ModNation Racers is a 2010 go-kart racing video game developed by United Front Games for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. User generated content is a central aspect of the game, such that it uses the same 'Play, Create, Share' adage as LittleBigPlanet to convey its basis in online user-generated content sharing and level creation tools. ModNation Racers for PlayStation 3 was announced and first shown publicly at E3 2009. The PSP version was announced in February 2010. Both versions of. ModNation Racers is a mix of the kart racing aspect of Mario Kart and the customization of LittleBigPlanet. The player starts out as a up and comer by the name of T.A.G. In the MRC (ModNation Racing Championship) series with his mother as a sponsor and a washed-out racer for a crew chief, meeting v.

Start your enginesKart racers endure as one of gaming's purest, most enjoyable genres. As developers continue to push the envelope with convoluted plotlines and complex mechanics, kart racers remain focused on one thing: fun. They're the sort of game your parents, siblings, and best friends can sit down and play together, and everyone will have a good time.For years, Nintendo's Mario Kart series has led the pack in the kart racing genre. But if you've only ever raced as the iconic plumber or one of his friends, then you're missing out on some incredible karting beyond the confines of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Here are the top picks for the kart racers that can go toe-to-toe with the mighty Mario any day of the week. Break one of these out the next time you have guests over, and you won't be disappointed. ModNation Racersdoes for kart racers what Little Big Planet did for platformers. Almost every aspect of this game is customizable - including the tracks, racers, and vehicles - and all of these creations can be shared online. This means if you've ever wanted to see Colonel Sanders, Mr.

Monopoly, and the Powerpuff Girls duke it out on the racetrack (and why wouldn't you?), then you've come to the right place.All this creativity would be for naught, however, if the karting itself wasn't up to par. Thankfully, Racers successfully captures the basics of kart racing with fluid controls mixed with copious amounts of boost pads and drifting. There are plenty of destructive items to collect, and items can be leveled up to increase their power.

ModNation Racers has a lot going for it, and the bevvy of user-generated content means you'll never hurt for something new. Konami Krazy RacersFunnily enough, Konami beat Nintendo at its own game.

That is to say, Konami Krazy Racers crossed the finish line before Mario Kart: Super Circuit as the first Game Boy Advance kart racer. And even though Konami doesn't have a storied history of crafting stellar racing games, Krazy Racers ain't half bad. While the gameplay mimics Mario Kart pretty closely, what really sets this GBA oddity apart is its roster of racers.It's safe to say that no other racing game lets you chuck items and powerslide as that most famous of mystical ninjas, Goemon. For whatever reason, Dracula and Gray Fox are the picks from Castlevania and Metal Gear, rather than the obvious Simon Belmont or Snake. And then there are the racers who most Western gamers can't even name, like cutesy inclusions from Japan-centric series such as Pop'N Music, MLB Power Pros, and Parodius. But even if you don't know who the hell you picked, after a few laps around the track, you'll learn to love them. Crash Team RacingLook around online at people's lists of 'Favorite kart racers of all time' and you'll find Crash Team Racing pops up more often than not.

A solid game all around, CTR demands a bit more skill from players than what is required in, say, the Mario Kart series. The power slide, which is basically drifting, has an added mechanic where players must tap one of the shoulder buttons at the correct time to pick up mini-boosts while sliding.As many critics have noted, CTR is an excellent Mario Kart clone, and there's nothing wrong with that. The game has well-designed tracks, a wide variety of weapons, and handles as well as the best of 'em.

It also packs an extensive number of modes to keep you busy, whether you're playing alone or with friends. While it certainly doesn't break new ground for the kart racing genre, CTR shows that Nintendo's secret formula can be cracked, and an amazing kart racer can be made outside of Japan.4. Diddy Kong RacingDiddy Kong Racing deserves better.

Released in 1997, this game takes the fundamentals of Mario Kart and smartly expands upon them in some interesting ways. Most notable are the vehicles. While Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has racers switching between three different vehicle types mid-race, DKR has three different vehicles types racing simultaneously. That's right: a plane, kart, and hovercraft can all compete head-to-head on the same track, and the interplay between them helps make this game feel unique.Items are also a big part of Diddy Kong Racing, as they are in most kart racers, but they too come with an interesting twist. In the game, there are five different types of item boxes - or rather, balloons - each with a unique color and type of item. By collecting balloons of the same color, items can be leveled up to become more powerful. For example, an oil slick can become a land mine or a rocket can become a homing rocket, if you're patient.

