All of this hints at a fairly comprehensive monetization model whirring behind the scenes. There can be a meta in KartRider if you look hard enough. Most of these changes seem cosmetic, but each car, if not the variables within each car, is stocked with a set of statistics that affect handling and acceleration.

Do you want your car to spew nothing but gold coins? KartRider Drift hears you loud and clear.

You can even change the texture of your exhaust fumes. You equip a car shell, and then change the front or the bumper, or the sponsorship wrapper, and give it a fresh coat of paint. You can change the character behind the wheel, and each of those characters has their own tree of skins. This is a free-to-play game, and the different ways you can edit your driver and vehicle are virtually bottomless. “But honestly, the real meat of KartRider Drift is in the customization options. No items, no catch-up mechanics end-to-end kart racing technicianship for those who care about the record books and nothing else. (Unfortunately, Choi tells me there is a spiked blue shell equivalent in KartRider, which bummed me out immensely.) Speed mode, on the other hand, is for the grognards. The game is multiplayer-focused and encompasses two primary playstyles: Item Mode, as you probably guessed from the name, features a ton of munition pickups floating in the road, which you can fire off in the same way Yoshi might bombard Wario with green and red shells. KartRider Drift will be free to play at launch. Nobody will survive by holding down on the accelerator the entire race. I tried to turn, but the vehicles in Drift follow the rules of the vehicles in real life you need to brake (and drift) to make it around tight corners. Yes, you are piloting cars that seem to run on cotton candy and fairy dust, and yes your drivers kinda look like Pop! dolls, but the first thing I did after getting behind the wheel in Drift was violently slam against a barrier a few hundred yards in front of me. Playing the Xbox One version, I see where he's coming from. “You see, KartRider might look like a featherweight chibi kart-racer, but Choi references the rabid competitive scene back in Korea, where action between the cartoonish parallel lines gets truly cutthroat.

Kartrider xbox