Ever since the success of Doodle Jump, hand-drawn iPhone games have become very fashionable. Doodle Kart Lite is a cartoon racer that plays a little like the Micro Machines games of old.
The object of Doodle Kart is to get around the pencil-drawn tracks in the quickest time possible. To do this you press your finger on the accelerator button to move forward, the brake to slow down, and use the left and right arrows with your left hand to steer. You can pick up some cool power-ups along the way that give you a speed burst, weapons or special tricks.
There are two game modes in Doodle Kart: Single Race and Championship. The single race mode sees you play just one course against the clock or a computer opponent. The championship mode pits you against three other cars, and you need to win a race to progress through to the next. Each mode has four difficulty levels and you can choose one of three cars.
The courses in Doodle Kart are wonderfully realized, with fun, hand-drawn scenery. Different objects and materials respond differently when you drive over or crash into them, making the gameplay more interesting. Although the graphics in Doodle Kart bear little resemblance to real life, the sound effects do. FX like the roaring engines and screeching brakes sound more lifelike than they do in some 'serious' racing games. I also love the music in the game, the style of which ranges from Greek Cretan to Mexican Mariachi.
Doodle Kart has no multiplayer mode at the moment, although the developer is apparently working on a two-player Bluetooth option for the next update. I'd also like to see a lap time feature added in the next release of Doodle Kart, but we'll see what happens.
Doodle Kart Lite is a lot of fun to play, and will keep you amused for hours.
