Open Kart

Call us bluff old traditionalists, but we can remember a time when games were fun. A time when they were actually designed to entertain the person who had bought them. We can't remember exactly when that time was, but suffice to say that Open Kart doesn't belong there. Is anybody really interested in tweaking the tyre pressure and weight distribution of what is little more than a glorified lawnmower? Adjusting the rigidity of the chassis? Do us a favour.

As joyless a piece of software as we've seen, Open Kart takes what is basically an uncomplicated sport and attempts to fashion it into a worthy simulation. However, it doesn't go as far as attempting to replicate any kind of recognised karting association event, and as such falls between the two stools of arcade action and authenticity. Put simply, it's a bland karting game that doesn't do anything particularly wrong, yet offers no convincing argument for purchase. The graphics are what would have been described as photo-realistic a few years ago, the sound is adequate, and the usual array of generic tracks are all in place.

Longevity is offered by a career mode, albeit one which is hopelessly unbalanced, to the extent that if you don't succeed in the early races, you won't be able to afford to enter the later ones. Tyres and engine parts deteriorate at an alarming rate, with the cost of maintaining a competitive kart beyond all but the top prize-winners. And without a decent kart, you can't win a race, presenting something of a vicious circle. Dickheads.

The racing itself is passable, if a trifle dull, and the game is by no means unplayable. It's just that Super Mario Kart is probably a hundred times more fun.