The world of arcade kart racers is dominated by a certain plumber and his cavalcade of friends and enemies, but with Nintendo being... well, Nintendo, the genre is there to be conquered for someone else.
Enter KartRider Drift.
Revealed at the most recent Sony State Of Play, this charming little racer appears to blend some car culture with power-up based arcade gameplay and plenty of customisation elements. Let's take a look at what we know so far.
Release date
Unveiled in late October 2021, Sony is keeping the release date for KartRider Drift pretty vague.
The only date we were given was "coming 2022", which could be soon or still a year away.
However, there is one piece of comfort here...
Beta
Players are invited to register for a beta of the game!
A closed beta, players can get a look at early gameplay from 8-15 December.
Register your interest for the beta here!
Trailer & gameplay
Captured on a PS4 dev kit, the trailer for KartRider Drift doesn't suffer for the lack of a PS5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ka1EIOif74
Showing off colourful artwork and some awesome character designs that are sure to win players over, KartRider Drift looks like it will deliver on that classic karting style.
With power-up racing a must, KartRider Drift has blended them with a sense of humour and a huge array of characters and karts.
Customisation
While obviously childish in design, the level of customisation has a good dose of charm in it too.
From characters with highly unique looks to karts that range from Lego-style to a Bugatti, it looks like there will be something for everyone when it comes to picking out your players.
There is also a huge amount you can do with toppers and wraps to fully customise your kart.
There is just one worry when it comes to this aspect though.
Free to play
As a free to play game, KartRider Drift is sure to have plenty of in-game transactions. Be that a "battle pass" style seasonal tier system or simply a currency for unlocking new characters and designs.
That won't bother some, but as a game targeted at a family audience it could lead to more than a few arguments! We will keep an open mind until we see the mechanics in the game though.
For now, KartRider Drift looks promising!