Oh Baby! Kart

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s Oh baby Kart!

Oh Baby Kart, a cross-platform multiplayer kart racing game developed by Oh Baby Games that was founded in 2021. Now having publicly launched and completed partnerships with giants such as Nickelodeon. This game has made a dent in the party racing genre.  

The Oh Baby Games team includes people from titles such as Age of Empires II, Call of Duty and League of Legends. In early 2023, Oh Baby Games raised $6 million in seed funding, backed by eGirl Capital, Synergis, and angel investors like Twitch Co-Founder Kevin Lin and Katan Games CEO Serkan Toto. The Oh Baby Kart title does not carry much lore with it but does feature various maps with a range of NPC enemies that include bulls, ghosts, shiba’s and more. The player is taking through this in the challenge mode where they get to experience the small but informational lore that exists in this game.

Oh Baby Kart is available on all desktops and can be downloaded from Steam, requiring a minimum of 8 GB of memory, 15 GB of storage space, and Windows 10 to play.

Gameplay

In this kart racing game, players can choose from various vehicles and start with 12 free-to-play heroes, expanding to 25 heroes once they reach the maximum level. The roster includes well-known characters like SpongeBob, Patrick, and ZachXBT from the crypto gaming space. The game mechanics involve drifting to gain abilities such as speed boosts, rockets, and freezing blasts, which can be used strategically against opponents across 44 different maps, some of which unlock at levels 15 and 20.

Each car in the game has five key stats: Speed, Drift Power, Coin Boost, Handling, and Style. Players can customize their vehicles with ornaments, pets, and emojis from the marketplace. These customization options, however, do not affect vehicle performance. Players can use battle points earned in multiplayer modes to make purchases or recycle materials from previous drops.

Players can choose between manual or automatic control settings for their vehicles.

A unique feature in this game is the Ultimate Bar, which charges as players perform drift boosts. Once fully charged, players can deploy character-specific ultimate abilities designed for speed, offense, or defense.

The game also features an adventure mode with over 100 challenges that unlock new karts, ornaments, heroes, and pets upon completion.

These are the games modes available: Royal Race, Race Royal Pro, Grand Prix, Grand Prix Pro, Duo Grand Prix, Time Trial, Custom Lobby, and Testing Room

• Royal Race mode, 12 players start and after every lap out of the 3, 4 players will get eliminated. This mode is unlocked at level 20.
• Grand Prix mode consists of four consecutive races where accumulated points determine the overall winner. Before each race players must select buffs for the entire Grand Prix event and between races, players can also vote on the next map. Duo Grand Prix operates similarly to Grand Prix but involves teams of two, combining points to determine the winner. There is a pro version of this mode that unlocks at level 20.
• Time Trial mode allows players to practice solo on any map against the clock, with results shared publicly.
  
• Custom Lobby mode permits players to organize customised games with specific maps and rules, while the Testing Room serves as a space for skill enhancement and strategy refinement.
  

Review

Oh Baby Kart has created an immersive game with unique characters and gameplay that is familiar to many through a competing title in Super Mario Kart. When looking at the graphics of the game, there are little to no faults, and everything is completed and designed to a high-quality standard.

The VFX on the abilities inside of the race are well animated and add to the fun experience of the game. Graphics on effects and overall environment are very well crafted and create an immersive experience for the player.When evaluating the sound design around the game, in terms of the background music and SFX effects, Oh Baby Kart has done very well here.

When playing the game, the controls are easy to understand and learn, as well as what each of the abilities do. There are clear paths in progression, by being able to unlock further characters and maps as you play more and level up. Integrating IPs that are familiar to many such as SpongeBob or web3 native Zackxbt add a nice touch which make this title appealing to both traditional gamers and web3 degens.

Overall, I would rate Oh Baby Kart an 8/10 as they have delivered a fun and immersive title that both young and old can enjoy. It is easily accessible through Steam at a price that is affordable for many. The only comment that could be made on this title is that it does not innovate on its genre. However, Oh Baby Games has delivered a title that can compete the giant in Super Mario Kart.