For several generations, youngsters have enjoyed watching shows on the Nickelodeon cable channel for kids.  Heck, even when I was a little kid back in the 80’s, I enjoyed watching Nick shows such as You Can’t Do that on Television, Danger Mouse, and Double Dare.  Even more recently I’ve been known to watch shows on that channel like Invader ZIM and The Penguins of Madagascar.  My younger brothers would watch shows on Nickelodeon, too, such as Rugrats and SpongeBob Squarepants.  And now kart racing and Nickelodeon fans can have fun together with Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.  They’ve added a few characters and tracks, but most of it is the same as before.  But there is one new improvement the other Nick kart games lacked: ACTUAL VOICES!  Really gives the series the much-needed personality this type of licensed game requires.

If you’ve ever played a kart racer before, you’ll feel right at home here.  But basics like accelerating, braking, power sliding, using items, jumping over ramps to get hangtime for extra boosts, and more are explained in an interactive tutorial.  You can play as dozens of Nick characters, some are available from the outset, some you must buy with slime tokens you earn while racing, and others are unlocked when you complete objectives in mission mode.  Some are new, like Garfield and Odie, while many are returning characters from shows like SpongeBob, Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hey Arnold, Invader ZIM, Rocko’s Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Avatar, and many more.  Karts can be customized with parts you can buy with slime tokens, too.  Many of these make reference to Nick shows as well, as do the weapons you can use in the game.

Just like the second game, you can also pick characters to be your ‘pit crew’ but they just give you perks like weapons you can automatically get after laps.  But one pit crew character has a meter that fills up over time when you drive over slime on the track.  When it’s full, you can use their special skill like a speed boost.  Slime has always played a big part in Nickelodeon and it’s a big part of the game, too.  There are a few new tracks, but most of the courses are returning ones from past Nick kart racers.  That’s kind of a bummer, but I’m glad to see the Double Dare track return.  But most of the old tracks have added shortcuts, like Slime Wash stations and Slime Stunt roads.

Single player modes include cup grand prix, single races, time trials, battle arenas, and mission  challenges.  You can select the difficulty for some of the modes, and can also play with others locally or online.  Now that they’ve added voices for all the characters, they’ve eliminated the main problem I had with this series.  It’s still a quick cash grab of course, but at least it’s an entertaining one.  It’s no Mario Kart 8, but it’ll still make kid Nick fans and kids at heart smile.

Kid Factor:

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Comic Mischief and Mild Cartoon Violence.  You can get hit with silly weapons like footballs, but you just spin out or get dizzy stars when hit.  If you’re OK with your kids watching Nickelodeon shows, they’ll be OK with this game.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text and menu navigation, but not necessary just to play.

Here are some of my other Nickelodeon reviews!

Nickelodeon Kart Racers

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television