All-Star Fruit Racing does a lot right and a lot wrong at the same time. The potential for a great game is definitely here, but All-Star Fruit Racing can’t seem to get out of its own way. For every fun and innovative idea represented, there is an opposite aspect pulling the game down.



Developer: 3DClouds.it

Publisher: Pqube

15+ Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $35.99

All-Star Fruit Racing packs in a lot of content. There are over 16 tracks, 22 racers, and 20,000 kart customization options to unlock. There are different race modes as well, including traditional lap races, sprints, and knock-out races. You can create your own races with bots, up to 4 players in local co-op, or even a combination of both. The single-player career mode has 11 championships to master, there is plenty to get your teeth into.

There is no customization in the way the game is played. There are no stats associated with any of the karts – everything is cosmetic here. Also, the racers themselves don’t have any stats. Their only difference is their special powerup. This means that every kart and character drive exactly the same, with no variance on the gameplay.

Alongside this, there are no difficulty options for the single-player championships. I found this frustrating because there is no way to attack an obstacle in a different way. Most of the unlockable content comes from beating the single-player championships, as well. Without the option to lower the difficulty or use a different type of strategy (eg. top speed over acceleration), it is possible that you would be unable to see all the content here.



Pimp my Fruit Kart

The driving in All-Star Fruit Racing feels really good. As expected, there is a learning curve to get a feel for the turns and the drifting. After a few races though I was able to get the hang of it so it isn’t going to trouble you. The controls are tight, and the drifting works great. These are crucial in a Kart game so it is great that this game nails it.

The art style and aesthetic of Fruit Racing is delightful. The game is centered around fruit, and this shows through in every aspect of the game. For example, even the loading screens give interesting facts about fruit, an unnecessary but fun extra. The courses, racers, and karts are all colorful and interesting, and the whole game has a vibrant and cartoonish feel. All of this really adds to the fun and bright nature of the game.

However, the graphics are lacking. Everything in the world looks flat or fuzzy. This is less apparent in hand-held mode, but it becomes obvious when playing on a large screen. It would have been amazing to see these interesting fruit-centric worlds brought to life with texture and graphical fidelity.

The most interesting feature in All-Star Fruit Racing is how it handles power-ups. There are races that have the traditional random powerups. However, the “Juicer” mode allows you to craft your own. There is different fruit laying on the track that you can pick up. Depending on the fruit, it will fill one of your 4 tanks, these tanks are mapped to the A/B/X/Y buttons. At any time, you can choose which tanks should remain attached. This, in turn, will determine your powerup. If you have all 4 tanks filled, you get a special, character-specific powerup.



Fun Facts – Better than a Snapple cap

This adds another layer of strategy to the races. Let’s say you have all 4 tanks filled, and your character-specific powerup is a forward-launching missile. However, you’re also in first place, so that missile isn’t going to be much use. Instead of waiting to use it, or just using it to hopefully get something different later, you can choose to detach a tank or two. This will turn your power up into a something that will drop behind you or give your kart a speed boost. If you know the combinations well enough, you can even turn that one big powerup into two smaller useful ones.



Greater Slowdown + Rear Defense was my favorite combo for 1st place

The fruit tank combinations always remain the same, so once you learn them you’ll have this advantage for every race and racer. Having to remember the right combo of fruit, while still driving, and hitting the buttons to choose the correct tanks can be difficult. But instead of feeling convoluted, it actually felt fun. I liked this added layer to the game. It is a great idea and adds depth to the races, I would have liked this used for every race. With this type of innovation, I don’t understand why they would have the standard randomized powerups at all.

The other mechanic of the game I enjoyed was the drifting. Like other, more well-known kart racers, this game allows you to drift around corners. Doing this will charge up a boost. When you let go of the drift button, the kart will shoot forward. The longer you drift, the more boost you’ll get.

However, if you hold the drift too long, you will be punished. Your kart can overheat, which will cause you to spin out. So, there is a fine line to manage the lengths of the drift. You want to get the most boost, but don’t want to over-do it either. Another great risk and reward mechanic.



Imaginative courses, bad textures

I like these fresh implementations to the genre. The main issue with the game is that there just isn’t enough polish. Nothing about All-Star Fruit Racing is horrible, but there are enough smaller issues that add up. These minor grievances culminate to take away from what would have been an amazing game.

The load times are the worst offender. These are the longest load times I’ve experienced on the Switch. From what I understand, this is an issue across all platforms and has nothing to do with the Switch itself. When starting up the game, it took about 20 seconds to load the “Press A to Start” screen, and then an additional 40 seconds to get to the main menu. On average, it took over 30 seconds to load up each race. If you’re playing a championship with 6 races, you’re going to be looking at the loading screen a lot.

There are also slight issues with the controls, and there is no option to remap any of the button inputs. The acceleration button is mapped to the right trigger (“ZR”), and drifting is mapped to the left trigger (“ZL”). When using a “full” controller set-up (both Joy-Cons, Pro Controller, etc.), this isn’t much of an issue and comes down to personal preference. However, the game gives you the ability to use the Joy-Cons sideways to play. This means you must hold the little R button on top of the Joy-Con (“SR”) for the entire race. My hands cramped up after one lap. It is completely unplayable using this set-up. It made me question why it was really an option when it plays as bad as it does.



Get that Juicer filled!

Another small issue with the controls is that the powerup button is mapped to clicking in the right stick. The right stick is not used for anything else. Also, the right buttons (A/B/X/Y) are used to manipulate the power-ups. This made it so my hand was naturally towards the buttons, and not on the stick. It didn’t feel right having to move my hand to the right stick only to click it in. Of course, button mapping would eliminate this!

The camera angles in the game caused issues as well. There were many times I fell off the track only because I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to go or couldn’t see the upcoming turn. All of these issues coupled with the sub-par graphics and lack of difficulty options keep All-Star Fruit Racing from being a true contender in the kart-racing space on the Switch. It does so much right that it’s extra frustrating when you encounter these annoyances.

If you’re looking for a kart racer on the Switch, there is a better, more polished option out there. All-Star Fruit Racing won’t dethrone the king of kart racers, but the innovative mechanics and variety make it a decent addition to this space. If you don’t mind a game that is rough around the edges, All-Star Fruit Racing does provide a capable and fun experience.

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