by Daniel Alden

Created on: August 09, 2010

Shrek Kart HD is Gameloft's attempt at a Mario Kart clone for the Apple iPad. While not original, it is an interesting take on the formula. Sadly, some missteps by Gameloft left much lost potential. Even with the shortcomings, the game still has a fair amount offer.

Graphically speaking, the game is quite visually appealing. It is very clear, and the stages offer a variety of colors and objects. These graphics are on par with a good PS2/GCN/Xbox game. No one will be amazed by the graphics, but the vibrancy of the color and crispness of the graphics is a nice touch.

While annoying at times, the music of the game is very fitting for its intended subject. When listening to the game, one could associate it with Shrek. The music does it's job, but is generally forgettable, which isn't necessarily bad. The game sounds themselves are what one might expect for items and driving. However, without any character voices, it seems like a lost opportunity. While lots of spoken dialog would be too much, a single line for each character would have been nice.

Unlike many of these kart racing games, Shrek Kart HD does offer a story, albeit a weak one. Humpty Dumpty has fallen off a wall. They did manage to put him together again, but he cannot afford his hospital bills. Shrek and friends decide to build their own karts and have charity races to raise money for Humpty. While this story doesn't offer much, it is enough of a story to serve its purpose.

The game has a surprising amount packed into it. Character-wise, it has nearly any Shrek character one might expect – Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, Puss-in-Boots, the three little pigs, etc – with 10 characters in all. There are 12 tracks, although a number of them are actually just backward versions of the same courses. Finally there are 4 modes of play: Single Race, Tournament, Arena (Battle), and Challenge mode.

Each character has slightly different handling, speed and acceleration, but the differences are minimal. A neat addition, by Gameloft, is that along with the regular items in the kart racing genre, each character has their own specific ability that goes with the character – Shrek breaks wind to speed up, the three little pigs build a brick wall, etc. Once used there is a cool down period on the abilities before they can be used again.

The gameplay modes have only slight differences from most games in this style. The single race is as one would expect, just a single race. Tournament mode offers several tournaments.

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