M&M's Kart Racing (DS)

Reviewed by

Justin Calvert

on 04/10/2008

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If you're familiar with Mario Kart DS you'll know that a lot of the fun in that game comes courtesy of an inventive arsenal of weapons and power-ups. M&M's Kart Racing boasts a less imaginative and much smaller arsenal that comprises just four items. There's a homing missile for slowing down racers in front of you, a barrel of oil for slowing down racers behind you, a cup of hot chocolate that boosts your speed, and a chocolate bar that refills your fuel tank so that you don't slow down as it empties. Other pickups include rainbow-colored M&M's that represent score-boosting "golden coins," and, in time trial mode, giant M&M's that hover just above the track surface and serve as checkpoints.

The subtly-branded hovercraft is one of the worst vehicles in the game.

There's really no good reason why you'd want to take advantage of M&M's Kart Racing's multiplayer mode and play with friends, but the option is there provided each of you has a copy of the game. That's right, Mario Kart DS can support up to eight players with a single cartridge, but M&M's Kart Racing supports only as many players as you have copies of the game, up to a maximum of five. All 11 of the tracks are available in multiplayer mode, though you're limited to racing the same number of laps on each of them that you're required to in Tournament mode. Four of the tracks support only one-lap races, while the rest support either two or three.

Perfectly complementing this stubborn chocolate stain of a game is a grating, looping soundtrack that you'll want to switch off at the earliest opportunity and sound effects that add nothing positive to the experience. If you've ever wondered what an M&M sounds like, the answer lies somewhere between the voice samples used in early Worms games and Snarf from Thundercats. In other words, they're squeaky and annoying, though thankfully they're not very talkative.

M&M's Kart Racing, as you've no doubt figured out by now, is a game that you should avoid at all costs. Save for the fact that it won't break your DS or melt in your hand, it has practically no redeeming features whatsoever.