Worth a Look November 2012

Time for another quick round-up of recently-released arcade-style games. This month we have the return of a classic clone and a bunch of new karting games.

Giana Sisters: Twistered Dreams 

Developer:	Black Forest Games
Publisher:	Black Forest Games
Platforms:	PC
Price:	£12.99
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

Back in 1987, a .Super Mario Brother clone called The Great Giana Sisters was released for a bunch of home computers. It was pretty good, but Nintendo didn't like the uncanny resemblance to their flagship franchise and threatened the developers, Time Warp Productions, and publishers, Rainbow Arts, with legal action. Now Black Forest Games have created a truly beautiful sequel for PC (with Xbox 360 and PS3 versions in the pipeline). There's been a lot of great looking 2D platformers in recent years, such as Rayman Origins, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Trine, but Twisted Dreams could be the best looking yet. Thankfully it backs it up with some fun gameplay too. There's a demo coming on Steam, so check it out.

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed

Developer:	Sumo Digital
Publisher:	Sega
Platforms:	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, WiiU and 3DS
Price:	£29.99
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

From one Nintendo clone to another, the original Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing was a perfectly competent Mario Kart clone. I'm sure that it's no coincidence that about a year after Mario Kart 7 introduced karts that can fly and float, so too does Sega. I'm not going to hold it against them, because I actually think this game looks and plays better than the recent Mario Kart games.

Little Big Planet Karting

Developer:	Media Molecule
Publisher:	Sony
Platforms:	PlayStation 3/PlayStation Vita
Price:	£39.99
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

Little Big Planet was a brilliant, creative, expressive game, so I find it strange Media Molecule have created something as cliché and worn out as a karting game, especially when the PS3 has a brilliant karting game with Mod Nation Racers. However, with the Little Big Planet name comes all the charm of Sackboy and friends. And you know what, it's a pretty decent karter anyway.

F1 Race Stars

Developer:	Codemasters Racing
Publisher:	Codemasters
Platforms:	PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PC
Price:	£39.99
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

Let's be honest, Formula 1 is a tad boring. The same few teams have been ruling the roost for decades, the racing generally lacks the bump and grind of touring cars or the risks and thrills of rallying. So what better way to spice things up than to make an F1 karting game? Featuring super deformed versions of all the latest drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, Jensen Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and many more. The game straddles the rules of both F1, with pit stops required to repair your car, and more karting mayhem, with weapons, power-ups and crazy tracks.

Of the three karting games out this month, this is probably the weakest, but if you don't like Sonic or (somehow) Sackboy, then this is a suitable alternative.

That does it for this month. Check the Worth a Look tag in the coming months for more tasty, arcade-inspired treats.

MTW