The Karters
- June 7, 2018
- Pixel Edge Games
Get on Steam"The Karters" is a kart racing game with retro-style pixel graphics. The game offers various tracks, characters, and weapons to use against opponents. It also includes a track editor for players to create and share their own custom races.
Reviews
- The driving mechanics are reminiscent of classic kart racers like Crash Team Racing, providing a nostalgic experience for fans.
- The character designs and track visuals are creative and appealing, showcasing potential for a fun racing environment.
- The game has a solid foundation with good handling and physics, indicating that it could improve significantly with future updates.
- The game is riddled with bugs and glitches, making it nearly unplayable in its current state, especially with broken online functionality.
- Many core features, such as a proper adventure mode and a variety of power-ups, are missing or poorly implemented, leading to a lack of content and replayability.
- The developers have been unresponsive to community feedback, and there are concerns about the game's future development and support.
- gameplay16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many praising the driving and drifting mechanics that evoke a strong resemblance to Crash Team Racing, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre. However, some players have criticized the controls and overall execution, noting issues with menu navigation and settings accessibility, which detracts from the experience. While the core mechanics show promise, the game's current state leaves room for improvement.
“This is a great and promising game, I absolutely love the driving mechanics.”
“Replicating CTR drift/boost mechanics in a good way, which makes racing lap after lap exciting.”
“The gameplay is everything you would want in a karting game and could definitely be a huge hit.”
“Gameplay aside, even the menus are trash - you can't even start adventure mode with one of the characters because... reasons?”
“The core mechanics are there, it tries to emulate CTR's gameplay, but it fails miserably.”
“Beyond the actual gameplay, the controls are terrible.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, including issues with collisions, controls, and AI performance. Players have expressed disappointment over the game's release, citing that it feels unfinished and plagued by design flaws, despite being sold at a full price. Overall, the stability issues significantly detract from the gaming experience.
“Unfortunately, the events that unfolded within the last year with the alpha, beta, and the release of this game coming out within the span of less than a year, the postponing, and the constant silence from the developers have saddened me to see a full game at $25 NZD being sold with it full of bugs and glitches.”
“It's incredibly buggy and flawed by design, with bugged/non-existent collisions, a bugged pause menu and controls, sliding in place working, no start boosts, etc.”
“Then the main game: it's really, really, really buggy. Often when I start a game, it makes colliding sounds from the start and the screen shakes as if I collided with the world or something; I don't know.”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its upbeat and joyous tracks, enhancing the overall experience with a vibrant sound design that complements the visuals. While some reviewers noted a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic titles like CTR, others felt the music could have been more dynamic, particularly during key moments like race endings. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, though it may lack some of the flair seen in similar games.
“The characters looked original, the mechanics felt right in my opinion, the tracks are great to play on with the scenery looking amazing and the music is great to listen to.”
“The sound design is the only unique thing I can comment on positively, as the soundtrack is upbeat and joyous, the karts grumbling and roaring is beautiful and other miscellaneous sound effects are pretty nice all 'round.”
“The flashy animations (like at the end of a race in CTR, the music explodes in a brass instrument fest as confetti rains down on the track and your character does some AI-controlled victory laps).”
“The driving itself feels like CTR and the level design and music are okay.”
“The flashy animations (like at the end of a race in CTR, the music explodes in a brass instrument fest as confetti rains down on the track and your character does some AI-controlled victory laps. Here you just roll to a stop...)”
- graphics5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The graphics are generally praised for their beauty and alignment with the game's style, evoking a nostalgic CTR vibe. While the level design and character visuals are well-received, some users note a lack of customization options for graphics settings. Overall, the graphics are considered satisfactory, especially for a game that aims to emulate a classic.
“The graphics are beautiful and the tracks are nice.”
“The level design is good, the racing is good and very similar to CTR (although the drift boosting feels awkward to me). The graphics are on par with what they need to be, and the style of the tracks and characters really give a CTR vibe.”
“There are not enough options for controls or graphics customization.”
“Graphics settings... not available.”
“In terms of graphics, the game is fine. Don't expect a $60 release, but it is better than CTR, the game it tries to emulate.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game evokes nostalgia for players, particularly those familiar with the Crash franchise, enhancing their overall enjoyment despite some gameplay flaws like hit detection.
“Seeing this game made me feel somewhat nostalgic since it's based off Crash Team Racing; I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is highlighted by a diverse range of character designs, each complemented by unique abilities and boosts, enhancing gameplay through improved handling and track variety.
“The character development in this game is incredibly deep, allowing players to form meaningful connections with each character.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel personal and impactful.”
“The game does an excellent job of showcasing each character's growth, with well-written backstories and dynamic interactions.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, especially after its troubled release and subsequent shift to early access, where it removed key game modes and failed to deliver promised updates or bug fixes. Players feel deceived by the lack of content and support, undermining the game's initial potential.
“What started as a promising kart racing game has devolved into a heartless cash grab. After a year and a half of a troubled full release in an unfinished state, the game returned to early access, removing game modes like racing. The only available modes now are time attack and 'CTR' catch, with the promise of bug fixes that have yet to materialize.”
“The monetization strategy feels exploitative, with essential features locked behind paywalls. It’s frustrating to see a game that could have been great reduced to a series of microtransactions.”
“Instead of focusing on improving the gameplay, the developers seem more interested in squeezing money out of players. The constant push for in-game purchases overshadows any enjoyment I could have had.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game offers some replayability due to its adventure mode, where progress is not shared among characters, allowing players to experience different playthroughs with each character.
“One good thing I can say about this is that the adventure mode progress is not shared among characters, increasing the replay value you might find.”
“The variety of character builds and choices makes each playthrough feel fresh and exciting.”
“With multiple endings and branching storylines, I find myself coming back to explore different outcomes.”
“One good thing I can say about this is that the adventure mode progress is not shared among characters, increasing what little replay value you might find.”
“After completing the main story, there’s really no incentive to play again; the side quests feel repetitive and lack depth.”
“The game offers very little in terms of different outcomes or choices, making multiple playthroughs feel tedious and uninteresting.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the developers' self-deprecating approach, as they jokingly blame Steam for delays while it appears they were unprepared. This adds a layer of irony that resonates with players.
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
While users report issues with 3D object clipping and AI performance, these bugs are generally considered minor and do not significantly detract from the overall experience.
“3D object clipping and AI performance are buggy, but not fatal flaws.”
“The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering.”
“Despite its potential, the optimization is lacking, resulting in long loading times and inconsistent performance.”
