All-Star Fruit Racing

I have a lot of questions for this game, like why is Poseimon one of the last tracks I unlock when it's so dull and why does Dino Juice have a Jurassic Park design motif with a Danny Elfman inspired music track? Or why did I race the same track two different times in a single cup? But I don't want to think about what the answers to those would be because I really don't want to think about All-Star Fruit Racing anymore. If this were on mobile I'd have deleted it after my first trip to Avocado Roller. As it's a PS4 game, I was holding to hope there'd be something, anything, I could grasp on to here that would signify it as a quality kart racer for the platform. There isn't.

All-Star Fruit Racing is a relatively fun kart racer that has some good ideas, but it all goes a bit pear-shaped. Though it provides a decent amount of content both in single and multiplayer, the wavering performance, some iffy design choices, and a general lack of polish may spoil your appetite. If you're hungry for a simple kart racing experience on PS4, this may give you a bite of the cherry, but it'll sadly never be top banana.

All-Star Fruit Racing takes a unique karting weapon system, throws it into a blender with some cute presentation ideas and an unfortunate series of technical annoyances, and ends up with a pretty mixed bag as a result. This is a competent racer, and there's just about enough content to make you want to keep playing, but it never realises the potential that it could have had and doesn't really stand up to the heights that other titles can offer. It's just a little on the weak side to justify its asking price, so bear that in mind before jumping into a fruity purchase.

There’s no doubt that competing in this space on the Switch is a brutal affair but I’d think anyone trying to make a dent in even the fender of a game like Mario Kart would be well aware of that challenge. For a freshman effort I suppose All-Star Fruit Racing makes the most of the attempt, and shows some glimmer of hope for someone changing up the formula effectively. Unfortunately its biggest struggle is to stand out, at least in a good way, and while it is leading the indie racing pack for the most part it’s still not even sniffing Mario Kart’s fumes in the end.

All-Star Fruit Racing is everything that people love in Mario Kart. It simply allows us to see how poor the concept of simplistic arcade racing is when we strip layers of nostalgia.

All-Star Fruit Racing is a fun and colorful kart racer on PlayStation 4 that is a lot of fun to play, especially with family members or friends. It's not as deep or has as much content as the current reigning champion – Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – but it does some fun things that will be a blast for you to experience.

All-Star Fruit Racing gets it right when it comes to game modes and umber of tracks - wide and varied, along with a lush visual outlook. Less fortunate, though, are its repetitiveness, the lack of a sensation of speed, its long loading times and an overall mediocre soundtrack. All together, these factors make All-Star Fruit Racing a more passable name in the world of kart racing.

All-Star Fruit Racing is a decent enough kart racer that offers a few interesting ideas of its own but unfortunately suffers in a few areas whether it’s the awkward control scheme, confusing weapon system or even a general lack of online features. There’s fun to be had from this fruit-inspired title, sure, but perhaps a little ripening could have helped sweeten this uneven racer.

All-Star Fruit Racing may not include everyone’s favourite platforming hero or even any memorable characters for that matter, but it’s a good attempt at a kart racer that features some unique differences to the usual formula and that makes it worth a look. You’ll also learn some interesting facts about fruit along the way.

My first dive into the game left a really sour taste in my mouth. There was a broken AI system that simply did not allow me to get gold in any of the races in order to unlock the rest of the characters. Most of them are generic in design, minus a few interesting ones with special attacks.