We’re afraid we've got some bad news for you. If you opened this review expecting a typically sarcastic put-down of the latest half-hearted karting game with a cartoon licence cynically slapped onto it, you’re going to be deeply disappointed. Turns out this one's actually quite good.
To be fair, you'd be forgiven for expecting otherwise. The first Nickelodeon Kart Racers got an absolute kicking on this site for being underwhelming in practically every department. Hats off to the developers, then, for turning things around so dramatically for Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix. This is everything the original game should have been, and will appeal far more to Nickelodeon fans new and old.
The most immediately noticeable difference is the character roster. The first game only offered 12 characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rugrats and Hey Arnold, which was perfectly fine for fans of those series, but given it was supposed to be a celebration of all things Nickelodeon, it felt woefully undercooked. This time there are a much more impressive 30 characters to choose from.
The previous four franchises are still covered, but joining in now are characters from the likes of Rocco's Modern Life, Invader Zim, Avatar, CatDog, The Loud House, Danny Phantom and Ren & Stimpy. Even the deeply irritating JoJo Siwa is in there for the young bucks, which does throw up some questions: if live-action people count, we’d have loved to have seen representation from such classic gems as Kenan & Kel, Pete & Pete or Clarissa Explains It All, but maybe we're getting a bit too ahead of ourselves. The point is, things are far more varied this time.
As well as the main roster, there are also seventy supporting characters who can be unlocked. Each of these characters comes with their own unique abilities: some of them are permanent perks (Rocco’s dog Spunky lets you drive over rough terrain without losing speed, for example), whereas others require you to fill your slime meter by collecting slime while you race, then triggering their ability with a button (take Plankton from SpongeBob, who can detonate an explosion that slows down nearby karts).
You can choose three assist characters before you race – two with permanent abilities, and one with a slime meter ability – and while the skills applied to each of them are fairly arbitrary and don't make sense in the context of the characters themselves, it does still put a face to what is essentially just a large list of unlockable perks, and does make it easier to remember what each perk does when you’re trying to come up with a trio that best suits your racing style.
As an example, we personally prefer to get to the front of the pack as quickly as possible then try to increase that lead, rather than taking part in combat by firing missiles or using shields. Our own chosen trio, then, is Eugene from Hey Arnold (who gives you a speed boost every time you take a hit so you can quickly recover), Really Really Big Man from Rocko’s Modern Life (who automatically triggers a boost when the slime meter fills up) and April O'Neil from TMNT (who lets you then manually trigger another boost once the meter is full). Look, we know we aren’t talking Fire Emblem here, but the fact there’s any strategy at all makes it more engaging than most karting games.
The Grand Prix mode consists of seven cups and there are three speed settings (which essentially act like your 50cc, 100cc and 150cc from Mario Kart). Grand Prix mode consists of seven cups, and you’re awarded 1-to-3 stars depending on how well you do: three stars are for winning all four racers, naturally. While things are relatively simple in the two slower speeds, the top speed option ramps up the AI level quite a bit and as such it’s going to take you a while to three-star all seven cups (thankfully you only have to win them to unlock their respective characters).
Added to this is a Challenge mode where you take on 42 separate one-off missions – target shooting, time trials, battle racers and the like – and unlock six more characters along the way (like Shredder and Reptar). These will only take a night or two to get through, but it at least mixes things up a little: that said, we’d have liked a high score or best time feature so you could replay challenges and try to beat your previous attempt. As it stands, once you’ve beaten a challenge, there’s no real incentive to do it again.
This isn't the only issue the game suffers from. Performance is a little bit better than the disaster that was the last game, but it's still not perfect. Although for the most part you'll be racing a fairly stable 30 frames-per-second, whenever there are a lot of karts on the screen (most notably at the start of races) things can get quite choppy. Thankfully, split-screen multiplayer doesn't appear to make things even worse, though we were only able to test it with two players due to that pesky virus you may have heard about. As such, we're not sure whether bumping it up to three or four players can result in further performance issues.
It's also a real shame that none of the characters have voice acting. They do have their own bespoke animations that give them some degree of personality, particularly when you win a cup: for example, Stimpy does his Happy Happy Joy Joy dance. The lack of voice acting is a real loss, though, especially during races where you may as well all just be controlling the same characters with a different skin applied. We’d have loved to have had Ren yelling and calling his opponents a bunch of “eediots” while SpongeBob gleefully sings his way through a race. Even soundalikes would have done the job if legacy voice actors were the issue.
