Should I Buy… LittleBigPlanet Karting?

We couldn’t get LittleBigPlanet Karting’s online mode working last week, so our review had a few shortcomings. Don’t worry, though, we’ve tried the retail version since and it’s all good – but should you buy it? Well, in the first of a new series of features here on TheSixthAxis, we’ll give you the tools to decide for yourself.

Should I Buy… guides are straightforward. Start at ‘5’ (the average score) and add or subtract points depending on how relevant they are to you. When you reach the end you’ll have a score out of 10 – or thereabouts – and you’ll be able to decide for yourself. Easy, right?

Do you like LittleBigPlanet? If yes: +3, if no: -3

Daft question? Not really. Karting takes pretty much everything about LittleBigPlanet and then wraps four wheels around it. The menus, the interface, the voiceover, the graphic style, the characters – it’s all here, except you’re not platforming, you’re racing.

Do you like Kart racing games? If yes: +2, if no: -4

LBPK isn’t the best karting game on the planet, it’s not, but it’s far from the worse. Karting games normally sacrifice detailed physics and handling for arcade fun and plenty of weapons, and in the large LBPK actually does this pretty well – it’s not a patch on Mario Kart’s finesse but given the IP it’s actually pretty capable.

[drop2]Do you have lots of friends who are also buying it? If yes: +3, if no: -2

LittleBigPlanet Karting has a decent single player – lots of levels across lots of worlds, and although you’re unlikely to want to play them over and over again there’s still the online community levels to try too. But, if you’ve got mates who play this sort of game a lot, the game is instantly much, much better. It also supports up to four players split-screen!

Is your PS3 connected online? If yes: +3, if no: -2

Slightly different to the above question, but a lot of LBPK’s long term qualities come from comparing your times and scores with others, and downloading all the community levels. If you don’t have online, you’ll be limited to the core tracks and offline split-screen.

Are you creative? If yes: +2, if no: -1

You don’t need to make your own tracks in LBPK if you don’t want to, but if you do the track editor is massively impressive, and almost limitless in scope. It takes the best bits of ModNation Racers and couples them with those in previous LittleBigPlanet games, giving you quick track layouts but complex, detailed surroundings. If you like making your own stuff, this is great.

Did you like ModNation Racers? If yes: +1, if no: -3

LBPK is made by the same folk that made ModNation Racers, and as a result feels similar in terms of handling and controls. It’s not identical, but there’s definitely the same familiarity here. That’s either a good thing or a (very) bad thing, and that extends to the Create mode in some respects too.

Hopefully you’ll have arrived at a score. Let us know what it is, and whether you plan to get the game today, in the comments.

35 Comments

  1. I got 4/10! Which seems fair considering I’ve not been all that interested in this.
    I’m getting Halo 4 today, I think… on my way to my in-laws where I won’t be able to play it :(

    • Love this idea guys.

      • Sorry, pressed post too early. I got 11 but won’t get it as I never played modnation that I bought.

  2. Have played through the first world so far and it’s pretty good so far.

    Going by your score guide I either get 14 or 19 … I’m unsure how many of my ‘friends’ are buying it, but then I was always going to buy it anyway as I loved MNR and I thought the LBPK Beta was pretty good.

    Definitely an interesting way to see if a game is worth adding to your collection.

    • Yeah, I think 10 is the maximum. Or maybe 11.

      • What do you mean? You’re starting at 5 right? So the maximum score you can get (say you’re positive on all the options) is 19? Even if you start at 0 you can get up to 14.

    • I’ll won’t buy this, R1MJAW, I have too many games where you dominate me completely already. But I can challenge you at Modnation.

  3. 10/10 for me then. The main negative was not being a big fan of Modnation

  4. Score = -1.
    I suspect that is leaning towards a “no” then.

  5. I got an unsurprisng score of 1, my lack of enjoyment of ModNation and karting game sin general hit the score significantly
    Thankfully it wasn’t on my to buy list anyway

  6. 6/10 for me, the biggest minus been none of my friends are buying it. Having a couple of kids means this could be the next step up from Mario Kart for them, although if truth be told i would be buying it for myself.

    Going to wait on this one and see if it hits the bargain bin come late Dec or Jan sales. Heck it might even make PS+ given its LBP. At the moment I am a bit spoilt having got completely hooked on NFS:MW and have just started RAC:AFO thanks to the PS+ offer this month.

  7. 7/ 10 for the fact I don’t think many of my friends will get it.

  8. Score= -4
    Doesn’t look like its for me then. I like this new feature hope you carry on with it.

  9. 7/10 – But I’m not getting it anyway, I’ve just got too many other games to play at the moment.
    (Great idea BTW)

  10. great idea, I got 8/10 so I should buy it

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