Publisher D3 is coming out with a new Ben 10 racing game. This Mario Kart inspired racer puts a lot of variety to a proven formula to keep it interesting. If you squint you can almost see the turtle shells. The graphics/art direction is pretty stock (no Forza here) but considering the cartoon source material it fits pretty well. The designers also copied a few elements from Mario Kart where you can perform aerial tricks to gain power/speed, and if you power slide your vehicle it rewards you with a power charge. These are all good attempts at stirring the pot, but the characters and racetrack are animated in such a way that it can become a little hard to see the turn ahead as the road sometimes blends into the walls a little too well. As far as multiplayer is concerned you and three “Ben 10ites” can play together, locally only. Given the prevalence of online gaming, this has to have been a corporate funding call. Shortcomings aside they are including an all new character that will have his first appearance in an upcoming episode. That plus all the unlockables (25 tracks, 15 characters) this game will surely keep you busy. Obviously fans of the series will have a more vested interest in this galactic grand prix, but there’s still a solid game here for average gamers.
