ModNation Racers Review

(PS3; $59.99; Rated E for Comic Violence/Mischief; www.modnation.com)

(four stars)

Continuing the line of games under PlayStation's "Play. Build. Share." branding ushered in by the undeniably adorable "Little Big Planet" comes "ModNation Racers," a game steeped in the tradition of kart-racers like "Mario Kart," but with customization built for a generation of gamers raised on YouTube.

Whereas "Little Big Planet" gave users endlessly cute tools to make whatever platformer their minds and time could muster, "ModNation" provides similar tools to make whatever racetracks, cars, and drivers a copyright-infringing user could imagine and share with the rest of the "ModNation" population online.

In fact, why Sony didn't decide to capitalize on the brand and re-name this game "Little Big Racer" is beyond me.  The two games' psychology is virtually identical.

Within days of ModNation going online, I managed to download exact replicas of classic "Mario Kart" levels; karts that looked like the Mystery Machine, A-Team Van, Batmobile, and the General Lee; and drivers like Spider-Man, Optimus Prime, Mario & Luigi, "Halo's" Master Chief, and Ronald McDonald.

Who knows how long Sony can allow the servers housing such infringing material to exist is anyone's guess, but while it's there- it rivals Hanna Barbera's "Wacky Races" in terms of cross-pollinating pop culture characters.

Thankfully, the fun that can be had online and off is as solid as the litmus by which all other kart-racers are judged - "Mario Kart." Powersliding turns, driving through power pick-ups, and using those pick-ups to aggressively move your way to 1st place and defensively keep you there is the name of the game.  The physics feel right, the karts are appropriately zippy, and the pick-ups are familiar.

Which is just what a modern kart-racer should feel like.  As much fun as "Mario Kart" can be, with four players racing together on the same couch, it lacks the level of surprise that can be gained by playing a track that no one has ever seen before because some guy across the world just created it.

"ModNation" is, unfortunately, hampered by the completely unforgivable load times between races and while entering into the different editing submenus - as well as general PlayStation software annoyance.  Between having to download and update my PlayStation's firmware, yet again, only to then download and update the PlayStation Network Store, I then had to wait 10-15 minutes for "ModNation" to install to my hard drive.

Normally, I wouldn't mind a long install up-front in order to have a smooth-running game on the back end, but despite almost 30+ minutes before getting to my first race, I still have to wait five-minute loading screens between events and options.  "ModNation" developers promise an update to streamline the entire process, but without faster access throughout the whole of the game, "ModNation" stalls out temporarily at the starting line.

For those who have the patience for those types of issues, though, "ModNation's" charm and family-friendly fun is a delight.