Kart racing games certainly aren't as affluent as they used to be, but that hasn't stopped a slew of third-party developers from trying to capture the genre's magic. The latest attempt on PlayStation comes from Nexon, which is set to fully launch its free-to-play live service platform sometime in 2022. But does KartRider: Drift have the makings of a true Mario Kart competitor?
The game recently underwent a closed beta period, and Aaron has spent a lot of time tearing up the track to bring you his full impressions. On the surface, KartRider: Drift appears to have the glitzy visuals, tight turning action, and general personality to succeed. However, there are still a few tweaks we'd like to see implemented before the game's launch on PS4 next year.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 49
Should be interesting to see how it stands against Mario Kart
Looks like generic crap unfortunately
There's only 1 Mario Kart !
Not even close tbh. If you want a Mario Kart competitor then this isn’t it i’m afraid.
Just go play Crash Team Racing, perfected already
Answer: no!
They need to do a PS ALL STARS Kart game 😂
@AFCC I will never forgive Sony for not going hard on Nintendo clones via PS All STars.
I loved PSAS so much more then Smash.
Modnation Racers was the *****. Bring that back!
Dash Dash World, that's the one you want
The only thing that ever came close to MK was transformed, that was good fun. But this game is miles off the pace.
Whether it’s any good will mainly depend on the amount of rubber banding.
@Cadeni ModNation RAcers was brought down by absolutely unbearable loading times.
A new one with the graphics and load times of the PS5 would be fantastic!
@Stragen8 I personally didn't, but it did have tons of potential! Sony has tons of good characters
I've always wished for a PS All-Stars Racer. Could be the most blatant MK carbon copy, I wouldn't care. Just with PS characters and tracks.
I really liked Wacky Wheels from way back when.
PS4 already has a Mario Kart killer, though. You can buy Race with Ryan on PSN for half of what MK8D costs. What a bargain!
Sonic Racing Transformed and CTR are really great. Tried the beta for this and wasn’t impressed.
Diddy Kong Racing on N64 was my favourite karting game ever. Great solo adventure mode, four-player split-screen, and a strategic and fair power-up system
@Ralizah My first reaction: Somebody made a clone of Ryan Racing?
Is KartRider: Drift PlayStation's Answer to Mario Kart?
Not anywhere near.
KartRider has always been one of those games I look at and think looks ok. But every single version of it is trash.
Even Garfield Kart is better.
I wanted to like it, but the handling wasn’t great and it took me ages to get into a race.
@Cadeni This! Game was amazing.
Short answer : No, never !!
crash team racing used to be a worthy competitor but it’s remake - nitro fueled pvp & online functionality sucked . but even if it didn’t suck , i don’t think there’s a kart racer that could ever out-do or be as good as mario kart . mario’s world is just way too established and it’s no other like it .
Looks very generic and doesn't seem to have much of a personality, I wish Sega would make a direct sequel to Transformed (Team Sonic doesn't exist, just a rumor 😌) or at least a remaster.
"Is KartRider: Drift PlayStation's Answer to Mario Kart?"
said no one ever.
@Royalblues CTR
@Perturbator Was going to say this! Got Touring Karts VR for now, which had a cool idea of item combining. It feels a little unpolished but is fun enough.
@nomither6 But it still has everything that the OG CTR has and more. It's a shame the net code or whatever is bad but I got in loads of games back in the day. Some of them just failed to start or even had my green light go 10 seconds after everyone elses lol The new tracks were really good as well.
PS is oversaturated with kart racers. We really don't need anything past Coffin Dodgers.
I was in the beta it's really fun looking forward to the official release
@nomither6 Thats nonsense if they make a fun game with Playstation Icon i would buy it day one.
I dont know why but am deadly allergic to free to play games i just hate them with a passion. Its a pity because it looks great.
@Jayofmaya i prefer OG CTR , they changed some things that shouldnt have been changed & i didnt care for the nitro kart stuff . i didn’t even know there was anything past CTR , but i clearly didn’t miss out anything worthwhile imo . CTR NF was fun for like 3-4 months and i platinum’d it , but it was really short lived .
