Some would say that Nintendo has been a bit behind the crowd when it comes to their consoles. While the Switch has been moderately successful, their staying power relies on their games, such as the Mario Kart series. The title has spawned numerous sequels and imitations that have spanned console generations. The newest kart racing game is All Star Fruit Racing, which replaces the iconic Nintendo themes with tracks, racers and karts modeled after fruit.

The tracks are varied and include a number of biomes, from snow covered mountains to sandy deserts or beaches, all of the bases are covered. Each of the courses will offer their own signature hazards to avoid (or push other racers into), such as giant rocks or snowballs, as well as off of ledges. The courses are well designed and offer hidden paths or shortcuts, winding turns, and ridiculous jumps, but sadly not many levels stand out or are overly memorable once the next race loads. The only noteworthy track features a number of meandering dinosaurs and even has the trademark gates from the original Jurassic Park. This level quickly became a favorite in my household, as we are all fans of the series. That said, I would’ve enjoyed seeing more throwbacks or easter eggs such as this.

Much like the games that were used as inspiration, there are a number of power ups that can be used, which can be acquired in ways that set it apart from other racers. There are the standard random pick-ups, such as those found in Mario Kart, which give you a random perk immediately. But there are other pick-ups that are designed around specific fruits allowing the player to slowly build up a stronger version of the associated ability over time, providing enough of the fruits are collected. With the ability to keep up to 4 different perks if the player chooses to hoard the items, they can be used to turn the tide of a losing race rather quickly. The issue with this is, with so many pick-ups being active at the same time, the AI can hit you with so many attacks in succession you go from first to last in the blink of an eye.

The game has a few different modes from the start; however, you will be limited on your track options until you’ve completed the career mode, which can only be completed solo. This mode takes place across a number of cups, each consisting of four races of varying lengths. The AI is not overly challenging aside from when you get over-encumbered by the enemy attacks, which happens enough to make it mildly frustrating. The game is by no means bad and is presented in a cute, well designed package, but it’s too difficult for younger racers and too basic for most adult gamers. The races are fairly short, with the cups taking around 30 minutes to complete. Should you leave the game mid-cup, you have to start the entire ordeal over.

Once each cup is completed, you will unlock additional characters, customization options, and tracks. I am happy to see the unlockable items are in place and not hidden behind a paywall. The limited number of tracks from the start is a bit of a hindrance if you wish to create your own championship, which would double as the local multiplayer option. There is also an option for a random championship to be generated, if you simply want to jump into the action. Online multiplayer is offered, although during my early access no games could be found.

The controls are simple to get accustomed to, with the face buttons strictly being used to change between acquired power ups, the triggers used for the gas and brake/drifting/reverse, and the D-pad offering viewing options, such as first person mode, which is lacking from most kart games and sets this apart from the pack. The only complaint I have with the controls is the reverse, as it often takes two or more seconds to actually register you need to back up due to being stuck on one of the many jagged edges protruding from the environment, which is enough time to lose a significant lead.

The roster of avatars is respectable, although there are no pros or cons to the racers or their respective carts, as they are merely cosmetic. This is nice as it allows you to use any avatar with your customized vehicle by default. While I did enjoy customizing my own cart (complete with the General Lee horn from the Dukes of Hazard), I found the lack of the option to use my Xbox avatar to be a missed opportunity. Additionally, my young son was not a fan of being required to be a girl, as the cast is exclusively female and we had to lie to him letting him know that one of the short haired girls was a dude. For the record, I have nothing against being progressive or inclusive, but most five year olds do not understand this concept.

When playing couch co-op, I found the screen size with three players to be a bit lackluster, since the title opts to keep all of the screens the same size and block off a large portion of the screen with black boxes. This reduced my wife’s time joining in the festivities to a few races due to not being able to see. I noticed this mode causes performance to suffer, with a few minor bugs popping up such as my car hovering above the track, opposed to driving on it. Additionally, the Paw Patrol theme on repeat soundtrack would often stop or start randomly when playing with more than one player. I found this to be a blessing, since the music was the least thrilling part of the presentation. The visuals are well rendered and are reminiscent of many of the Rare titles or Glitch’s home world from the film Wreck-It Ralph.

If you’re like me (Chad) and have no access to a Nintendo system to play their standout racer, All Star Fruit Racing is a respectable replacement, offering similar gameplay with slightly less polish. If you do have regular access to the granddaddy of the genre, you’ll likely find yourself yearning for more.

6 out of 10

Pros

• Tons of Customization Options
• Varied Tracks
• Fairly Responsive Controls
• Respectable Visuals

Cons

• Unbalanced and Uninspired AI
• Lack of Ability to Save the Game Mid-Cup
• Some Minor Bugs

All Star Fruit Racing was developed by 3DClouds.it and published by PQube Limited. It launched on PC Early Access in 2017 and on NS, PS4, and X1 August 21st, 2018 for $39.99. The game was provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of All Star Fruit Racing, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.