Diddy Kong Racing received a remake on the DS in 2007, but this version is ultimately inferior due in part to its wholly unnecessary touch controls. Speed PunksSpeed Punks (or Speed Freaks, as it's known in Europe) is a stellar kart racer that hails from the unlikeliest of places: Ireland. Made by the team at Funcom Dublin, it's pressed-to-disc proof that great kart racing doesn't hinge on iconic characters or recognizable track themes - it all comes down to the racing itself. Jumpstart 2nd grade youtube books. Speed Punks outshines Crash Team Racing as the greatest karter on PS1, with super-colorful locales, tight handling, and a wonderful sensation of speed as you zip around the courses.The choice of weaponry found in floating item boxes is also a little more varied, since you can actually shoot at competitors with machine gun bullets, or gum up their tires with a pool of icky slime. Speed Punks also utilizes a system very similar to Mario Kart 7's acceleration-boosting coins, albeit over a decade earlier. You probably missed it due to its relatively late appearance in the PS1's lifespan, but if you ever get the chance, you should absolutely take Speed Punks for a spin. Bluris a noble experiment on the part of developer Bizarre Creations.

The goal: to merge real-life race cars and locations with kart-racing mechanics. Prior to Blur's release, the developer was known for its Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars series, so designing a game that took the realistic race style of the former and mixed it with some of the arcade action of the latter seemed like a natural fit.The two styles end up blending together better than expected. Seeing a Dodge Viper and Ford GT lob energy missiles at each other is little strange at first, but the explosive action and tight handling won it a lot of praise with consumers and critics alike. However, such praise fell upon deaf ears, as poor sales drove Blur into an early grave. A sequel was planned, but was later canned after Bizarre Creations shut down in 2011.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing TransformedIt took Sega a long time to develop a true competitor to Nintendo's Mario Kart franchise, but in 2012, it finally did it with. While its predecessor, 2010's Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, nailed the karting basics of tight controls, fun weapons, and a diverse roster, Transformed gave the series an identity all its own with the transformation mechanics.Transformations are at the very heart of this game. As you run laps around the track, the course itself will shift and change. Certain sections may be flooded, or drop off into a bottomless pit. To accommodate, your vehicles transform between a race car, boat, and airplane. Each handles a bit differently, and jumping between them mid-race helps mix up the action.

And for you die-hard Sega fans out there, Transformed is loaded with callbacks to the developer's classics, including Ryo Hazuki, who can cruise around on a Shenmue motorcycle or an OutRun arcade cabinet turned go-kart. How awesome is that? Victory lapThere are plenty more kart racers out there that didn't make it into victory lane this time around. Which one is your favorite, and why? Let us know in the comments below, and help spread the word about these under-appreciated gems that will forever live in the shadow of a fat plumber and his bright red go-kart.And for more high-speed fun on GR+ look up.

In a brief pitch, the equation tends to be +, a game that takes the realistic yet fun driving system and doubling it up with the ability to, Mods (The Drivers) and Karts, each and every one of those goes more in depth than even, and adds so much to the driving aspect to hold up on its own.This game was announced at E3 2009 and released on May 21st, 2010 in Europe and May 25th in the United States for both the. Later, a port subtitled 'Road Trip' was released in early 2012, which is missing the career mode cutscenes and online from the original game. As with many classic Playstation 3 titles, the servers were eventually shut down, and as of October 10th, 2018, the game's much vaunted online features have come to an end.

The game features examples of these tropes:.: Jez's entire shtick. White and pastel color scheme, snooty or -like affectations and says she became a racer because 'daddy hates it.'

.: Playstation Blog post reveals that Biff and Gary carpool to and from work.: At the end of Chief's big wreck, we see him getting hosed down with fire suppression foam by an emergency team. After Chief decks Espresso so hard he goes rolling off that same corner of the track 25 years later, that same team shows up and sprays Espresso with the same foam.

Despite not being in a kart.: Gary Raisins Reasons. He is constantly being made fun of by Biff Tradwell.: While the mods themselves can be named anything, the mod used in career mode will always be referred to as Tag.: In addition to the powerups, you can sideswipe other cars, provided your boost bar isn't empty.: Most Mods out there, including the commentators, watch the MRC to marvel at just how violent the races can get. Best emphasized when Biff completely abandons his commentator duties to giddily watch Chiefs big crash over and over.: Quite a few kart body types, from various 'normal' cars to cardboard boxes, trains, and even an airplane, colored and decorated however you want.: Uncle Richard. He sets up a bomb which knocks out Chief in order to get Tag to sign a contract so he can extract more money from the races, which causes him to be at the end of the story.: The Crew Chief acts as Tag's pit radio speaker. He comments on how well Tag is racing during races, commenting on his drifting skills, when he ruins a previously clean lap, and when he has a full boost meter. He also complains when Tag goes off the track.

Chief: This is a RACETRACK! What are you doing?! Never hug me. Hugging's for Girl scouts, Hippies, and ITALIANS!.: Before the race starts, racers can be seen doing all manner of gags at their wheel. In addition to that, there are many, many gags in the form of the news that moves across the top of the screen. There is a large pool from which they are picked, many of which are unique to career races alone.:. The game's career mode explains that the Boom Box Weapons System is what allows karts to fire weapons.