It’s not perfect, then, but despite its issues, we had an infinitely better time playing through this game than we did sighing our way through its underwhelming predecessor. While it clearly still won't make Mario sweaty under his cap or have Sonic quivering in his red sneakers, there’s a strong argument that Nickelodeon Kart Racer 2 now has the bronze medal when it comes to karting games on the Switch.
Conclusion
After the disaster that was the first game, this is a remarkable turnaround. With far more Nickelodeon series represented, improved track designs and a power-up customisation feature that lets you enhance your personal racing style, Nickelodeon Kart Racer has gone from one of the most disappointing racing series on the Switch to probably the best one that doesn't feature plumbers or hedgehogs.
Comments 59
Gonna play devil’s advocate.
But for the age demographic it’s made for, what’s the problem with jojo siwa? Isn’t she popular to the average disney channel and nickelodeon viewer?
Okay, so this is essentially what we were expecting the first time! On the wishlist it goes!!
"JoJo Siwa is in it"
Exactly what I was thinking.
Oh, wow. This might actually be worth trying out.
God I can’t stand JoJo. My sister used to watch her constantly. I wasn’t going to get this anyways but that just sealed the deal.
No Drake and josh 😆 but in all fairness I’m sure the older live action characters likeness can’t be used.
@scully1888 I didn't play the first game. How's the handling & drifting? I'm assuming NKR2 has drifting or drift boosting? I'm guessing it probably handles decent since I didn't see any complaints.
Thanks for the review!
Let Ren and Stimpy die
So better than Crash Team Racing then @scully1888?
Legitimately decent looking. Reminds me of how many hours I spent on Battle for Volcano Island on PS2!
JoJo Siwa speaks in alien tongue
Her sentences are literally indecipherable
@darkswabber If the age demographic is younger players then there's absolutely nothing wrong with JoJo Siwa being in it, if they like her. That said, the fact it's got the likes of CatDog, Ren & Stimpy and Rocco in there means it's also trying to appeal to older gamers who grew up with Nick in the '90s and early 2000s, so I would imagine the majority of those people will find her deeply irritating
@WoomyNNYes Yup, like you say, I didn't have many issues with it: it's your typical drift and boost system. You hop to drift, and sometimes the drifting angle is a bit tight but that's where customising the kart and finding the drift stat that works for you comes into it
Ok the only thing l don't like is that Korra is on the cover of the art work 🤮
@gcunit Ha! I actually completely forgot CTR. Personally, I prefer the likes of the TMNT and Rocko to Crash characters so on a purely subjective basis I still prefer this
Hmm. No voice acting and a slightly unstable frame rate are kind of deterring me from picking this one up, even at a discount. It looks decent though.
I'll get it cheap but I want it since Korra is in it.
Quite surprised to see this review cuddling up to a Nick racer, considering how "bleh" the first one looked in many ways.
...but I probably won't buy this until around the Switch's end of its life cycle. Aside from the "support" characters feature, nothing much about it grabs me.
In the meantime, I'll stick with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Gensou SkyDrift, Team Sonic Racing, and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled for my kart-racing needs on Switch.
apart from ky kids being sooooooooooo excited for mario kart live. No voice acting what is the point of this.
@Scapetti never they are a classic
No voice acting? Probably fair enough considering how much Tom Kenny would want for the gig.
Haha love that sub header. 😅
Probably get this on sale, really happy that Rocko and Ren&Stimpy are in.
I liked the original. Am I going to hell?
It’s sad that this is (almost by default) the best TMNT game in over a decade.
@Scapetti no!
@scully1888 I wasn't trying to embarrass you, promise. I've not played the Switch version of CTR yet so was just curious cos that was fairly well received I seem to remember.
Thanks for replying, and well done for conceding the oversight. I'm in the same boat as you with regards to which character roster holds more appeal so I'll be wishlisting this one.
@darkswabber I'm pretty sure that point is just a joke, I don't think it actually affected the final score.
@roy130390 neither did I. Just wanted to play devil’s advocate and defend against it being a negative.
This has a challenge mode? Even if basic that is nice. That is the one thing Mario Kart has been missing since the DS version and is sorely lacking to help boost the series lack of single player content.
