Here’s an interesting combination. If you were taken away by the cuteness behind Little Big Planet and you had a ball with ModNation Racers, then brace yourselves for some dashing news. Little Big Planet Karting has just pulled over to the race tracks of your Playstation 3 home console. That’s right! Strap on your driving gloves as this latest game brought to you by Media Molecule will take you on a ride.
Playing as Sackboy, you’ll be racing around on various tracks with your trusty little kart throughout the worlds within Little Big Planet. Right off the bat, the game handles quite well with the controls being very straight forward and simple. You’ve got the buttons associated with acceleration, brake, jumping and execute weapon.  But you also have the ability to drift, which if you perform long enough will result in a nice little boost for you.
You’ll also be able to pick up power-ups which you can use as either an offense or defense. For example, you may come across missiles that hone down on your enemies or a fast forward item that zooms you ahead within just a couple of seconds. You may even end up riding on a giant boxing glove speeding through and taking out anyone in your way. While there is quite a diversity of power-ups available, it seems that the frequency of items appearing is leaning towards the defensive types, which is disadvantageous if you’re lagging behind the rest of your opponents.
Multiplayer sessions are what make karting enjoyable, especially when you get to attack and defend against your friends. In Little Big Planet Karting, you can engage in a local split-screen mode with up to three other players. Along with that, you can challenge others online which is effective in maintaining the game’s replay value.
On top of your typical races, Little Big Planet Karting has a few mini-games that changes things up. Included are missions that have specific goals for you to achieve, such as battling against other players within an arena as well as navigating an egg while dodging fireballs being shot from a dinosaur. These kinds of things definitely keep the game exciting and uplifting.
As you’re racing along against your opponents, you’ll run into collectible prize bubbles, exactly what you would expect in a Little Big Planet franchise.  This gives you another focus besides competing to become the first if you’re a completionist seeking to ace every level. But as well, you’ll be able to unlock materials and objects which can be used to create your own tracks.
And of course, you’d be able to upload and share with the online community as well as rate others’ tracks. Thus, you have the opportunity to exercise your creativity, which is one of the main attractions of the Little Big Planet franchise. There is a tutorial that shows you how to make use of the rack track creator. However, with how the tools must be utilized, it may be hard to remember and thus not very user-friendly to newcomers. Hence, it may seem overwhelming at first and could take some dedication to get the tracks to work out the way you want it.
Another distinguishing factor of this particular game is the ability to customize. In Little Big Planet Karting, you have yourself a pod made of cardboard where you’re able to decorate to your heart’s content. But what Little Big Planet game is complete without the ability to dress up your own Sackboy? In this case, you not only can customize the appearance of your driver, but also your kart. This opens the door to many possibilities of how you appear, making this game screaming cuteness all throughout.
In terms of the presentation, Little Big Planet Karting looks as pleasing as the previous games within the franchise. The colors are plentiful and the animation is smooth and fluid. Every track depicts the worlds of Little Big Planet with familiar songs. But of course, some can be too happy and friendly for some players’ tastes. Still, there are a lot of wacky elements and objects that populate the tracks. Additionally, each and every one has a unique appearance that really stands out. Finally, you’ve got the nice sound effects of the bubbles popping along with the tires screeching away, making way for some racing experience filled with nostalgia.
Little Big Planet Karting plays out as your typical racing game that’s pretty decent. It may not have the same amount of horse power compared to Gran Turismo or Need For Speed. But the creativity aspect as well as the incentive to gather collectibles to gain more materials and objects adds value to Little Big Planet Karting. With the amount of customizations available as well as the growing number of tracks that you can play from other players’ creations online, this is one game that you should be racing to the stores to get.
