Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
My Sims Racing on the DS brings the world of Kart Racing to the blocky world of My Sims. The younger approach to the widely popular gaming phenomenon bring easy customization to the Kart Racing genre with all the adorable charm the Sims are known for. It is up to you to make your mark in Speedville with the aid of Sir Charles as you cultivate friendships with Sims of all sorts.

What's Hot
The Sims franchise is all about customization and personalizing your gameplay experience. Racing features loads of customization. Your introduction to the game will have you create your own Sim and racing kart right away with only a few parts to swap around. The more you race and complete tasks for the town's residents, you'll be given more access to parts that allow for some heavy customization. Some parts are purely cosmetic and can take a bland kart then turn it into something slick and themed or something that resembles a mismatched jalopy.

As far as the racing is concerned, the tracks are well designed. They follow the standard forest, desert, mountain type themes. In true My Sims fashion, tracks are highly stylized and fit within the overall visual style of the game. The twists and turns will keep you on your toes as you battle for pole position. Items litter the tracks and closely resemble what you typically see in kart racing games. It brings together a nice game that is easy to get into and play.

What's Not
For a game with the word "racing" in its title, racing isn't the main attraction of the game. This is a Sims game and making connections and forging relationships is part of the DNA of the franchise. To get from race to race, you need to drive around the city of Speedville and the surrounding areas to get from race to race. Instead of racing circuits, you can help the towns folk with some requests that turn into missions. It all is very pedestrian and you'll be nothing more than a cool looking FedEx truck while you begrudgingly grind these missions to get enough points to create new items.

Kart racing games also rely on speed to help sell the experience of zigzagging through imaginative landscapes. My Sims Racing feels like the gas tank is running on empty. Boosting powers give you a slightly faster sensation but more often than not, your racing experience will be something similar to The Tortoise and the Hare, minus the Hare.

Final Word
Where does My Sims Racing stack up in the running of all the other kart games on the DS? It sits somewhere comfortably in the middle. It is fun to tool around with the customization of your kart and interact with some hyperbolic personalities that function as your neighbors but at the end of the day, it feels like the racing aspect took the back seat.