Warped Kart Racers
Over the past year or so, I’ve been watching King of the Hill. The show played a big part in my life when it debuted back in 1997, but it’s an absolute blast revisiting it with more mature eyes. I have just a couple of seasons left to go and part of me dreads the ending. The Hill family has a way of making me laugh like no other cartoon. There aren’t a lot of huge laughing out loud moments, but subtle laughter throughout the entire episode. I really enjoy it.
With that being said, there isn’t much new King of the Hill to enjoy. There is a major lack of merchandising and despite some rumblings of a reboot there just ain’t much to get excited about. Then a few weeks ago, I was browsing the Apple Arcade when I ran across a new game called Warped Kart Racers and I swore I saw Dale Gribble in the photo. It took me a minute to wrap my head around it and then I realized, yup that was Dale.
Warped Kart Racers was released yesterday and is a Mario Kart clone, complete with drift boosting, hop boosting off ramps, gliders, and boxes with shells. It’s not as diverse as what Mario Kart offers, but that obviously has a bigger budget not to mention twenty plus years of evolution. The characters included in the game are from Family Guy, American Dad, Solar Opposites, and yes, King of the Hill.
I was thrilled when Apple sent me a notification to let me know the game was ready. I couldn’t wait to see what King of the Hill offerings the game had, and I was rewarded with more than I expected.
First off, the game plays incredibly well. It’s responsible and with exception of a little sensitivity in the drifting the controls are spot on. The tracks are diverse yet take inspiration from their respective shows and the roster of character is nice. I watched most of season one of Solar Opposites, I’ve seen some Family Guy, and none of American Dad, but King of the Hill’s inclusion makes up for all of that.
We have five characters to choose from along with four tracks inspired by King of the Hill. The character are: Hank, Peggy, Bobby, Luanne, and Dale. The tracks are inspired by The Suburbs, The Speedway, The Rodeo, and the Arlen Heat Wave. Of course, all of the other cartoons have their own sets of tracks and racers to choose from, but I’ll be sticking to the KOTH stuff.
Like all kart racing games, there are customizable karts, additional items and characters you unlock while racing, and an XP style system. The game also features multiplayer and a battle mode which seems also ripped straight from Mario Kart.
My only complaint with the game has been my thumb got tired on the iPad and I have some slight thumb issues. So that’s on me. Otherwise, I’ve enjoy the game and I’m glad it’s not overly easy. In fact, in the Rookie Season, I managed to finish in the top 3 each race but never won one. I normally dominate the AI in Mario Kart.
