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Cocoto Racers was released by Midway in October of 2007, and
has
recently been acquired by many large retailers for marketing as
part of their NintendoDS budget ranges. With this reigniting of
Cocoto Racers profile, it seems only justified
Electronic Theatre investigate a Kart Racing title
overlooked by most. Having seen releases on PlayStation2 and Wii,
amongst other formats, the series has obviously seen some success
despite slipping by under-the-radar.
The title features both Single-Player and Multi-Player Modes, the
latter of which is playable only with a Game Card for each system.
The Single-Player consists of but two gameplay modes: Championship
or Single Race. There are three Championships in the game – Silver
Pot, Golden Pot and Magic Pot, each consisting of five races and
split into three Difficulty Settings – Easy, Normal or Hard.
Features such as the in-game High Score Board and Magic Pot are
available only to those who progress to Hard Difficulty, though the
option to start here is available. The Single Race Mode offers five
tracks, with two variations of each. Mastery of the game doesn’t
take too long, and there is a great sense of speed from the off-set
- an effect that has been a major complaint amongst the hardcore
with recent
Mario Kart releases.
Twelve characters are available, eight of which are selectable from
the start. Each does handle somewhat differently, though there is
no mention of this anywhere within the game. Four cars are also
available, a selection that is open to all characters, though there
is seemingly no difference other than their visual appearance.
The weapon selection is pretty much identical to Cocoto Racers
most obvious inspiration,
Mario KartDS, featuring equivalents of Green
 Shells,
Red Shells, Banana Skins and Turbo Mushrooms. The available tracks
fare better, and are enjoyable enough despite their rather
uninspired fire, ice, jungle et al settings, but the occasional
poor design element will frustrate – especially when in means
losing places every Lap through no fault of your own.
The title’s graphics are average at best, and reminiscent of some
early NintendoDS titles. While this maybe due to the making room
for the processing of the speed at which it all passes by at – as
famously done with F-Zero X on the Nintendo64 – the Polygon
Pop-Up is an altogether different matter. The presentation of the
title through Menus and Splash Screens, however, is really quite
poor. With no information offered on characters or story and the
most basic of options, Cocoto Racers simply doesn’t stand-up
against high-profile NintendoDS games.
Is Cocoto Racers a blatant rip-off of Mario Kart?
Well, yes, but it’s a fairly enjoyable one, and that’s something
that should be encouraged. Nothing about the game even attempts to
hide the fact that it is purely an imitation of Mario Kart,
from the weapons available and their use, to the way an opponent’s
icon spins when hit, to the Battle Mode offered in the rather limp
Multi-Player. Whilst there’s no way of recommending Cocoto
Racers to anyone ahead of Mario KartDS, some short-lived
fun maybe drawn from the most diehard Kart Racing fans.
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