The world of MySims provides ample cutesy landscapes which form the backdrop for each racecourse. The courses are littered with tons of shortcuts, and those keen on getting the best times possible will benefit from scrutinizing each level to the tee.

As you speed through the various courses, the scenery will range from snowy landscapes to arid deserts, eventually landing up in spacey, futuristic speedways.

These tracks are as stylised as the avatars that grace its tracks and, as is the case with the others in the MySims family, all aspects ranging from the backgrounds to the characters are well polished up.

One feature that differentiates this racer from Mario Kart Wii, is the story mode. Here you'll make your way through the city helping out the townsfolk and accumulating points.

The storyline is pretty standard: yep, you're that lone ranger that's going to return the dilapidated town to its former racing glory. And the only way you are going to be able to do this is by helping the townsfolk and getting more points.

These points can be used to upgrade you vehicle - if there's one thing I dig in games it is upgrading gear. That said, the upgrade system is a bit simplistic, verging on childish, and the challenges are all variations on about five basic premises.

Fortunately, there's a bit of variation in the form of the towns and once you've grown too big for the fishpond you get to move on to bigger settings in the form of new towns. Multiplayer-wise, four-player splitscreen is always a blast and reliable for some good action. Unfortunately there is no online play, and this is a sore point which sets the game back.

MySims Racing provides a full racing package fit for the family; however, it has some very stiff competition from a host of other racing games on the Wii. There is no denying that MySims Racing is following in the slipstream of Mario Kart and, unfortunately, it just doesn't bring enough innovation to the genre to compete successfully.

Everything works nicely and is well executed but there are certain areas which just seem like it could have done with a bit more finesse and attention. This title also needs to find a way to define itself from the other racers for it gain ground on the others.

To be fair, this is EA's first venture into this type of racer and they've done a decent job of it. Maybe a second time around the lap is all they need to catch up with the rest of the competition. Either way, we'll be waiting at the finish line to find out.

7.1/10

PressStart.co.za

Buy this game: Wii | DS