Stinks that Doug and Porkchop aren't in this game. Stupid Disney buying that awesome cartoon and ruining it.
I keep forgetting Ninja Turtles are now Nickelodeon characters. Strange times we live in.
@Scapetti Ren and Stimpy was an amazing cartoon. By far the most adult oriented cartoon Nick ever created.
@kingbk yeah, and its creator is a paedophile
@darkswabber Yeah, but that doesn't mean she's good
I'm amazed; I had the 'honor' of reviewing the last one. Still not really my cup of tea, but good on the devs for pulling it together for their second round.
I love how they put "jojo siwa is in it" as a con lmao
Honestly I think the original was unnecessarily hated on here, the reviewer must have played an early version of the game because I bought it after it had been patched when it went on sale and it was playing very smoothly and looks really good on the Switch for what it is.
This new version without a doubt has a much better roster, that was definitely the weak point of the original, however based upon the footage I saw it has the same issue of there being no voice acting, and it's an issue that is actually made worse in this sequel because the characters no longer deliver lines of dialogue in the form of text, making the game seem very lifeless and devoid of personality. While I like the characters they added it's like a step forwards and a step back.
Awesome Game! So happy Rocko is in the game! I highly recommend the game, it’s very fun.
Good to hear! I've been keeping a cautious eye on this game. The addition of characters from franchises like Avatar and Invader Zim is great, but there's still a few weird exclusions. No Fairly OddParents or Jimmy Neutron representation. Is it weird to say I hope this game gets DLC?
do you remember those times when every franchise had to have its own kart racing? i want them back!
I know the reviews on this site are supposed to be subjective but never the less it amuses that this game has the same score as Battle for Bikini Bottom
As a general rule I refuse to buy any gamemill game. They are the new ljn.
Wait, wait, wait! I though Spongebob didn't have a boating license! This game is Ms. Puff's worst nightmare!
Without the voices it's a pass for me
Mario Kart is 60fps, yet every other third party kart racer (to my knowledge) barely cracks 30fps. Nintendo must be hiding some programming tricks 🤔
Also, where TF is Sonic Racing Transformed? Surely that would run at 60fps on Switch.
Might get this for the kids as they also enjoy the first one.
Would have been nice to see Angry Beavers, ChalkZone and TUFF Puppy in there, but it's definitely a huge step up from the first game as it is.
@Prizm I saw contranetworks video and it runs at 60fps. The sequel that is.
@Dpullam It might be patched.
@doctorhino but gamemill is improving. Like THQ Nordic they have 3 great games in a row recently. Nickelodeon Kart Racers Grand Prix, G.I Joe: Operation Blackout and I even think Cobra Kai will be good. On steam THQ Nordic released 3 overwhelmingly positive games. Desperadoes 3, Spongebob battle for bikini bottom rehydrated and Destroy all humans remake. But they ruined their streak with the Kingdoms of amuler remake.
@BlackenedHalo like Ben 10: Galactic Racing.
@Not_Soos same especially the patches. I've been following the game on steam. Just to see if they added voice acting, dlc along with other things.
@Hellguy GI Joe doesn't have any reviews on metacritic yet. I'll wait but seriously they messed up a zombieland game and cartoon network battle crashers and almost all their stuff is licensed. It is very similar to how ljn used to roll.
@scully1888 great review. I might wait until it is 50% off. I say 50% because I really want to get it. It looks really fun.
@StephenYap3 Gotta love that Touhou Kart
To me, this is just Mario Kart for 8-year-olds. I feel like anyone above the age of 10 would just buy Mario Kart Instead even though JoJo's Bizzare adventure characters aren't in it. Wait, I read the review wrong. It's not JoJo, it's JoJo, Ohhhhhh crap.
This game is hard. Insane mode unlocks after the fast cups. As if fast mode wasn't hard enough!! Good luck
I've been playing this
The turtles are in there and when I found out that ren and stimpy was in it
It was day one for me
And glade I got it as it plays really well and a lot to unlock
Great game
Crash's Team Racing game is better than this surely?!
Another negative would be that the visuals look a bit dated IMO. Especially considering the cool animated art from the source materials of the characters.
May actually check this out after a deep sale though Thanks for the review.
I'd much prefer a racing game with exclusively SpongeBob characters.
Also yeah, Crash Team Racing is better lol.
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