Heroes Karting

### Platform(s)

Imaginate Dreamlock, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Google Stadia

### Engine

Unreal Engine

***Heroes Karting*** is a kart-racing game developed by Round 1 Industries and published by Imaginate for the Imaginate Dreamlock, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC. A Google Stadia port was released during the launch day of the Stadia. It is the 3rd spin-off game and the 2nd racing game of the spin-off *Heroes* series.

*Heroes Karting* was released on June 26th, 2019 in North America, Brazil and Europe, June 28th, 2019 in Japan and June 29th, 2019 in Australia.

## Gameplay

The game has a improved traditional gameplay this time around, in which more characters from the *Heroes* universe race against each other in go-karts, attempting to hinder their opponents or improve their racing performance using various powerups found in item boxes. In addition, the game includes four different difficulties, which can be selected before beginning the race to challenge players.

The items from the first racing *Heroes* game, *Heroes Burnout* from 2016, were replaced with better, unique and functional items than chaotic, frustrating and unfair items. There are a total of 15 items total. Those being:

1. Dynamissle
2. Triple Dynamissle
3. Loose Dynamissle
4. Triple Loose Dynamissle
5. Dynamissile Arsenal
6. Dummy Orb
7. Triple Dummy Orb
8. Smart Dynamissle
9. Shield Bubble
10. Boost Fruit
11. Triple Boost Fruit
12. Soda Popper
13. Sonic Blam
14. Triple Sonic Blam
15. Ghist

The Dynamissile is a small red colored missile that targets an opponent, much like the Red Shell from *Mario Kart*. The Loose Dynamissle is a small blue colored missile that is unlike the red colored one in which this missile goes in a straight line up to 4 hits in a wall. The Dynamissile Arsenal is the deadliest item of the game in which up to 30 red colored missiles goes for all opponents. This can be gotten if a player is at the place of 7th to 12th. The Smart Dynamissile is a medium sized yellow colored missile that targets for the player in 1st place, much like the Blue Shell (also known as the Spiny Shell, less commonly known by fans and Nintendo). The Dummy Orb is a updated and fixed version of the Idiot Box from *Burnout*. It is a Power Up Orb but a fraud and can fool a player if they think it's a bonus Power Up Orb. The Shield Bubble is a defending item in which players can protect themselves from projectiles. The Boost Fruit lets the player eat it in a blink of a eye and boost for 3 seconds. The Soda Popper lets the 7th/12th placed player use it to catch up with the other players. The Sonic Blam is a "ear drop" item in which it makes another opponent get their ears hurt for 3 seconds. The Ghist is a ghost power up in which the player can pass through the other opponents without bonking into them and can catchup to the front opponents if using a ghostly portal or not.

## Modes

### Story Prix

In Story Prix mode, the player must go through the events of the plot and beat Negaman from winning the Super Trophy.

### Grand Prix

In Grand Prix mode, twelve racers compete for first place in only 5 cups comprised of 3 races each. Racers are awarded with points based on their placements at the end of races, and the racer with the most points at the end wins.

### Time Catcher

Time Catcher allow players to race for the best time possible, either on their own or against a ghost. It is not possible to play this mode with more than one player.

### Free Mode

Free Mode allows players to race, but with their own custom rule sets set such as changing which items appear, or modifying the difficulty. This makes a return to single player from *Heroes Burnout*, when it was only available in multiplayer mode. Here, it can be played alone or with up to four/five people.

### Battle Mode

A new mode since *Burnout* lacked a Battle Mode. In Battle Mode, players must attack each other with items to make them lose sparkle sphere and gain a point. If players lose all of their spheres, they are eliminated. They can still play, but cannot win. They are invisible while defeated. This can be played with up to four people. This is the only game in the entire *Heroes* racing series to have a new mode via Battle Mode.

### Online Mode

Players can race and battle online, alone, or with another player in teams or not. At the end of a race, players earn or lose Experience Race Points based on how well they did the race.

## Racers

Twenty-eight characters are playable in this game in different weight types (including Mys (the player's own avatar-like characters), making this the biggest roster in a spin-off *Heroes* game to date, alongside *Heroes K.O*. Imaginate announced that they are working on new characters for this game for DLC very soon. Aside from that, there are some characters that are meant to be unlocked once progressing through the game. Here is the roster listed in groups such as Default and Unlockable:

### Racer Statics

* **Speed**: the top speed of the vehicle on land with normal gravity
* **Acceleration**: the amount of time it takes for the vehicle to approach its top speed
* **Weight**: the weight of the vehicle.
* **Handling**: the turning ability of the vehicle on land with normal gravity.
* **Traction**: the grasp of the vehicle.

## Courses

There are courses in the game that are made in this game and are based on locations from the *Heroes* series.

## FiGUREs

FiGUREs are compatible within this game to unlock new karts, clothes and music.

## Development

Development started in July 2017. It was announced in the Imaginate Dreamlock Press Conference in July 14th, 2017. Imaginate presented more information at E3 2018.

## Reception

*Heroes Karting* has received "universal acclaim" and has been lauded as one of the best games in the spin-off series to date. General praise has been given to the game's graphics, the tracks, the music and the overall gameplay. As well as the online mode.

## The Penny Addiction

Days/Weeks later after the launch of the game, players uses Penny due to being as the best character among other characters. They also use her for the Nega-Kart, Negaman's own kart.

## Trivia

* Blaze from the *Sonic The Hedgehog* series was going to be planned but was scrapped during development.