I was picked for the little big planet karting beta

[rlemmon]

Hi guys. So I checked my E mail today and I got a e mail from sony saying that I was picked for the little big planet karting beta group. I messed around with it for an hour and I have to say I’m not too impressed.  The physics are not so great. The karts are too loose side and the track design in story mode is bland for a little big planet game. I thought they would be alot more creative. It is just a beta though hopefully the final build will be better. 

[ark_ader]

Nice to see Sony is investing in original concepts. 

[SavannahLion]

LBP is probably one of the few games I willingly never finished.

I'm not sure what it is, it's a game that just turns me off after a fashion. There's not anything grossly wrong, it's the collection of BS details that irritate me.

[Vigo]

Nice to see Sony is investing in original concepts. 

Then you will be amazed with the originality seeping from this PS3 Gem coming out:

[Mysterioii]

Nice to see Sony is investing in original concepts. 

Then you will be amazed with the originality seeping from this PS3 Gem coming out:

Yeah saw that a while back... man it is EXACTLY the Smash Bros. engine...   

[rlemmon]

I liked smash bros with mario and his friends better

[hypernova]

Saw that two weeks ago regarding the Smash ripoff.  I'm still trying to figure out how it determines when a player dies and respawns.  If it's just a hidden life meter, that's about as unoriginal as it gets.  The meters you see on the bottom are Super meters for the character's super moves.  They each have 3 levels.  It restarts on each spawn (or upon usage) from what I can tell.

All-Stars, huh?  How pissed are they that Nintendo got their hands on Snake first?  Not familiar with that fat princess character.

And isn't it obvious, Sony now follows Nintendo's lead.  Copied the motion control system (while MS took another route), copied the Kart (mayhem-ey) genre, and now the Smash Bros game.  (Wouldn't call it a genre yet, and there still really isn't any other games like Smash yet.)

[DaveMMR]

And isn't it obvious, Sony now follows Nintendo's lead.  Copied the motion control system (while MS took another route), copied the Kart (mayhem-ey) genre, and now the Smash Bros game.  (Wouldn't call it a genre yet, and there still really isn't any other games like Smash yet.)

To be fair, the "Mascot-Kart-Racer" genre has been copied by every single company.  Sony's previous exclusive was Naughty Dog's "Crash Team Racing" which was actually the best of the clones according to reviews at the time.  But yeah, Sega's done it, South Park's done it, even the Muppets.  They're usually crap.

Although why bother with a LBP racer?  They have ModNation Racers which is basically the same concept of LBP but as a racer (i.e. build your own stuff and play it - and it's so much easier to do so than LBP). They could just stick Sackboy in there as DLC and call it a day....

LBP is probably one of the few games I willingly never finished.

I'm not sure what it is, it's a game that just turns me off after a fashion. There's not anything grossly wrong, it's the collection of BS details that irritate me.

I liked it but I do agree that it feels sloppy, even if the details are quite nice. If they could have nailed the jumping of sack boy, it would have been so much better.

[SavannahLion]

The mascot-kart-racer has been around for a long time and I think it predates MarioKart. I remember playing a good (as in long) demo of the game in DOS. I still have a copy of it and I think you can still buy it. Let me see if I can find it.

[SavannahLion]

Doh.... First MK was in '92. The game I was thinking of was in '94.  I stand corrected.

[hypernova]

There may have been other iterations of the mascot karter, but Mario Kart was the one that really hit it big.

[DaveMMR]

I'm going out on a limb by saying Mario Kart may very well be the very first "mascot kart racer". Of all the recognizable VG characters (Pacman, et al.), I don't recall any of them in any sort of spin-off racing game released prior to '92.

Doesn't mean I'm done researching - I'm actually still trying to find an example prior to MK (Savannah, you had me excited there for a second ) but came up with nothing. If anyone else knows of one, please share - I am curious. BTW: We're talking a spin-off kart racer utilizing existing characters from another series of games. No, Outrun doesn't count. And technically, neither would ModNation Racers.

Though, undeniably, if Mario Kart isn't the first it certainly is the one that popularized the genre. Half the reason the other cart racers tank is the lack of popularity of the characters. Mario and his stable are insanely popular and recognizable by almost everyone. Sackboy? Not so much. Even Sega's racing roster includes Sonic, a bunch of forgettable Sonic sidekicks (and Tails), and one-off characters that have faded into history (for the casual gamers that is - calm down, Alex Kidd fans.)

For the record, the only company besides Nintendo that can possibly pull-off the "mascot racer" would be Capcom. But they wisely choose to let them beat each other up tag team style instead. 

[SavannahLion]

I'm going out on a limb by saying Mario Kart may very well be the very first "mascot kart racer". Of all the recognizable VG characters (Pacman, et al.), I don't recall any of them in any sort of spin-off racing game released prior to '92.

Doesn't mean I'm done researching - I'm actually still trying to find an example prior to MK (Savannah, you had me excited there for a second ) but came up with nothing. If anyone else knows of one, please share - I am curious. BTW: We're talking a spin-off kart racer utilizing existing characters from another series of games. No, Outrun doesn't count. And technically, neither would ModNation Racers.

To be honest, I don't usually consider the inclusion of mascot characters in what, would otherwise be, a generic racing game much of a plus in that sense. In otherwords, if there's a better game out there that doesn't include Nintendo characters, that wouldn't prevent me from playing (or buying) said game. So, in short, I wasn't really looking at "mascot" vs "non-mascot" kart games. I would have excluded Outrun (comparing a Ferrari to a Go-Kart? You guys are better than that.) but may have included ModNation (I haven't played it nor care to so I don't really know a whole lot about the game).

But I digress, Moby turns up nothing. All the kart (or those with "kart" in the title) that predate SMK are radically different in their design and gameplay. So for now, I guess SMK holds that crown unless something else turns up.

[DaveMMR]

Heh, Outrun was a poor example I picked at random with little thought. No insult to the intelligence of the board denizens intended.

I only made "mascots" a prerequisite because I feel the gameplay that was Super Mario Kart may have been forgotten had it not been for the Mario cast and settings. That combination of simple racing + pre-existing characters is what many have tried to replicate and have mostly tanked. That being said, there are kart-type racers without an "all-star cast" that are actually decent, but quickly overshadowed.

[Malenko]

I think the game everyone is thinking of was Wacky Races. It came out on the NES in 1992 but wasn't a kart racer , the kart game didnt come out till 2000/2001, and if memory serves, wasnt very good.


I think the thing that set the first Mario Kart apart from the rest was both the ensemble cast and the power ups right out of the mario games. I know I'm in the minority in liking Super Mario Kart and not really liking the rest, but that's just how I feel.

I always played as the Koopa Troopa

[SavannahLion]

I think the game everyone is thinking of was Wacky Races. It came out on the NES in 1992 but wasn't a kart racer , the kart game didnt come out till 2000/2001, and if memory serves, wasnt very good.

Uh, close. It was Wacky Wheels and it was released in '94.

I figured out the title in my previous post but didn't feel it was worth mentioning as it served no purpose to support my incorrect recollection.