M&M's Kart Racing

M&M's Kart Racing
Developer(s)	Frontline Studios Calaris Studios (Wii)[1]
Publisher(s)	NA: DSI Games EU: Zoo Digital Publishing
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS, Wii
Release	Wii NA: October 25, 2007 AU: November 29, 2007 EU: April 25, 2008 Nintendo DS NA: March 24, 2008 PAL: April 25, 2008
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

M&M's Kart Racing (stylized as m&m's® KART RACING) is a racing video game for the Nintendo DS and Wii, based on the M&M's license and developed by Frontline Studios in co-production with Calaris Studios. It is the 5th of the 7 M&M's video games. The game allows players to play one of M&M's characters in 15 race environments.

The game was widely panned upon release and has been cited as one of the worst video games of all time.

Gameplay[]

M&M's Kart Racing is a kart racing game in which players control one of the selectable characters who race in karts in different race tracks that vary in shape and theme.

Players can choose from seven different race vehicles which can be customized in the M&M'S garage. Races take place in street, dirt, ice and sand environments which affect vehicle handling in different ways. The cups of coffee placed on the ground around the tracks give players a boost, resulting in the utterance of the infamous "Approaching sound barrier". When the player reaches 200 mph the player will begin "Approaching sound barrier". The player will also pick up chocolate coins scattered across the raceway, but they have no purpose outside of arcade mode, where players must collect all the chocolate coins to proceed to the next raceway. To get a turbo boost at the start of a race, players must spin their Wii Mote. Unlike other racers, to turn their vehicle a player also must spin the Wii Mote as opposed to tilting the controller like a steering wheel.^[2]

Reception[]

M&M's Kart Racing was critically panned upon release. It has a GameRankings score of 22.50% and 22.33% for the Wii and DS versions respectively.^[3][4]

IGN gave the DS version 3/10 and the Wii version 2.5/10 citing that "commercial mascots make terrible videogames" and that the game "barely uses the license at all".^[5][6] GameSpot gave the DS version 2/10 stating that the game "could put you off M&M's for life".^[7] GameSpot also awarded the game "Flat-out Worst Game" award in GameSpot's "Best and Worst of 2008" awards. GameZone also panned it, giving it 2/10. The game was also awarded the lowest-rated kart game by Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2011, stating that the game's nearest "rival" was Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway, the latter of which has a GameRankings score of 26.40%, 3.9% more than M&M's Kart Racing.^[8]

Gameplay footage of the game was featured as Joystiq's "Today's most hilariously atrocious video",^[9] stating that the gameplay footage "is a true testament to the wrong way to build a kart racer".

Gamesradar ranked the game 32nd on their "The 50 Worst Games of All Time." They criticized the Wii’s motion controls making the karts impossible to handle and criticized the absence of items to use in the races saying most Mario kart rip offs include the use of items.^[10]

References[]

External links[]

• Official Frontline Studios website