There've been many pretenders to Mario's throne as kart racing king, with titles such as Crash Team Racing and Diddy Kong Racing coming close. But ModNation Racers takes a different approach to the kart racing formula...

ModNation Racers places emphasis on the community, with players able to download and share tracks, cars and characters. And the community has stepped up to deliver, with thousands of items available to download.

Whether you're looking for Spiderman, Mario, the Monopoly guy or a Power Ranger, it's almost guaranteed that someone has taken the time to faithfully recreate them. Thanks to the powerful editing tools, characters look as authentic as can be.

The track editor is another awesome feature, which allows you to create almost any course you can think of. One featured course sees players drift continuously as the track spirals upwards, while another is a faithful rendition of a Mario Kart track. Community downloads would mean nothing if the gameplay was a mess though, but thankfully ModNation Racers holds up pretty well.

Being a kart racer, arcade handling is a given, with nitro boosts and drifting playing a big part. The controls are intuitive, with only yourself to blame if you go careening off a cliff.

The game's weapons don't stand out much at first glance, with your usual lightning bolts and missiles making appearances. However, collecting additional weapon boxes bestows more powerful weapons upon your character, such as multiple homing missiles. It's a nifty feature that forces you to think twice before you use your items.

Standing out from the crowd

The default tracks offer the usual variety of locations, ranging from snowy courses to seaside roadways, with shortcuts thrown in for good measure. But there's more to the career mode than a gauntlet of race tracks.

ModNation Racers throws in a variety of cut-scenes between the races. Whether it's your pessimistic mechanic or some pre-race commentary, the cut-scenes add a bit more personality to the game.

Visually, the title has gone for a vibrant, cartoony style; with Lego and Micro-Machines coming to mind (go figure). Kart models look great, with little details like badges, number plates and other parts all being represented. The created characters look awesome as well and are indistinguishable from the default ones.

The tracks aren't as detailed as one would expect, with background detail being sparse for the most part. Obstacles littering the track, such as crates, also lack detail. It's not a big deal though and you'll barely notice it as you go speeding past them.

Loading times are a big deal however, with the game taking close to a minute to get to the main menu and then over a minute to load the race. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you can complete the first lap in about the same time it takes to load.

ModNation Racers also emphasises multiplayer competition, with online races and time trials being supported. But nothing can compare to getting a bunch of people in the same room and doing a split-screen race. Much like Mario Kart, being in first place is a battle as your opponents tend to get showered with weapons. Cue plenty of swearing and shouting in the living room. But it is possible to shield yourself from these attacks if your timing is right, making for some tense moments on-track.

Whether you're looking for a vibrant community or a great party game, ModNation Racers has you covered, making it a worthy addition to your PS3 library.

8.8/10

Buy this game: PS3