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" Release Date: November 7 (Europe), November 6 (North America) Platforms available on: PS3 Developer: United Front Games / Media Molecule Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: Racing There have been countless attempts to dethrone  Mario Kart over the years, yet the Nintendo series remains unmatched for its sheer addictiveness and multiplayer potential. LittleBigPlanet Karting is a worthy opponent for the franchise, throwing creativity into the mix for a more meaningful experience, but does it do for the racing genre what its predecessors did for the platformer?  Like all kart racing titles, LittleBigPlanet Karting borrows heavily from Mario Kart, with the same minimalist controls and some questionably similar power-ups. That&amp;#039;s not to say it doesn&amp;#039;t have any ideas of its own. Media Molecule&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;create and share&amp;#039; ethos lends itself perfectly to the genre, plus there are a few surprises in store out there on the track too.  The game is set within the LittleBigPlanet universe we know and love, so fans can expect hand-knitted backdrops, endearingly odd characters and a fitting voiceover from Stephen Fry. It&amp;#039;s an easy game to get into, with a comprehensive Fry tutorial to teach you how to pull off those drifts and use the weaponry on offer.  Outside of the creative suite, there is little more you need to know to enjoy the game. This is a gameplay-centric title where accessibility was high on the developers&amp;#039; list of priorities. Story mode has players work their way through a series of races laid out on a map screen not unlike the ones in the LittleBigPlanet platformers. The story isn&amp;#039;t up to much, but along the way, players unlock speed challenges and versus stages, as well as collect a host of decorative items to customise your character and vehicle, making for a varied campaign. The core gameplay is fun and polished and the handling is fluid. LittleBigPlanet Karting has much in common with another title from developer United Front Games, ModNation Racers. Since it appears to have been built on the same engine and rehashes many of the same mechanics, comparison is only natural, and it doesn&amp;#039;t measure up in a number of ways.   When it comes to the actual racing, LittleBigPlanet Karting feels watered down compared to its studio sibling. Many of the elements that made ModNation Racers strategically rich have been stripped away. The boost and shield meters have been jettisoned to simplify the experience, but it just makes it tactically poorer. However, to say there is no strategy involved is to do the game a disservice. Players have defensive options at their fingertips as it&amp;#039;s possible to use weapons to ward off attacks from other racers. For instance, if you are in first place with a missile hurtling towards you, it&amp;#039;s possible to blast their projectile out of the sky, providing you can time your counterstroke right. This brings some welcome depth to the game, but the power-ups system often serves to frustrate. Elaborate weaponry - such as a gigantic flying boxing glove you can ride to the front of the pack - is part and parcel of the tongue-in-cheek kart racer, though few games manage to infuriate with them as much as this.  Computer-controlled racers are unbelievably proficient marksmen to the point where it feels almost unfair. They also have a knack for targeting unarmed players. The more exuberant power-ups are capable of turning a race on its head, propelling you from the back of the pack to the front in a matter of seconds. These have been carefully integrated to ensure balance, usually falling into the hands of players who are off the pace to bring them back into the competition, but you&amp;#039;ll still feel cheated if you lose a race because somebody hurtled past you on an oversized boxing glove at the last second. The only difference when playing online is that you will be racing against other humans, rather than bots. With no multiplayer lobby or ranking  system, the only way to challenge other players is via the story mode, and the competitive nature of the game suffers as a result. After blasting through a course together, players vote on which level they tackle next, and the result feels like you are going for a leisurely drive with a convoy of others, rather than an every-man-for-himself race. LittleBigPlanet Karting&amp;#039;s headline feature is the option to create your own tracks with the extensive array of tools on offer. Laying down a winding strip of tarmac is the easy part, but players with a flair for creativity and artistry will not be satisfied with this alone.  As was the case with the LittleBigPlanet platformers, the possibilities are almost endless, and some of the courses enterprising users have dreamed up so far are very impressive.  Recreating levels from classic Mario Kart titles has proven popular, while some of the other homebrew creations have little to do with racing at all. We whittled away a lot of time on a side-scrolling shooter stage and almost forgot we were playing a racing game. The creation mode is not for everyone. The Fry voice tutorials are effective if you have time to sit through them all, though it is difficult to use them as a point of reference if you&amp;#039;re trying to learn one specific thing. However, those with no interest in flexing their creative muscles will still find some entertainment out there on the track. LittleBigPlanet Karting succeeds in applying Media Molecule&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;create and share&amp;#039; formula to the racing genre, offering almost the same level of creative freedom as the core platform series. As a racing game in its own right, it struggles to compete with the genre&amp;#039;s leaders such as ModNation Racers and Mario Kart, but at least manages to impress on the innovation front.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a438426/littlebigplanet-karting-review-ps3-putting-the-art-in-kart/>