Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (REVIEW)

Time for a grand prix in.. Nickelodeon style!

Title: Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway
Developer: Bamtang Games
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Price: $49.99 USD (Physical and Digital), $64.99 USD (Turbo Edition)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release Date: October 14th, 2022
Platform Reviewed: PC
Review Copy Provided: Yes
Date Reviewed: October 18th, 2022

After a couple of leaks and known citations of the next Nickelodeon Kart Racers title in the series months back, now seems we have finally got something for it so soon?.
While we begin this insanity, let's try to explain most of how it went upon playing this game besides the tutorial.

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Gameplay, etc.

"Time for an another slime-prix.."

The gameplay is mainly something you have played in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2, and it plays about the same and almost feels identical, with some differences with these noticeable changes. Firstly it’s the controls; compared to the last two games, they have improved with more fluid controls and smooth drifting, but the camera while drifting still has an issue between the side areas. The gameplay is the same except features an new element called slime slides, where you can go in between slime slides to reach routes a lot faster and give you a lot of slime to activate your crew, and there are obstacles to time your jump and go a lot faster.
There have been some issues I’ve encountered like sometimes jumping from platforms or waves doesn’t give you a boost which is strange and hopefully gets fixed later on. I haven’t encountered not so many significant issues with the frame rate dropping much, but it’s noticeable in some parts.
Just something remarkable; it also introduces the addition of bikes, like other games like Mario Kart 8; the bikes, in my opinion, are a lot more fun as the controls are way more smooth to controls and due to how easy sometimes races can be. The boating segments from the first game returned here, and I’m happy to say that they majorly improved them with how better they control and the waves being an excellent addition for some boost, slime slides, or even shortcuts.
Really wished the flying from the first game would come back, too, if they improved, but the boating in the game has reminded me a lot of Sonic & All-Star Racing Transformed, which is excellent, honestly.
There is about five different kinds of modes, such as;
Slime Scramble which is the game’s Grand Prix, with different cups representing different nickelodeon properties.
 Free Race is if you want to play a quick match with any character on any level specifically.
Time Trials if you want to challenge yourself by competing times or create faster times to finish any track faster.
There are challenges throughout the Grand Prix and Game which are a great way to play a lot of specific ways to gain coins, and it can be pretty easy or hard depending on which difficulty the missions have to offer. 

The arena is pretty good to play if you like multiplayer content to have fun with friends in couch co-op or online. The Arena has four modes, such as Demolition which you have to hit opponents ten times to win.
​Control the Golden Spatula, in which you have to hold the golden spatula for 15 seconds 3 times to win, a mode that plays similarly to Splatoon, which is called Slime Trails, in which you have to charge your vehicle with slime and cover more ground than the other team to win.

The roster is pretty nice for what it is, with many franchises, including Garfield. However, it is sad that Shredder, Heffer, Tommy, and Angelica were not found in this game as a racer but only in the first two titles.
The main issue I get with the roster is mainly the alternative looks of the characters; for example, Reptar has an alternative look that makes him Purple while seeing SpongeBob spin-offs of characters like Squidina from The Patrick Star Show.
What was not needed was having the Kamp Koral versions being separate since SpongeBob and Patrick are already in the game or better to just make as a single selection to use them as a option when choosing the racer instead of being separated. 

It wasn’t needed to have Eastman, and the comic version of Raphael doing this separation; even worse is that he’s paid DLC in the Turbo Pack, which costs $14.99 separately, and that’s overpriced even with Zuko from Avatar being exclusive.
I wouldn’t recommend the Turbo Edition for some kart parts unless you want to complete the roster.
Still, it’s disappointing and overpriced since even the base game isn’t even worth $49.99 range, either.
They’ve introduced voice acting, it seems, in this game, unlike the first two games. Adding some voiced dialogue to the characters with their original voice actors reprising their roles was fantastic. In contrast, it’s great to hear, especially in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, that introduced voices with an update.
 Sadly, some racers don’t have the original voice actors likely for various reasons plus the characters you want to unlock even requires you to play online for stuff like Helga for example and sometimes the online dies out and you can't even unlock them ever again which is odd.

Though it is at least on the bright side, some of the new actors sounded just as good as their original counterparts to see them break the fourth wall when pausing too.
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Still, the downside with the addition of voice acting with this game or issue in one of these cases is that it can be pretty annoying as they may say the same line in a repeat or feel like they sometimes don’t fit the game completely. 

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"Time to enter the SLIMESTREAM!"

There is a garage where you can customize your kart and bike.
Mainly the Garage is a way for you to change the exhaust pipes, wheels, paint job, and even chiefs, crew engineers, and mechanics. Playing the game more throughout to unlock all of them by playing races, buying them with tokens you get from races, and completing them, adds customisation to the game pretty well. Speaking of which, the Crew you choose before racing can be handy as they range from defence, attack, boost, and support, which helps out during a race from certain characters to win; there is green slime also in the tracks, which do fill you up the chiefs to use them and orange slime that charges you power-ups. 
The tracks in this also seem to have represented specific shows from Nickelodeon in each location, which I find fun to play.
 These tracks with the mix from Nickelodeon Kart Racers 1 and 2, even some first and sequel tracks, have been a bit improved and adjusted for the third game with stuff like adding boating segments and slime slides. While in the first game, tracks like Mrs Puff Boating School restored the boat segments that were supposed to be in the second game and improved.

So far, the game looks like a big step up from the first two games with the improved visuals.
The soundtrack is good and bad but little suited for an older audience since Kart Racers 1 and 2 sounded more childish. 

Some models on specific characters like Squidina or SpongeBob and Patrick from the Kamp Koral feel like they ripped their models from the show, and the same can be said for Chuckie and Susie since their models are from the Rugrats reboot. 

On a side note: It seems to have something from one of Mario Kart 8’s features: auto-acceleration and the motion sensor function. It seems they decided to add it to this game which is very helpful to kids or people who are new to video games and are fans of the kart racing genre games or like to let the game accelerate for themselves, which was an excellent feature to implement.

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Overall/Verdict

"Right in the Fast Lane!"

I’m pretty impressed with the game with how they managed to improve most things and how it feels complete. Now just looking back at how the first game was critically hit hard by critics and audiences alike. However, it seemed to improve with Kart Racers 2, and now especially, Kart Racers 3 has been quite fun to enjoy completing the game with things it needed.
However, overall it isn’t a perfect game by any means, and there are problems with it entirely. However, I still found it enjoyable it feels more for fans of these series to enjoy it a lot, and they seem to capture that pretty well, making a proper definitive version of the Nickelodeon Kart Racers series with this one.

Do I Recommend?:
Yes... and No.
I believe the game is worth slightly less than the price point. Still, for the turbo edition, it feels a little bit silly knowing it’s just really $15 DLC for the skin on a racer with another racer on the selection, so if going for the Turbo Edition, I would recommend waiting till it’s on sale. 
Though that’s just me really and my opinion upon this game, so it’s really for you to judge despite it’s still fun to play even with friends.
​We all are the judge of what we think at the end of the day!

Quote:
“Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 brings something fun for all to enjoy even for fans of the series to appreciate in a way despite it’s problems.”
Rating: 7.5/10

As Tim will always says here..
Until then, Game on!
-Alexandre Elkhoury (SpongeHog)