Tech Blog

[#1]

If you’re a fan of Mario Kart, you might not initially take Sony’s ModNation Racers seriously. Give this game a chance and it will not only impress you on the merits of its racing experience, but most especially on how deep the user-generated content side of things is.

Creating characters and tracks isn’t new, and neither is the option to share those with fellow gamers, but the way in which that content is displayed and shared certainly can be in this game. There is something inherently appealing and exciting about building a track from scratch, and seeing it top the list of downloads from others online.

It’s also fun to be able to create characters that look like everything from comic book characters, to movie icons and gaming legends (you guessed it, it’s possible to create Mario and Luigi in ModNation Racers). You can even give others the green light to tinker with them and make something a little unique from yours. This goes for karts too, where there are some real gems online already. Variants of the Batmobile, A-Team van, Dukes of Hazzard car, Knight Rider and other vehicles made famous in the 80s and 90s are already up for grabs.

When you take all this great stuff and apply it to a game that not only has some solid racing mechanics, but also a computer AI that is far more competent than anyone could’ve imagined, you get a title with two facets that totally complement each other.

Personally, I’m not a huge kart racing fan, though I’ve always liked Mario Kart. ModNation Racers makes it easy to like these types of games just a little more. Maybe if I could actually take the time to create something that others would flock to, I would be drawn into it even more. How’s that for replay value?