App Army Assemble: Retro Kart Rush - "Does this retro-styled racer deliver old-school thrills?"

Retro Kart Rush is a new racer that unashamedly takes inspiration from the SNES era Mario Kart, promising plenty of nostalgia. Our App Army members are more than familiar with burning digital rubber, so we handed the game over to them to see if it delivered old-school racing thrills.

Here's what they said:

Phenomenal! I describe this game as incredibly fun. The game is similar to the Mario Kart classic from the SNES times. The game was very well done and the controls were very well adapted, working perfectly on touch. I played several races and you learn super fast because it is simple and functional. I loved the game too much, it is undoubtedly worth buying it on your device.

There was a brief time when I thought I wasn’t going to get the hang of the controls. I find that playing on the larger screen sometimes overcompensates the directional buttons and true to form, I was heading off in all directions. However, once I had mastered this, I was away. The game has several play modes and difficulty choices with a variety of backdrops. There are obstacles in your way, which are great fun when you try the difficult modes and are in a rush to beat the clock. As the title of the game suggests the graphics are retro style and, for once, I didn’t turn the music off because it was frantic and suited the gameplay. All in all, for the price, I think this is a good example of the genre.

Retro Kart Rush is, as the name suggests, a callback to the karting games of the 16-bit console era like Super Mariokart. A bunch of cute characters race over a variety of courses, picking up items from boxes that may help nobble other competitors for a short time to get the upper hand.

Initial impressions were not good. The graphics are very crude and amateurish looking. Acceleration is automatic which feels wrong for a karting game, although it is understandable for touch screen controls. However, once I started playing the cups and trying the different carts I was hooked, the graphics may be crude but playability is great and I had a lot of fun playing this game.

Retro Kart Rush is the simplest racing game you can imagine in 2023. Racing is enjoyable since the power-ups keep things interesting and offer you a chance to recover if you get off to a poor start. Surprisingly, AI is clever enough to trick you just before the race is about to end. There are many characters and carts, but very few of them feel unique when playing, therefore the differences are purely aesthetic. The sound is reminiscent of vintage arcade pixel games. It's a pick-up-play-and-forget kind of game that's entertaining for a short while.

This is a fun retro experience that has pretty obvious inspirations… and at the same time has a charm of its own as well as enough interesting challenges here and there to be worth playing. It’s classic 16-bit fun with a good selection of cars and tracks, each with its own differences. Game modes include time trials and individual races as well as a Cup. Drifting and the ability to steer while using turbo is important. I found the controls took a little getting used to but at the same time in my case, it’s because not all racing games have the same control scheme.

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But you can’t really expect that they will. I also did notice that a few times my kart seemed to have stalled even though I didn’t think I’d been hit by another player (another fun feature). Not sure if that’s a bug or I was just mistaken, but yeah it was frustrating (though short-lived) when it happened. And I’ll say this. For people who want wifi-free racing, this is a good option. It doesn’t have all the frills of say Mario Kart Tour- but it’s a quick and fun game that you can play without connecting. Overall it’s a fun game and I recommend fans have a look at it.

Retro Kart Rush is a barebones throwback to Mario Kart from the days of old. You pick your animal racer whether they are featherweight, middleweight or heavyweight (which gives you a top speed). There is a time trial mode, single run or cup. The controls are responsive and work well on a touch screen. The graphics are a total throwback, and the fx/soundtrack are nothing special but they are not annoying, they just work. I think it's a great indie game, nothing out of the ordinary or groundbreaking but it does what it is supposed to and does it well - give you a competent retro Kart Racer.

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Retro Kart Rush