The MySims series has experimented with almost every family-friendly genre out there now. The latest offering, MySims Racing, is about one of the last areas those cute little Sim-like individuals have yet to explore. Out now for the Wii and DS, the series looks to topple a certain portly plumber and his friends by offering a more customizable experience, complete with story-mode. Are they able to do it? Let’s check it out.

Gameplay

The Wii and DS versions of MySims Racing are very similar to each other when it comes to the basics. Let’s face it, kart-racing is a fairly limited genre with not much out there in the way of innovation. The formula is very difficult to stray from. In any variation of this type of game, the essentials are always there: colourful characters, zany tracks and, of course, insane power-ups. In spite of the formula being so rigid, MySims Racing manages to add some refreshing changes to the genre that help differentiate it from most kart-racers out there.


The DS version features a fairly lengthy single-player story mode, much like its console big brother. The story isn’t just a port, however, and the story, while nice, isn’t a real draw here. Your goal is to bring the joy of racing back to your town, and to do that, you need to help the citizens of the town, not just by racing, but also by doing menial tasks for them. The story features open world exploration. The map on the touch screen will show you if there’s anyone in town looking for a favour. Simply pull up to them, listen to their explanation and decide whether you want to help them or not.

Completing tasks will unlock customization blueprints, as well as essence coins which allow you to buy each part. Unfortunately, the favours include mostly fetch-quests and taxi-ing people around town, which can become extremely monotonous, and drag down the thrill of a straight up racing game. A little more mission variety might have helped, as otherwise the racing is quite solid.

One major difference found in the DS version, is the Trick Park, where you can perform a variety of vehicular stunts in a skateboard park-like setting. The feature is a neat idea, but the controls and lack of variety may not appeal to everyone. Still, this option offers a change of pace from the numerous fetch-quests and item-heavy racing. There are competitions held here, and winning these will earn you more upgrades, so checking it out is definitely worth it, even if you only spend a few minutes tinkering around there.


MySims Racing DS isn’t as rich in customization features as the Wii version is, but it’s still surprisingly deep, all things considered. While most of the upgrades are cosmetic in nature, there is a fair few upgrades that will make your car faster, stronger, and handle better. The one problem with the system is that, unlike the Wii version, you’re not given a scale to compare each part. Instead, you’re given a small description of the part, which is fine, but having a visual basis of comparison would be welcome here, as it really helps to determine which part is best suited for which races. All said, you’re still given a large amount of customizable options here, and the karts handle well enough that even if you choose to only tweak your ride visually, you should be winning races regardless of the engine you’re using.

As with most kart racing games, traditional racing isn’t necessarily the name of the game here. Instead, you’re given every opportunity to succeed, not by skill and speed alone, but also by using some truly wacky power-ups. MySims Racing fulfills its duty by offering a number of off-the-wall items to use against your opponents. The AI is sufficiently adept at providing a challenge here, so you’ll definitely find yourself in need of those power-ups at least a few times throughout races. The items include pumpkins that obscure the screen when they splatter in front of you, seeds that sprout trees, or soccer balls that bounce around levels, not unlike certain turtle shells from another kart racing title out there. There’s a nice level of variety here, and the power-ups are definitely going to be momentum shifters.

The controls should feel quite familiar to anyone who’s played any other kart racer on the DS. The D-pad is used for steering, the X is used to boost, the L button fires items and the R is used for drifts and jumps. The controls here are tight, so novices shouldn’t have any problems winning races at all. The one thing I will mention is that the drift mechanic is pretty loose, and much like Mario Kart, hitting the drift button causes the kart to jump, which is a bit off-putting, especially as drifting is the main way to earn boost. Being that the A and Y buttons aren’t really used to any great effect here, it would have been nice to see those used for jumps or drifting rather than doubling up on the R button the way they have. It’s a minor complaint however, as everything here is pretty darn solid, otherwise.

Graphics & Sound

The DS version of MySims Racing looks surprisingly good. Character models are well drawn, and the animation holds up to the series standards. The level designs themselves are fairly basic, though each track is easily identifiable from the others. The open-world environment doesn’t boast a whole lot of activity, with only the odd racer roaming the streets to encounter, but there’s a fair amount of detail throughout each part of the world that helps make the game less tedious to explore.


The audio, much like on the Wii, is the weakest link here. The Sim-lish speaking characters use intonation effectively enough, but it’s just not the most entertaining use of audio. The music never strays far from the generic, bright and poppy variety that’s been featured in every MySims game so far. It’s inoffensive, but hardly note-worthy.

Value

While the story mode should keep you busy for a fair bit of time, there’s also a quick race feature, and single or multicard multiplayer mode. Quick Race is a pretty standard feature, but the nice addition of single card multiplayer makes MySims Racing definitely worth it, as competing with friends always up the value of a title, really.

Conclusion

Fans of the MySims experience won’t be let down by this entertaining kart-racer. Everything that has made the series fun is here, and the kart-racing is solid. Even if you’ve never played a MySims game before, Racing is certainly recommendable, as it offers just enough to be a welcome change from other games in the genre.