Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway review for Nintendo Switch

There?s good news and bad news about Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway on the Switch.

First, the good: its performance isn?t awful. I don?t know that I?d say it runs as well on the Switch as it does on, say, PS5, but for the most part, it worked fine. There were certainly places where things looked a little grainy, but during my time with the game, I never noticed any slowdown or stuttering.

Or, at least I didn?t notice any intentional slowdown ? which is where we get into the bad news about Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3. See, the balance in this game is all wonky, in a way that I don?t remember being present on the PS5 version. On the easier settings, it felt like my racers were barely moving. However, the same applied for everyone else, too: all the karts and bikes were just rolling along, no one in any kind of hurry. This wasn?t because of bad performance, mind you, but just that the easy and medium difficulties are very, very easy, and even at my reduced speed, I was able to lap my opponents.

However, when you make the jump to hard, suddenly everything is flipped. While you definitely move faster, so, too, do the other racers, to the point that some of them are overpowered. Not only is the rubberbanding here ridiculous (I found it impossible to build up any sort of lasting lead, no matter how far apart I?d be able to get momentarily), your opponents can seemingly pass you, disappear from view, and reappear half a lap ahead. Maybe I?m just bitter about losing to Garfield so decisively and so frequently, but it got to a point where it was ridiculous.

The other criticisms I?d have are the same that I?d level against other versions of Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (but which, I?ll admit, I forgot to include when I reviewed the PS5 version of the game ? and I?ll hasten to add here that this version also has the same crazy amount of content and customization, which is a point in its favour). Most notably, the weapons here are underpowered and unsatisfying. You can fire off a bouncy ball or a football at the other racers, but even when they hit dead on, it lacks the satisfying feeling of nailing an opponent with a green shell or making them slip on a banana peel.

I?ve also got to admit that I hate that this game added voice acting for the racers. While I have no doubt that some people will love hearing snippets Spongebob et al, it gets really tiresome, really quickly. However much you want to hear Invader Zim or Jimmy Neutron or Leonardo spout catchphrases, I guarantee you?ll be sick of it when you hear the same catchphrase for the tenth time in one race.

Still, even with those criticisms, I still wouldn?t say that Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway is a bad entry in the kart racing genre. It?s far from the best, to be sure, but it?s competent and content-filled enough that you?ll at least feel like you?re getting your money?s worth.

GameMill Entertainment provided us with a Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway Switch code for review purposes.