Hello, readers that may or may not exist! Today, Ben 10 Reporter presents its very first game review! Did you know, there is almost no imformation on Galactic Racing 3DS on the internet? I had to use the back of the box and Nintendo eShop to decide whether or not to get it. Did I make the right choice? I dunno. Let's find out!
(DISCLAIMER: All screenshots are from Ben 10 Wiki unless otherwise stated and, because I have no idea how to screenshot my 3DS, are from consoles. Don't worry, it's the same game).
Graphics
Many people care about graphics. A lot. I don't really; as long as a game is fun and has a good framerate and recognizable characters, I honestly don't give a f***. That said, you may want to take my graphic reviewing with a pinch of Goop (see what I did there? Ben 10 joke? Anyone? ...okay ):).
Ultimate Humungousaur activates his Ultimate ability
Galactic Racing on the 3DS objectively has worse graphics than all of the consoles, better than the DS, and I have no clue how it looks on Vita. That said, it looks better than the consoles and DS because the graphics don't look outdated on the system. On the Wii (and I would assume 360 and PS3), the graphics were okay. The animations were smooth, but the models and textures were a little rough. All of that is worse on 3DS, but because it is a handheld, it looks great. The framerate is lower than on the consoles, which is a little bothersome at first, but it quickly ceased to bother me. I did experience some drops at points of high activity, but those usually didn't last very long. The 3D effect is stunning, with amazing depth, although it doesn't really help gameplay. I noticed some faint outlines when in 3D, but that may have been the way I held the system. I got it a month ago and still don't know how to hold it. Some effects - like the rainbow Omni-Node - fared better on their journey over from consoles than others - Heatblast's defense attack.
Score: 4/5
Sound
The voice acting on this game is really good. All characters have their voice from UA except Four Arms (who is voiced by Richard McGonagle, who did him originally - even better!) and possibly Vilgax. Music is okay, none of it really stood out to me, and it sounded like they only have a few tracks that get played over and over. Sound effects are not bad, and fit in with the rest of the game.
Four Arms caught in some goo
Score: 3.8/5
Controls
Ultimate Cannonbolt gets out of the car for his defense move
For the most part, the controls are responsive. There were a few situations where the drift button and circle pad took a few tries to respond, but otherwise, the controls work well. In terms of their ease of use, they are generally easy, although the fact that drifting and mid-air stunts have the exact same controls really screwed me up. Seriously - instead of having the circle pad or d-pad available for steering, they should have just taken the d-pad and made it only for stunts. One thing I noticed is that after a while, my hands hurt - although, as this happens with Mario too, it probably happened because I played for too long.
Score: 3.2/5
Gameplay
This game is amazing. It's really fun and it has a great amount of content. Many playable characters, several of which you must unlock, and four of which (Vilgax, Zs'Skayr, Fasttrack, and Ultimate Cannonbolt) make their playable debut here. It is here that I will note that this game is a port of the console versions, not the DS version. That means no Diamondhead, but the characters, tracks, and karts that were left out of the DS are all found here. The only thing touch-optimized are the menus - the lower screen becomes a map during races, which I found quite useful. The racing is a blast, and I found it to be a perfect difficulty once I got the hang of the controls. One thing it does better than Mario Kart is not have first place being constantly pelted with items, and when that does happen, the game gives you several ways to defend yourself (your move, Mario Kart). These include releasing counter-attacks and charging your defense meter. There is also an offense meter that releases a powerful attack when charged.
Spoder mokney, our mascot, wrapped in webs. Gooby pls.
There are several modes - Galactic Grand Prix, Short Circuit, Single Race, Time Trials, and Showdown. Grand Prix is three pre-determined races, each of which awards points based on place, highest score wins. This is how you unlock characters and it is a blast. Short Circuit is Galactic Grand Prix without the unlocking, and you get to choose your own tracks. Single Race is one race. Time trials are just the usual time trials, where you race solo and try to beat your times and the default times. You can unlock karts by beating 'Track Best Times' (the default times), a task which becomes extremely easy once you unlock the Plasma Tank kart. Beating yourself is much more difficult, and should provide some replay value for those that are into that kind of thing. Showdown features three bonus games - Omni-Tag, tag with a Plumber's Badge and Neuroshock Omni-Nodes, Ultimate Alienation, where you get points for hitting each other, and Ultimate Elimination, a basic elimination race. These modes are rather fun, but not as much as the main races.
Once everything is unlocked and won, the game keeps you busy with a set of built-in achievements, ranging from actually quite challenging to get to easily picked up on your first race. These should provide some extra play time for those who, like me, must get 100% or else.
Score: 5/5
Verdict
There is no reason for any Ben 10 fan to be without this game. If you don't have a 3DS, get it for your game console of PS Vita. It is the most fun and lengthiest Ben 10 game ever, with a wide variety of characters and some really fun extras. Buy it - now.
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