials aren't of much help either. Laying out a track or arena is simple enough, yet placing items precisely on the track, or anywhere else for that matter, is an infuriating ordeal. Those lucky, talented few who know what they're doing will have plenty of goodies to work with, but it still remains disappointing that the creation aspect of this game isn't any more user-friendly than it was in the first LittleBigPlanet game.
Finally, the primary attraction of LittleBigPlanet Karting exists within the Online Mode, where there's an almost limitless amount of variety in the brilliant levels users have created. It's regrettable to note that the online component of this game is much less functional than past LittleBigPlanet games. For starters, it's virtually impossible to return to the list of levels you were just viewing upon completion of a level in said list. Every single time, the game will return you to the pod, that is, unless you're online, in which case you are provided a few measly choices as to where to go next, none of which involve returning to the list of levels you were previously viewing. It's a consistent annoyance that is detrimental to the enjoyment of the Online portion of the game. To make matters worse, the dive-in feature is screwy, as it wants to put you in the same level you just played about two races ago nearly every time. Joining other players has its fair share of issues also, some of which may or may not be experienced; in my case, notably, I was forced to re-join my friend after completing a level online in almost every single instance. Nonetheless, in the middle of all of these glaring issues are an incredible amount of wonderfully fabricated user levels that are most definitely worth playing through. Long term community dedicated doesn't appear too promising; fortunately, there's already plenty of superb content to sift through.
Altogether, LittleBigPlanet Karting is another solid stab at the whole "create and share karting" mumbo jumbo. The idea still seemed decent, even the second time around. In spite of its riddled imperfections, LittleBigPlanet Karting remains a respectable attempt at merging a highly beloved platformer, LittleBigPlanet, with the key elements of a kart racers. On the bright side, most fans of both of these two things should find something to relish in LittleBigPlanet Karting. There's no doubt it's a genuine LittleBigPlanet game; the same rings true for it being a kart racer as well. That said, this game is definitely a viable option to wide array of players.