Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway
- October 14, 2022
- Bamtang Games
- 60h median play time
A range of cartoon characters from many decades of Nickelodeon all waiting for you to take them over the finish line.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games StoreRebuilt and re-imagined from the ground up, Nickelodeon Kart Racers returns - bigger and better than ever! Featuring a fully voice-acted cast of over 40 iconic characters, drift, slide, and boost your way to the finish line on tracks inspired by legendary Nickelodeon shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and more!
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a large roster of characters from various Nickelodeon shows, providing a nostalgic experience for fans.
- Voice acting has been added, enhancing the atmosphere and bringing the characters to life during races.
- The core gameplay is fun and accessible, making it suitable for younger gamers and casual players.
- The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including bugs, poor online functionality, and a lack of cloud save support.
- Unlocking characters and items requires excessive grinding, which can be frustrating and detracts from the overall enjoyment.
- The graphics and performance have been criticized for being subpar compared to previous entries, leading to a sluggish racing experience.
- graphics38 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics have seen significant improvements, with a bright and colorful art style that holds up well even at lower resolutions, though some users noted performance issues and frame drops. While many praised the graphical overhaul and new assets that reduce visual repetition, others criticized the artwork as incoherent and overly reliant on filters. Overall, the visuals are considered a major upgrade from previous entries, despite some technical drawbacks.
“+ significant graphical overhaul, with returning tracks featuring new assets for less-repetitive visuals.”
“** In spite of having a max resolution of 1440p, the graphics are bright and colorful and, due to the art style, still look great on a 4K display.”
“+ massive improvements on graphic detail from the previous game, as well as resolution options.”
“The artwork is also horrible.”
“Whoever was in charge of the artwork must love to put Instagram HDR filters on everything.”
“Unfortunately, the graphics as well as the performance took a big step back, at least on the Switch.”
- gameplay35 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the core mechanics and unique features like crewmates, while others criticize the balance issues, particularly with rubberbanding, and the lack of depth compared to other racing games. Controls are generally praised, but glitches in collision and unclear mechanics detract from the experience. Overall, while the gameplay can be fun, it struggles with technical shortcomings and presentation issues.
“An interesting mechanic that I surprisingly enjoyed unique to this game are crewmates.”
“This is a very unique mechanic which I found extremely fun.”
“Nice controls and great mechanics that don't feel overwhelming, but the collision can be a little bit glitchy at times, notably when trying to do shortcuts your jump momentum will sometimes be ignored.”
“The game is full of awful mechanics.”
“In terms of driving mechanics, I honestly don't find this game to be much different from the second.”
“The gameplay itself is fine, but it doesn't have the mechanical depth that say... Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has.”
- grinding19 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding required to unlock characters and content in this game excessively tedious and frustrating, often describing it as "asinine" and "impossible." Many reviews highlight the need to win a staggering number of matches, such as 97 arena games for a single character, making the experience feel unfun and not worth the effort. Overall, the grinding detracts significantly from the enjoyment of the game, with many feeling that the content does not justify the time investment required.
“If you want to 100% or even unlock just some specific parts or characters, you are looking at an asinine amount of grinding, ranging from ridiculously unfun and annoying to basically impossible.”
“This game is fun, but its content does not justify the absolutely abysmal amount of grinding you have to do, and I'm getting sick of racing games that require you to unlock the majority of content through sluggish currency systems.”
“After grinding through it painfully to unlock Jenny, I never went back to touch this mode as there was no point.”
- optimization16 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 44 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues even on high-end rigs, and similar problems on console versions. While the game boasts impressive graphics and a wealth of content, the poor optimization detracts from the overall experience, leading to choppy performance, particularly on the Switch.
“Tack on the fact there's so many karts, kart pieces, and crew members, and there's an absolutely wild amount of content and performance-related customization you can pull off (y'know... provided you put forth the effort to farm for all this stuff).”
“Despite performance issues, this game still does look good.”
“I have a fairly powerful rig, and yet this game still faced truckloads of performance issues.”
“This game is sincerely just optimized like crap.”
“Unfortunately, the graphics as well as the performance took a big step back, at least on the Switch.”
