I’ve never thought of myself as a battle royale kind of player. You pack into a server with 50 -100 strangers, strain not to get eliminated, it was never a big draw for me. But Fall Guys managed to sell me on the general concept, so when Stampede Racing Royale offered it for what was basically Mario Kart, one of my favorite games ever, how could I resist? Best. Decision. Ever.
A simple kart racer with intuitive controls, fun tracks, and good servers, Stampede Racing Royale scratched an itch I didn’t realize I had. Grab your kart, customize your ride, and jump into a lobby with 59 other competitors. After every round, the bottom 20 players are culled and the rest move on. Snag that checkered flag by the end of the series and be rewarded with sweet, sweet gold and cosmetics.
It’s not overly complicated. It’s exactly what it says on the tin, and frankly, that’s more than enough. With dailies to grind and three race series that can be knocked out in less than ten minutes, it’s fun in bite sized portions. But like any other finger food, Stampede Racing Royale is hard to put down because you always have room for “just one more race.”
Stampede Racing Royale is available on Steam for free.
Gameplay – Ready, Set, Go!
If you’ve played any of the big kart racers, your fingers will already know what to do. There’s a slight learning curve to adapt to the button placement, but beyond that, it’s super intuitive. It’s still early, but even with the limited karts and tracks, there’s plenty of good options!
Once you have your avi dressed and your kart properly pimped, you dropped into a lobby. From there, it’s just like riding a bicycle – er, kart. The starting light countdown has a special twist to get a boost, there are branching paths on every track, and of course, item boxes waiting for you to show the competition your mean streak. The tracks in Stampede Racing Royale are limited in number so far, but with so many twists and alternate paths, there’s lots of reasons to come back.
You’d think that with literally 60 racers packed onto the course it’d feel cramped. But those branching paths and wide tracks make sure you never feel too claustrophobic. And, if you do get a little crowded, the nice assortment of weapons is great for clearing out the riff raff. Machine guns, roller mines, sticky bombs, nitro, and homing missiles will all feel familiar to any Mario Kart veteran, but dropping giant gelatinous cubes onto the track? That felt new.
Drifting lets you build up a turbo, just like some OTHER kart racers.
Online Play – A Sunday Drive
Like any good battle royale game, Stampede Racing makes sure you always have plenty of reasons to come back every day. New challenges, new events, and tons of new kart parts and avatar items. At the time of this review, the most notable crossover I saw was a Dave the Diver kart and avatar elements. But they were far from the only thing worth racing for.
There’s a ton of customizable parts, level trees, and of course, wraps and skins. So far they have declined to implement micro-transactions. The extra currency for premium stuff is just a gift from the developers. It’s all free-to-play, which I have to say is a huge tick in the plus column for me.
Best of all, though, I’ve had zero issues starting games. Stampede Racing Royale is the kind of game that will live or die based on how good the online aspect is – being that all of its online. By that I mean that finding a game, getting into a race, and keeping the game flowing are vital. So far, I’ve had zero issues with any of that. I’ve played several race series, a couple of special events, and never spent more than a minute and a half waiting for players to load in. The flow is never interrupted, I’ve gone from loading screen to race to podium in five to seven minutes, ready for the next one.
There’s already some neat cross-over material.
Graphics & Audio – Cute and Serviceable
The tracks are colorful and vibrant. It’s easy to see what your obstacles are. It’s easy to see where you need to go. And it’s easy to see who the jerk is that hit you with a homing missile! Character models and karts have a fair variety, especially for having just released. The racers themselves give me a sort of Roblox merged with Astrobot vibe and I’m super digging it.
As for the music, it’s perfect for getting you pumped and ready to race. It’s not a John Williams score or anything, but it does its job. It gets you in the zone without becoming distracting. Definitely some good bops, but nothing I’d save to my playlist for the future.
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- If the honor of victory isn’t enough, placing in a series carries other rewards.
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- Sixty racers enter. Only the best move on. Will you?
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- Don’t forget to do your dailies!
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- The track list is limited for now, but each one is a pleasure to replay.
Stampede Racing Royale was review on PC (Steam.)
