LittleBigPlanet Karting arrives on PS3 with a simple promise: the same creative tools that made the original LittleBigPlanet a hit now apply to kart racing. Players build tracks, vehicles and obstacles, then race them against friends. The result is a game that feels familiar to anyone who played the platformer, but it also asks players to do something new: design the course as part of the fun.
The core loop works. Players drive karts across tracks built from the same material as the main series, picking up bolts to power up and avoid hazards. That simplicity is the strength of the package. It is also the source of its biggest problem.
Trailer, via PlayStation.
Building Tracks
The track editor is the heart of LittleBigPlanet Karting. Players drag pieces from a palette onto a grid, connect them, and watch the finished product roll through. The system is easy to pick up, and it rewards patience. A well-built track can change how a race plays out, from a straight shot to a winding path full of surprises.
The editor gives players a few key options:
- Track pieces that snap together in a grid
- Bolts that add power to a kart
- Hazards placed by hand
- A preview mode to test changes before finalizing
It is a system that rewards experimentation. A player who spends an hour building a track might spend another ten minutes tweaking it, adding one bolt at a time until the timing feels right.
Racing Against Friends
Racing against friends is where LittleBigPlanet Karting shines brightest. Up to four players can compete on a single screen, driving karts across tracks built by anyone in the room. The chaos is immediate: players bump each other, lose control on uneven ground, and fight for the lead in real time.
The game supports local play, and it handles it well. There is no waiting for a server to catch up, no lag between machines. Everything happens at once, which makes multiplayer sessions feel fast and responsive.
The Creative Mode Problem
The problem with LittleBigPlanet Karting comes from the same place its strengths do: the track editor. While building tracks is fun, playing them is another matter. The game ships with a limited set of official tracks, and the community-built content is inconsistent. Some tracks are brilliant. Others are broken, with hazards placed in ways that make races impossible to complete.
The game does not hide this inconsistency. It presents player-built content without filtering, so a player who picks a random track from the online gallery could end up with something that barely works. This is a serious issue for a game whose entire premise is built around user-generated content.
Bolt Power and Hazards
Bolt power is the game’s answer to giving players a way to stay competitive. Bolts picked up during a race grant temporary boosts, and careful placement can swing a race in seconds. A well-placed bolt near a hazard can force a competitor to slow down while the player who picked it up gains an advantage.
Hazards themselves are the other side of the coin. They can be placed anywhere, and they can be combined in ways that make a track punishing. A hazard placed just before a turn can send a kart flying off the track, costing valuable time. The game gives players the tools to create both kinds of moments, and it trusts them to find the balance.
What Works Well
LittleBigPlanet Karting succeeds when it lets players engage directly with the track. The act of building a track is satisfying, and the ability to share those tracks with friends adds a layer of social engagement that many racing games lack. When a track is well-made, the race itself is tense and exciting.
The game also does a good job of explaining its systems. New players can pick up the basics of track building within minutes, and the controls are straightforward enough that anyone can start racing quickly. That accessibility is a real asset, especially for families looking for a game that everyone can enjoy together.
What Falls Short
The biggest weakness is the quality of community content. With no central filtering, players are left to sort through a vast gallery of tracks on their own, searching for the gems buried under the duds. This can be frustrating, especially after spending time building a track only to find it fails to work as intended.
The game also lacks a strong progression system outside of track building. There is no campaign mode beyond the track editor, and no reason to keep returning to the game beyond building and racing. That absence means the replay value rests entirely on the creativity of the community, which is not a reliable foundation for a game that wants to hold a player’s attention over time.
Final Score
LittleBigPlanet Karting is a solid kart racer that borrows its identity from the main LittleBigPlanet series. Its track editor is a genuine pleasure to use, and racing with friends is a highlight. But the lack of filtering for community content and the absence of a strong progression system hold it back from greatness.
The game is worth playing for the track editor alone, but the racing experience suffers from the inconsistency of user-generated content. For players willing to sift through the gallery, the best tracks are there, hiding among the broken ones.
LittleBigPlanet Karting earns a 7.3 out of 10.
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