@Flaming_Kaiser what’s nonsense ? there’s no world that’s on the level of mario’s that could be adapted into a kart racing game . sure sony or whoever can make a fun kart racer , but that’s not the point . the point is that it’s just not gonna be on mario karts level
plus mario and the mario kart franchise has been in the game for decades . they’re putting a rookie vs a grandmaster veteran .
Nope this looks generic as anything, sorry! It would be amazing if there was PS Kart racer, failing that can we just remaster South Park Rally instead and slap an exclusive to PS sticker on it and job done!
@Royalblues Beauty. Personality. Variety. Legacy. Feels good to play with. Supports playing with friends. Get your monies worth....
Are just some of the things written on my dating profile.
But Mario kart, you're right, there's definitely something you can't put your finger on
@nomither6 bro how do you get those fast times on the time trials? Any tips?
The rest of the trophy list is easy i guess but i have not played the game in month, when i tried to beat cpu on time timetrials it just got insanely hard
Maybe they should have injected some of that personality into the game's title. Next up, CarDriver: Turn.
PS4? don't they know that current gen was released a year and a month ago?
@BrintaPap i think i watched youtube videos and mimicked what they did & i used the blue-fire technique too - constantly drifting from side-to-side maintaining the blue fire and my speed . i recommend using the speed class. i remember people using acceleration as well , but speed class is better for drifting & of course , its faster .
if that doesn't help , then idk . i haven't played the game since 2019 , so my memory is fuzzy .
@nomither6 Nitro Kart was fantastic on the ps2. They did fail to remake the tracks with the magnet wheel mechanics in the Nitro Fueled tracks but I'm not sure on what changes you are referring to, mechanically it's pretty much identical and everything just got a good face lift.
@BrintaPap lol you're asking the guy who didn't like the game much instead of me who still plays it and beat Velo times. Interesting choice.
We need Modnation Racers and the two Sonic All Stars racers brought kicking and screaming onto the PS4/5.
Modnation's track builder in particular was a distinct highlight of that game and we need it back!
Eh...bring back some good Sony titles again. Mod Nation Racers, Playstation All Stars Battle, Eye Pet for the VR, Sports Champions without move controls, TWISTED METAL. Sony has many IP's too and could do so much. Playstation Move Heroes was another. All Stars Battle could really become great again, just work on loading times. Little Big Planet Karts would also be a nice one to bring back!
It looks cute and fun, I'd give it a go but it's no Mario Kart killer.
Mario Kart has the known and loved characters and environments, now from a whole bunch of Nintendo IP. It's also on a system that's cheaper and more family friendly. Any game that tries to take it on is immediately up against those two major hurdles. And if they're on a Nintendo system, thus negating the second hurdle, all they actually do is replace it with the much bigger hurdle of "well, why wouldn't I just buy / why would I get this when I already have Mario Kart?". Not saying they're all doomed to fail, just they can't take the crown, it's unreachable.
This all being said, I echo every sentiment here of bring back Modnation Racers! I loved that game and on PS5 the loading times shouldn't be an issue anymore!
Pour another one out for ModNation Racers...
@dimi Sure, but they probably also know that 100m+ users is bigger than 13m+. It's a free to play game, they need to be available to a huge swathe of players.
@Royalblues I'd say the Crash Nitro Kart was always a little more fun than Double Dash which released at the same sort of time. I still like CTR NF a little more than MK8 Deluxe as well. They're both enjoyable but CTR NF is the one I play solo where as Mario Kart I only play multiplayer. I only ever had All Stars Racing Transformed on the Wii U and tbh it was pretty poor and felt kind of sluggish on that system. Couldn't tell you about Sonic, but I'll look into getting it as I've pretty pretty much finished Nitro Kart (except dev times but that's for masochists lol).
@dimi with ps5s still being almost impossible to buy ps4 is still current gen for most people
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