Genre: Kart Racing
Developer: SCE San Diego Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

ModNation Racers fits into the category of most contemporary 3d platformers-- hodge-podge character designs and colorful albeit inconsistent scenery-- but manages somehow to look pretty good in the process. While the character designs do veer occasionally towards the ugly side of the spectrum, the tracks are wonderfully detailed and there seems to have been a good attention to detail during the track creation process.

This title's menu music consists of a strange Jazz-R&B fusion. The songs are catchy in some sort of strange way, but they're more like cheap filler than anything else. The voice acting, which features extensively during the career mode's many pre-rendered cut-scenes, is well directed and fits the game's overall aesthetic appropriately.

ModNation Racer's driving mechanics borrow the simplicity from Mario Kart and, aside from the difficult-to-use "drift" concept, add useful and fun elements without convoluting the formula too much. All-importantly, there is no concept of "snaking" or "rubber banding", as has plagued the Mario Kart series over the last decade or so. In fact, the gameplay is so perfectly balanced that skill is rewarded, but all the drivers tend to finish within just a few seconds of each other, meaning anyone can cleverly snatch victory in the end.

If ModNation Racers' style wasn't so painful-- the R&B-influenced menu music, the horribly-written, cliche-ridden cut-scenes-- it would clearly have surpassed Mario Kart as gaming's best, modern kart-racing series. Even with its faults, its customizability, water-tight driving mechanics, and uncanny balance mean that even when viewed in a pessimistic light it stacks up pretty favorably to Nintendo's venerable but troubled kart series.