LittleBigPlanet Karting arrived on PlayStation 3 in November 2012 with a simple pitch: take the handmade world of Sackboy and put it behind a steering wheel. United Front Games developed it, San Diego Studio co-developed, and Sony Computer Entertainment published. It is the fifth LittleBigPlanet entry and the third on the console — and the first that is not a puzzle-platformer.
Trailer, via PlayStation.
From the Gardens to the Funkhole
The Story Mode picks up right after LittleBigPlanet 2. Sackboy races The Hoard, a gang stealing the Imagisphere’s prizes for “no reason other than to hoard them.” He starts by hopping into a cart a Hoard member crashed, then chases them across ransacked planets. The Queen sends him to clear the Hoard from the Gardens, Wedding and Canyons. On Monster Islands, Ray the Turtle asks for help finding the legendary Huge Monster; the Hoard have taken her egg. Later stops include Victoria’s Laboratory, where they steal “brainergy” and pastries, and Progress Emporium, where they meddle with the technology.
The last act is the strangest. On Eve’s Asylum, Venus the Flytrap warns that the Hoard are unintentionally summoning evil forces. Then Captain Sirius Oculus, brother of Avalon Centrifuge, invites everyone to his nightclub space station, the Space Bass. The station gets sucked into the Funkhole, which leads to the “Garage at The End of the Universe.”
Weaponators, Grappling Hooks and a Slap
The racing itself is standard kart fare with a LittleBigPlanet coat of paint. Players grab Weaponators — projectiles, heat-seeking missiles, EMPs, grenades — and fire them forward or backward. Firing in reverse can cancel out seeker missiles. Boost items include Autopilot and Fast Forward.
Karting also borrows LittleBigPlanet 2’s grappling hook. Players grapple across large expanses and climb the environment to progress, sometimes finding elevated shortcuts. They can slap rivals who get too close, stunning them.
The mode list reaches past circuit racing: Battle Mode, Waypoint Races, Treasure Hunts, Score Attacks. Battle Mode is an eight-player arena fight where Weaponators earn points.
Building a Cheese Track
The creation tools are the real argument for LittleBigPlanet Karting. The track editor lets users adjust game rules, weapons and tracks, then share them online through PlayStation Network. The series motto — Play, Create, Share — still applies. Want to race a boxing glove through a land made of cheese and fire pizzas from your kart? The tools allow it. Multiplayer runs online or split-screen in the same room.
LittleBigPlanet Karting is not a great racer. The driving is competent, the weapons familiar. What lifts it is the editor and the community feeding it. The Story Mode’s Hoard plot is thin, but the planets are varied and the tone stays light. Mixed-to-positive reviews were the right call.
Key facts
– Release: 6–8 November 2012
– Platform: PlayStation 3
– Developer: United Front Games, San Diego Studio
– Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
– Critic aggregate: 7.3/10 (IGDB, 6 outlets)
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