- Developer: Just Add Water
- Publisher: Outright Games
- Release Date: 01/11/2019
- Price: £34.99 / $29.99
- Review code provided by Outright Games
Introducing: Race with Ryan Nintendo Switch Review
If there’s one thing that the pandemic has shown us, it’s that there is an awful lot of content on the internet, ranging from the weird to wonderful. Then there is Ryan’s World. Ryan’s World is a shameless blend of consumerism, vlogging and e-learning, which culminates in daily videos uploaded to YouTube. Obviously, once the video space was claimed, the evil genius that is Ryan’s Mum set her entrepreneurial eyes on monopolising every other medium out there. With a range of toys in stores worldwide, shows on Nickelodeon and Amazon Prime, and even a branded bike with the helmet and pads to match, the next logical step was obviously the medium of video games.
What better way to enter the scene than by utilising the criminally under-exploited kart racing genre!
It’s time to do what it says on the box!
Race with Ryan is, unabashedly, a homage to Mario Kart. While it adopts the aesthetic of the characters that Ryan helped create, it plays eerily similarly to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Controls are mapped identically to those of everyone’s favourite jack-of-all-trades protagonist’s most popular past time. You accelerate with A, brake with B, drift with ZR, and use items with ZL. The items are themselves ripped straight from the Mario Kart playbook. You’ve got your “soccer” ball that mimics the Red Shell and homes in on the racer in front, multi Hamburgers which are green shell clones, the item boxes themselves are mystery eggs, and of course, there is the faux-mystery box.
Instead of question mark boxes, you have to drive through mystery eggs, which when you consider that the Mystery egg video is one of the most viewed off all time on YouTube, it’s no surprise that Brand Ryan utilises that. You even have faux mystery eggs which are slightly red and act as obstacles for other racers. Sound familiar?
My daughter has coincidentally discovered two new favourite past-times during the various Lockdowns – Mario Kart 8 and Ryan’s World. This one felt like a no-brainer. After playing a few rounds together, she simply remarked: “But daddy, this game is exactly the same as Mario Kart. Except Mario Kart is more fun. I want to play Mario Kart now, please”.
Good Job, Ryan!
On the base version of the game, there is content locked behind a DLC paywall. If you’ve seen the show, this won’t come as a surprise to you. You might be thinking that it’s irrelevant and you can simply ignore it. If you have kids, you can’t. They’ll want to try out the American Titan racer or take a trip down Route 66 in one of the game’s DLC courses.
On the Deluxe version as with the regular version, all of this content is available gradually unlocked through simply playing the game for a couple of hours, completing cups and winning races.
I can imagine there have been and will continue to be parents who have been burnt by the different editions, as they pick up the wrong version. All the while, Ryan’s mum gets a new pool installed…
Go, Ryan!
From an aesthetic standpoint, Race with Ryan utilises the art style from the characters that Ryan helped create. Combo, Pek, Mo, and Gus are all present in a world that feels natural to them. It’s a little rough around the edges, but on the whole, is a pleasant enough canvas for the game world. Where things don’t sing quite so much – pun very much intended – are in the audio department. It’s all a little lacklustre and the little sound bites from Ryan seem overly loud and out of balance with the rest of the audio direction.
Menus are simple enough to navigate and getting a game set up from one of the game modes available is a breeze. There’s even a random race option that lets you jump straight into the action with a randomly chosen racer and racetrack which is a pleasant option if you just fancied a quick-Ryan-hit!
As you would expect, there are accessibility options a-plenty, with auto-steer and auto-accelerate present, to allow the younger (or older, I guess) members of the family to enjoy a Race with Ryan. Each track has a regular version and a mirror version, so there’s a little bit of variety in that regard and there are three difficulty levels that offer challenge and frustration in equal measure. I say frustration because there are unfathomable moments where it simply seems nigh-impossible to progress, be it suped up A.I. or little technical hiccups that stifle your progress. A common glitch I seemed to run into was where your kart would clip to the wall, if too close when drifting around a corner. You’d simply be stuck there for a second or so, by which point, your position in the standings had usually been impacted.
Always remember to stay happy, and rise up.
Race with Ryan isn’t inherently a bad game, it just doesn’t do anything to differentiate it from, not just Kart clones, but the OG itself, Mario Kart. It relies on it’s brand appeal, at the sacrifice of an original idea. Much like Ryan’s World, Race with Ryan is shameless consumerism at it’s absolute worst. But it’s not a terrible game because the source material that it so blatantly draws from is infinitely opulent.
Honestly, I can’t wait to play the futuristic sequel that plays exactly like F-Zero…
Pro
- It’s familiar
- Karts handle well
- Looks amicable
Cons
- Audio is a little rough
- A few glitches
- DLC should not be paid content
Verdict
Race with Ryan doesn’t bring anything unique to the table, but it’s a perfectly cromulent kart racer that borrows heavily from its inspiration.