- music12 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as upbeat and energetic, enhancing the track themes, though none of the songs are particularly memorable. While the inclusion of character voices adds to the atmosphere, poor sound effects and mixing detract from the overall experience, leading some players to prefer their own music instead. Overall, the soundtrack is considered decent but not standout.
“The music is upbeat and energetic.”
“The music is inoffensive.”
“None of the songs really stick in my head, but they are definitely forgettable.”
“The presence of character voices, missing in the 2nd game, while being a massive boon to the atmosphere, the overall awful sound effects and their mixing often ruin the immersion created by the decent gameplay and solid soundtrack.”
“Personally, I just found myself playing my own music in the background.”
- stability10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs ranging from minor annoyances to game-breaking glitches. Players have reported problems such as invisible walls, incorrect race placements, and characters getting stuck or behaving erratically. While the gameplay can be enjoyable when functioning properly, the prevalence of these issues detracts from the overall experience.
“A bit of a mixed bag; when this game works, it's extremely fun and delivers one of the best mascot kart racing experiences out there. However, bugs are plenty and vary from slightly annoying to incredibly frustrating and almost game-breaking. I've hit many invisible walls while driving in a straight line, had instances where my kart sank through the floor, and experienced races where the placement tracker looked like it was having a seizure because it didn't know who was where. (I also played offline, so those glitches weren't due to lag.)”
“Another buggy, rushed Nicktoons game. Bugs found in the online games include: after finishing an online race, players will occasionally be moved back several places from where they actually finished because the game does not register correctly. In multiple games, someone who got second would end up in 11th or 12th. Occasionally, players get stuck in or under the map on a bike, and players appear to be flying in the air on maps. Footballs and jellyfish are closer to players than the game notification displays, making it impossible to react.”
“I've also encountered a good number of glitches.”
- story10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is minimal, lacking a dedicated narrative or cutscenes beyond the introductory and concluding segments. Players find the mission mode enjoyable, but the absence of a comprehensive story mode and additional content like concept art galleries detracts from the overall experience. Unlocking characters primarily through online play, which is currently inactive, adds to the frustration.
“Fun mission mode”
“No story mode, no cutscenes (aside from the intro and ending when you complete the challenges), and not even a gallery showcasing concept art and other neat stuff. More licensed games need to have those.”
“In 2, you can unlock most characters from playing cups and the single-player mission mode, but in 3, most of the time you will need to unlock them from playing online games, which is essentially dead right now.”
“One mission with Kamp Koral Patrick is also impossible because you can't focus on using speed boost pads and simultaneously find a way to pass that one annoying fast racer way ahead of everyone.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's monetization strategy is criticized as a quick cash grab, although it avoids microtransactions, which some reviewers feel should not be considered a positive aspect. Overall, the monetization approach leaves a negative impression on players.
“It's a shame, but the game comes off as a quick and cheap cash grab.”
“There's at least no microtransactions, but that should never be something worthy of praise.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is significantly enhanced by the inclusion of character voices, a feature absent in the previous installment, which adds depth to the experience. However, poor sound effects and mixing detract from the overall immersion, despite the solid gameplay and soundtrack. Overall, while the game makes strides in atmosphere, particularly with voice acting, technical audio issues hinder its full potential.
“The presence of character voices, missing in the second game, is a massive boon to the atmosphere; however, the overall awful sound effects and their mixing often ruin the immersion created by the decent gameplay and solid soundtrack.”
“On paper, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 does so much right, with a bigger roster of racers, more kart customization, and the oft-requested addition of voice acting, which does add to the atmosphere considerably.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users consistently highlight a strong sense of replayability, indicating that the game offers numerous opportunities for players to return and enjoy it multiple times.
“There is a lot of replay value.”
“There is a lot of replay value.”
“The game offers numerous ways to experience it, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.”
Critic Reviews
Slip, slide, slime
The game offers a number of fun characters and racing elements, but ends up feeling bogged down by its technical issues, empty lobbies, and unlock grind.
60%Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway Switch Review
A range of cartoon characters from many decades of Nickelodeon all waiting for you to take them over the finish line.
88%Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway review
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway isn’t a bad kart racing game, but technical issues and some issues with track design make it hard to recommend to all but the biggest Nickelodeon fans.
60%
