Review – Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart (SRB2Kart)

Sonic the Hedgehog is the staple video game mascot for people growing up in the 90s. Designed by Sega, the blue spiky guy has been through several decades and accompanied several generations of kids providing countless hours of fun collecting rings, stepping on mechanical creatures and of course, running at the speed of sound.

Sonic is a household name and there are many fan-made games that slipped through the cracks. However, we want to highight one of these fanmade games today – Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart.

When nostalgia meets passion

Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart is a fan-made game created using the Doom Legacy engine that is aimed to bring out the original’s side-scrolling spin-dash action surrounded by the 3D environment. However, another team of modders called Kart Krew has revamped it and turned it into a multiplayer racing kart game that plays like a lot of
the go-kart games from other titles like Mario Kart.

Dubbed srb2kart, the game is capable of running on the latest Windows 10 without compatibility issues. Players are able to play from a variety of modes such as Time Attack and an upcoming Grand Prix mode. For the online multiplayer mode, most servers are hosted in the West particularly US and EU servers ranging from the classic kart racing mode to the more action-focused King of the Hill mode.

Upon starting the game, players are given the option to pick a character as their driver. Aside from classic Sonic series such as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, additional character packs made by the community can be downloaded as well. For those seeking the nostalgic feel, the 2D sprite-based animation is the pick for you, while 3D models can be turned on for a more modern sensation.

Gameplay

One of the main attractions of this game is the vast amount of maps to be played on. From an aesthetic point of view, the maps are well made that it more or less feels like a PlayStation 1 game and is accompanied by soundtracks from other titles such as Tekken.

The core go-kart mode plays like a go-kart game which includes speed pads and item crates while King of the Hill mode pits each other with destructive items to try and be the last man standing. Something like battle royale for karting games.

For the Time Attack mode, it is mostly used as a practice mode where players can train their drift timings and timing speed boost on their own. Players could also race against ghost players of their best records.

Sonic All-Stars Racing but a bit crazier

What made this game stand out for a lot of people is its chaotic environment created through player interaction in multiplayer mode. The game allows the players to slide and
drift, providing a speed boost after ending it. The longer you slide the greater the speed boost. Meanwhile, some of the maps are wacky and modeled based on existing locations in Sonic series, openings and non-existent borders put players in dire choices on whether losing the game due to lack of speed or over sliding for a big speed boost at the risk of losing control and fly off the map.

Item crates may self-explode and make you lose you the game most of the time while missiles that target the player in front of you will re-target yourself if that player somehow finishes the race while the missile is traveling. Bouncing off other player’s head will launch you far up the sky and colliding with walls while slide-boosting will either send you off the map with the speed boost or stop you right on track.

In any chances several players collide into one, the unlucky one would get bounced and send backwards to who knows where. It is possible to be skillful enough to dodge projectiles while sliding but there is also a predetermined chance that one can be ‘lucky’ and dodge them even though the hitboxes collide.

While all the chaos is happening around the track course, all in-game and ready-to-join players chat within the same channel where everyone is involved and is part of the fun.
It is this many uncertainties that can be deemed as bugs, glitches or even features that made this game surprisingly well accepted as a couch or party game that provides lots of adrenaline rush, screams, and wonderful memories.

Multiplayer

For those who want to have a private room to be played online with friends, it only requires a small script to be executed and forwarding port over UDP and it is even easier to set up for LAN play. Just connect controllers or keyboards and setting up the correct key and you’re good to go.

Final Thoughts

Srb2kart is the go-to kart racing game for players who seeks non-stop chaotic action and subsequently destroy their relationships as a way of enjoying life with the squad. One bad news, however, as of now there is not one Asia-based server available for the public play. Here is to hoping someone could do it for the community.

For anyone that is interested in this game, you can head over to the official thread for the download links and here for the FAQs section.