Race with Ryan is a family friendly kart Racer based around the child YouTube star Ryan of Ryan’s World. But is it worth picking up? We review Race with Ryan on Stadia.
Ryan, Who?
For those of you unfamiliar with Ryan (I’m assuming those over 15 without younger family members), he is a young child of YouTube fame. His YouTube channel started 7 years ago with his parents uploading videos of him playing with toys and unboxing things. Fast forward to today and he has amassed 33 million subscribers on his Ryan’s World Channel, has his own toy brand as well as multiple video games. At 10 years old, he is estimated to be worth over $32 Million as of 2020.
Now that you’re caught up…
Ready. Set . Go!
From the very start here it is obvious that, although kart racers are fun for the whole family, Race with Ryan is mainly aimed for younger players. The comic book stylings of his YouTube Channel carry through to the game. With loud, colourful borders and fun animated characters such as Combo Panda and Gus The Gummy Gator that fans of his channel will be familiar with.
Being a kart racer it is no surprise here that this can be played solo or up to 4 players on one screen. However, what is surprising is how difficult this game can be to play when split in to 4. The design of the Karts is overwhelming. Yes they are fun. Choose between a helicopter, a boat and more But gameplay is sacrificed in the way of fun. These larger than life designs take up an awkwardly large portion of the screen. Making it difficult to see the road ahead.
Speaking of Awkward…
There is absolutely no way that you can forget that this is Race With Ryan. Throughout the game, Ryans face constantly pops up for seemingly no reason whatsoever just to remind you. I do get that it’s his game and one product markets another. The occasional pop up is fine and will market a product sufficiently. But during races, before races, after races…it all gets to be too much. And when his face isn’t there, his voice is. Almost every 15 seconds, you will hear an ‘uh-oh’ a ‘good job’ or a ‘don’t forget to use your special!’ And honestly, everyone in my household found this irritating.
If they had been less frequent, it would have been motivating and helpful. But this just feels like they have over done it a bit.
Cruising along.
Driving around the tracks feels effortless for the most part. So even the youngest and most inexperienced drivers among us can jump in for a race. As I always do when testing out family orientated games, I invited my 6 year old son to play. He enjoyed it a lot. With zero frustration and a couple of wins under his belt. He enjoyed the time that we spent playing as a family of 4. And when that time was up he continued to enjoy it when racing against AI.
The game plays flawlessly, This is an excellent port. But due to the games design choices, when racing a long you just don’t feel like you’re doing any great speed at all. Even when using a power up. If you have experience with other racers you will feel this a lot as you unconsciously drive your thumb in to the button to go faster to no avail.
Off the Beaten Track,
Race With Ryan’s level design is great. With different environments to play in (both forwards and backwards). Each level has particular elements that interact with the players on the track. Each designed around the environment. From racing around a toy room to speeding through the wild west. I am a big fan of how this game looks.
As you play through different tournaments (each introduced by Ryan and his family…) you will unlock characters and karts to play with. Yes this is standard in most kart racers but I’m glad to see it included here too. Younger players are always happy to feel like they are being rewarded with items in games.
Race With Ryan
Summary
No denying that you will have fun playing this with young kids or even with your partner. But there are definitely better kart racers out there. Race With Ryan is still part of the pro line up so go ahead and claim it. That said, i can not recommend spending money on this one.
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