It's a pretty decent kart racer. The game doesn't really go out of it's way to do anything cool or inventive, it feels pretty much stitched together from earlier more popular games trying to prefect those mechanics. It starts pretty easy, the first easy tournament just eases you into driving but at the hard tournament you need to have master it all if you want to even make it to the top 3.

Aesthetics-wise it looks like an early 2000s cartoon for kids with a varied gang of quirky kids. I enjoyed the designs and sounds, but I can see those becoming grating for some people after a while.

The AI is brutal and seems to either cheat or be quick to capitalize on any mistake the player makes. It's fortunately easy to recover, but advancing in ranks is uphill skating every time since the other racers hardly do any mistakes. Only times I saw them spin out was when hit with a weapon.

I also absolutely hate sand and everything it stands for.

It's a fine enough game, but to get the most out of it get yourselves a party of friends so at least you'll fumble together.

// Known as 'Speed Freaks' in UK //

A classic blockbuster rental this game. A game to rinse over the weekend and maybe have a blast on its 4 player split screen mode if you get some mates round. Come Sunday hand-in, you won't feel bad about the loss but suitability satiated by a solid kart racing experience.

I cannot help but feel this was internally pitched as 'Rayman Karting' giving the lack of limbs of our cutesy racers. It may have been rejected from this license but there is a good game here. Tires seem to touch the track as you course over various surfaces in a tactile way. Each track is colourful and flavourful enough too; and the pleasing sound when using the boost seems nestled into my childhood cupboard of memorable sounds. "vvvpppvvvpppffff..."?

What is there to say really, it is all above board and good, and perhaps only lacking an aforementioned license or gimmick to really set it apart. The sound effects, the characters, the weapon pick ups all feel polished and primed to deliver fun. Back then, that's all a game needed to be I guess.

Terrifically fun kart racer. More of a Crash Team Racing clone than a Mario Kart clone, with even some of the tracks appearing to be direct riffs on what the former had introduced the year prior. And while it never truly reaches the heights of those games, it comes surprisingly close. Kind of a bummer that the last track is by far the weakest, but they're all tons of fun to race on - requiring complete and total mastery of its mechanics if you want to stand a chance. Because if you thought Mario Kart 64 had devious rubber-banding, you ain't seen nothing yet - and that's not even taking into account how aggressive the A.I. already are on their own. If you can get past its nightmare-fuel opening cutscene, the art style here is really self-assured - with tremendous graphics and music for its day. Not quite on the level of something like Jet Moto 3, but still a great time and highly overlooked.