ModNation Racers

First published on 25 Jul 2010. Updated on 9 Aug 2010.

It's Mario Cart with user generated content and online play. Review over.

Seriously, this is the best way to describe the PS3 game ModNation Racers. You race around tracks in carts, hold a button to drift, have pickups which are all essentially the same as Mario Cart, and need to place third or higher to progress in the career mode. Like Mario Cart, you can be leading the race and get hit by lightning or whatever and be stopped in your tracks. And, like Mario Cart, it's most fun with four people in the same room.

Racing against other people online is pretty easy. You can use the bumper on the controller to jump right in to a game lobby, or play around in the ModSpot, driving up to and interacting with other players, and then driving to the different areas of the game to race or create. Lag, always a concern for online gamers in Australia, never seemed to be a problem.

PS3 seems to be the console for fan made material, and whilst I personally don't care how much your Mii... sorry, "ModRacer" looks like Chewbacca, nor how many penises made from the letters C, B and equals signs you can cover your cart in, user created race tracks are much more interesting to share and race on. The user voting for the best (and worst) designs works for the most part, and some of the tracks are truly inspired. And most importantly, it's very easy and intuitive to use the games tools to make your own racers, carts and tracks.

My biggest gripe is the load times. Sure, you can install the game to your hard drive to lessen the pain, but for the most part you're waiting 30 seconds or longer. However, if you can get past the load times and the fact the design is unashamedly aimed at a younger audience, ModNation Racers is a great cart racing game.