Tiki Kart 3D Review

Recently Nintendo made a statement that they are in no way considering making any apps for iOS. This is definitely a tragic statement. However, it has not stopped some game makers from developing some copycat Nintendo games. The latest copycat out there in the App Store is Tiki Kart 3D. Replicating the gameplay of Mario Kart, Tiki Kart makes an attempt to satisfy our kart game cravings. Overall it’s a nice attempt, but there are a few things that are missing that prevent it from standing out above the rest.

The rules of engagement in Tiki Kart 3D are what we would all expect from any kart-style game. Like Mario Kart, players race with their characters around a track for three laps. Along the way they pick up items to shoot at opponents or leave behind for them to run into later. The items are pretty basic and nothing too unique. There are five circuits available, each with three degrees of difficulty in 50cc, 100cc and 150cc flavors. There are also several karts and characters to choose from that have different specs and handling capabilities. I’d recommend testing each kart in the practice mode to get an idea of how they all behave.

Now for some gripes. The controls are not ideal and require players to tilt their device to steer. Call me crazy, but I don’t really like tilting my device to steer. I feel like I have to tilt my head at the same time to even see where I’m going. This may be a personal preference but I think on-screen controls should have been implemented for steering. Accelerating is easy and is activated by simply touching anywhere on the screen. However there are some ads down at the bottom that I accidentally selected when trying to accelerate. Not the best user experience.

Next complaint would probably have to be the lack of multiplayer options. The greatest thing about Mario Kart is playing it with friends. Tiki Kart gives us no such option and leaves us to face the artificial intelligence of the game. Over time this can be very monotonous.

So now that I’ve griped a bit I do want to say that I don’t really deserve to gripe that much because for a free game it’s really not that bad. It’s a little short with only 15 tracks but I’m sure many players will still get a kick out of it for a while. But overall, while it’s a nice attempt at replicating our beloved Mario Kart, it does come up short in my opinion with the lack of on-screen controls and multiplayer mode.