In the PSP game, after Richard plants a bomb on Tag's kart that explodes and destroys his Boom Box, he is still able to fire weapons, which is inconsistent with the story's explanation that the Boom Box is required to fire weapons. In the PSP game, Tag is able to show up as a random offline racer in normal race modes if you don't play as him despite the career mode stating that custom Mod racers are just outfits for Tag, which can be seen as a conflict between the story and the gameplay.:. Espresso shills for a car he designed called the 'SUX-600D'. Note The 'sucks good', as rendered in chatroom speak.

Later, Gary mentions that Tag has been signed to the racing team of Conservative Motors, who manufacture the 'ever-stimulating B008-S'. Note 'Boobs', for those of you too young to have owned a digital calculator.: The tokens, used to buy accessories for the various editor modes. There are five on each track, meaning a total of 140 tokens, or 225 with all DLC.: Tag during the story cutscenes.

As it's to work around the fact that Tag could just as well be anything, with any voice, including no voice at all.: Chief's confession to Tag that it was Espresso who caused his trauma inducing crash 25 years ago.: Biff Tradwell, especially to Gary, who appears to have gotten used to it. Biff: Hey Gary, if two's company and three's a crowd, what's one?Gary: The number of people at my birthday party?Biff: Booyah!.: The PS Vita version adds fire to the power ups you can aquire, and what happens when you reach Level 3? You fire a gigantic Phoenix of course.: The game takes the LittleBigPlanet approach by making the advanced Track Studio the big selling point of the game, but there is also a very, very indepth Mod and Kart Studio in comparison to similar features in other games. In fact, the default tracks on the 3 and Playstation Vita versions of the game are created using Track Studio.: A fairly common gripe.

45 second loads, anyone? They're worse in the PS Vita version than in the Playstation 3 version, despite being on cartridge or memory card and not a Blu-ray disc and hard drive. The PSP version has short load times compared to the other versions, but the engine is not the same as the other two versions.: The level 3 missile powerup in the and PS Vita game, the Hydra, does this launching 11 missiles that home in to higher placing racers. The PSP game has an equivalent, but only fires five missiles which only home in to targets that it comes close to.: Chief, who survived his rather catastrophic wreck 25 years ago with little more than a bit of emotional trauma.

Comes in handy when a bomb goes off in his face, a massive tool bin, several wheels and an industrial car lift fall on him. Despite being rendered catatonic, he's physically no worse for wear.: The Hydra, the level three variant of the rocket power-up, a that will relentlessly lock on to every driver in front of its user, and it will have enough missiles for each and every single one of them.: It is possible to run over two types of boost pads, one of them launch you in its direction. You can also pick up a 'Jumpstart' item which can be upgraded into the 'Supercharger' and both act as speed boosting items.

In addition, it is possible to obtain 'Boost Points' which can be used to get a speed boost or perform other actions such as sideswiping or activating a shield, or in the PSP version, stomp and attack enemies nearby.: While the CPU isn't terribly fiendish, although it does get quite challenging at times, some of the bonus missions in the Playstation 3 version fall under this. In fact, some objectives were changed in an update to the game to make them less challenging.: Look at the picture of the box art of the game. See that guy in white standing in the foreground by the company logo? You think he's the final boss? He's not even an elite character.

Who's the final boss? You see that guy in the background, flying in the air behind Tag? That's him.: While not as blatant as some racing games (at least to start with), it's definitely present.: Comes up time and time again. Perfect shift.

For example, the power-ups are indeed implemented for this rule. In particular, thankfully, to avoid the blue shell effect, you are able to use boost gained from certain activities to generate a temporary shield. A welcome addition.: As a means of resetting on the track if a problem occurs, karts can spontaneously explode at will. This costs you your boost meter or your weapon depending on the game though.: Tag and Jez get plenty of during the Grand Tour, with the two constantly pranking and messing with each other during the pre-race interactions. Notably, they're the only two characters to directly interact with each other during said tour.:.

In one of the final cutscenes from the career mode, the gets arrested. A cop then explains that his fingerprints were found on a bomb.

The cop is a redhead who wears black sunglasses, wears a tuxedo and ends his bit with an. Does this remind you of?.

Skidplate's introduction claims he is 'Possibly a ' Appropriate, considering he bears a remarkable resemblance to Bumblebee. The news ticker for the Craggy Hills track mentions that.: In addition to the rocket powerups, and karts self-destructing at will or exploding due to being crushed by a Devastator or running into objects while in mid air, there's also the elite racers Nato and Drillbit. While Nato seems to just really like explosives, Drillbit appears to have the ability to blow things up with his mind, as shown by his pre-race intro.: Determining the gender of a mod is solely up to the clothes, accessories and voice applied to it.: Biff Tradwell's response to Tag picking his nose waiting at the starting line in Rumble Jungle. Jez looks on in a similar disgust.: Most of the parts for the create modes.: Color and add accessories to your Mod to make them look like they're wearing almost anything, though you can't change the basic body shape. It helps that a blank Mod looks like a vinyl figurine.

You can also make your mod look more like a Virtual Metal, Cloth, or Rubber Doll.