Children's racing games for PS2?
August 13, 2005 9:55 AM Subscribe
Does the PS2 have any good racing games for children in the vein of MarioKart?
My Google-Fu is usually pretty good but it's failing me here. I know the PS2 has lots of racing games, but I'm specifically interested in the simpler ones. And spare me Simpsons: Road Rage please; I've rented it & thought it was awful.
My Google-Fu is usually pretty good but it's failing me here. I know the PS2 has lots of racing games, but I'm specifically interested in the simpler ones. And spare me Simpsons: Road Rage please; I've rented it & thought it was awful.
Game Rankings is very useful for browsing game genres, unfortunately I looked at "Driving >> Racing >> Kart" for the PS2 and the all the games in that genre (such as Crash Nitro Kart, Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing) got pretty average reviews.
posted by bobo123 at 10:32 AM on August 13, 2005
posted by bobo123 at 10:32 AM on August 13, 2005
My recommendation would be Crash Team Racing. It's a PS1 game, but in my opinion Crash Nitro Cart, the PS2 sequel, really stinks.
My whole family loved Crash Team Racing. We all stayed up waaay too late the first night we bought it. We couldn't turn it off.
I also see that Looney Tunes Space Race is out on PS2. I enjoyed the Dreamcast version of that somewhat.
Another good cart racer for the PS1 is Speed Punks.
posted by Otis at 10:33 AM on August 13, 2005
My whole family loved Crash Team Racing. We all stayed up waaay too late the first night we bought it. We couldn't turn it off.
I also see that Looney Tunes Space Race is out on PS2. I enjoyed the Dreamcast version of that somewhat.
Another good cart racer for the PS1 is Speed Punks.
posted by Otis at 10:33 AM on August 13, 2005
The Crazy Taxi franchise has PS2 versions. It's simple, but is the precursor of Simpsons: Road Rage and not as graphically kidsey as either Road Rage or MarioKart.
There's The Flintstones' Viva Rock Vegas, which I know nothing about. It might be good, but film licenses are usually average at best, so exercise extreme caution here.
Bomberman Kart would probably be ideal if it wasn't extremely sucky. Likewise Rayman M, Micromachines and Penny Racers.
If Star Wars isn't a particular turn-off, Super Bombad Racing might prove worth a look. IGN seem to rate it.
My advice would be to consider what you mean by "games for children", though, as cutesy graphics are often more appealing to grown-ups. While I agree the simulation end of the market might be unsuitable, there are some cracking racing games for the PS2. As children can be very skilled gamers, don't be put off by any perception that "adult games" might be too difficult. With this in mind I'd strongly consider Burnout 3 -- frighteningly fast, and you get to cause massive pile-ups. Now that's a game for children.
posted by nthdegx at 10:52 AM on August 13, 2005
There's The Flintstones' Viva Rock Vegas, which I know nothing about. It might be good, but film licenses are usually average at best, so exercise extreme caution here.
Bomberman Kart would probably be ideal if it wasn't extremely sucky. Likewise Rayman M, Micromachines and Penny Racers.
If Star Wars isn't a particular turn-off, Super Bombad Racing might prove worth a look. IGN seem to rate it.
My advice would be to consider what you mean by "games for children", though, as cutesy graphics are often more appealing to grown-ups. While I agree the simulation end of the market might be unsuitable, there are some cracking racing games for the PS2. As children can be very skilled gamers, don't be put off by any perception that "adult games" might be too difficult. With this in mind I'd strongly consider Burnout 3 -- frighteningly fast, and you get to cause massive pile-ups. Now that's a game for children.
posted by nthdegx at 10:52 AM on August 13, 2005
Response by poster: Wow, thanks for all these great replies. To address nthdegx's query: I'm looking for something my five-year-old would enjoy. She likes the cutesy graphics, etc. and I agree with you that children can indeed be very skilled gamers, but I don't know if she's quite ready for something like Burnout 3 (although I think her father may be checking that out soon, heh heh).
A quick look suggests that Crash Team Racing might be a good 'un, although I really need to do a little more looking around now that I have all these recommendations. FWIW Star Wars has turned me off bigtime ever since the Ewoks entered the picture, but Super Bombad Racing looks pretty good too.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:13 AM on August 13, 2005
A quick look suggests that Crash Team Racing might be a good 'un, although I really need to do a little more looking around now that I have all these recommendations. FWIW Star Wars has turned me off bigtime ever since the Ewoks entered the picture, but Super Bombad Racing looks pretty good too.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:13 AM on August 13, 2005
Definitely give Lego Racers 2 a try - it's the closest you can come to MarioKart for the PS2, to my mind. Great graphics, good sound, fun, enjoyable for kids and adults.
posted by iconomy at 11:47 AM on August 13, 2005
posted by iconomy at 11:47 AM on August 13, 2005
Simpsons Hit & Run is a hundred times better than Simpsons Road Rage. Gamespot gave the latter a 6.2 rating while Hit & Run got an 8.3.
Don't forget to rent a game before you buy it if you're worried your daughter might not like it. Or, go to Gamestop/EB's used game sections... you can often find less-popular or older titles for $5-10 or even less.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:39 PM on August 13, 2005
Don't forget to rent a game before you buy it if you're worried your daughter might not like it. Or, go to Gamestop/EB's used game sections... you can often find less-popular or older titles for $5-10 or even less.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:39 PM on August 13, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by boo_radley at 10:31 AM on August 13, 2005