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Nicktoons Racing: Winner's Cup by Sean Dwyer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: March 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It's difficult to be entirely objective reviewing something you've put so much time, effort, and pride into. Obviously I'll gush over Nicktoons regardless of content after working on the level design with Randy Angle and Ken Volmer. But it's something of a nice surprise when you discover that the game not only meets your expectations, but exceeds them. The bottom line is Nicktoons Racing: Winner's cup is fun, regardless of the fact that I worked on it. And with fun being such a rare and overlooked commodity in games today, it's thoroughly satisfying to be able to not only be proud of my work, but to look forward to others enjoying it as well.

The graphics are colorful, fun, and fully representational of the cartoon world they depict. The particle effects are smooth, clean, and fun to watch. The streams of sparks after picking up the nitro, the wrenches and gears they fly when you hit the road obstacles, and the goo splattered all across the screen when you run over the goop are perfect. Ditto for the character specific power ups, with the exception of several of the sprite based ones, which come off as too simple and under drawn comparatively. The buildings look great, and are perfectly suited to their respective environments. It would've been nice to see everything fully rendered and in 3-D, but it doesn't detract much from the overall experience. Nice animations, although the character's heads sometimes obstruct their limbs.

The game play is shockingly entertaining. There's no greater thrill than zooming ahead of the pack to reach your checkpoint, only to turn around and crash head-on into Sponge bob and the gang on your way to the next one. The shear entertainment value of being turned into a llama during the "Musical Chairs" mini game warrants a purchase of the game on its own. The rest of mini-games are passable, but without a multiplayer mode, they're good for a quick look and not much else. But the quick race feature provides hours of game play, especially given the fact that the checkpoints are randomized for every new race (whereas in the Winner's Cup they always appear in the same places).

The controls are sufficient. None of the cars feel too floaty, with the exception of Dr. Crocker's Segueway, which feels much stiffer and more awkward than it should. A greater difference in the cars' stats would've been nice, perhaps with a physical chart of each car's strengths and weaknesses (acceleration, top speed, handling, etc.). My biggest problem with the cars is that they're a little too slow, especially on easy mode.

The levels are creative, lively, and much larger than you would think at first glance. The ramps are especially fun, and add to the cartoonish atmosphere. More hidden areas, combined with more animation would've been a boon, making the areas thoroughly engrossing and entertaining on every pass. Also, despite their replay value, the fact that there's only four tracks hurts. Eight tracks would have been more than enough, and likely would've quadrupled the replay value to boot.

The biggest gripe I have with Nicktoons Racing: Winner's Cup is that it feels like a Value title. Four tracks, no plot, no cinematics, only a few hidden extras. That's not to disparage the game play or the graphics; this is one of the best Value titles I've played in ages. It's fun, engrossing, and thoroughly worth the $20.00 you'd spend on it. But it's a good game, not the great game it would have been with a slightly larger budget and a few more moths of work behind it.

Any K-5th grader who does not like this game probably did not like video games at all in the first place. You can practically see the kindergartener's eyes go wide and fill with light and enthusiasm as Sponge Bob declares "I'm ready, I'm ready!" at the starting gate, before speeding off in a haze of bubbles and nitro blasts. There's nothing not fun about it, and in the end, beyond the minor gripes, that's all that matters.

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