Heracles Chariot Racing review

We enjoyed the lovely Nyxquest, which offered a platforming take on an ancient Greek myth. Now we’ve got this, which takes a bunch of characters from Greek myths, shoves them in chariots and lets you race them around locations taken from, yes, Greek myths. What’s next, a Capcom Vs Homer Allstars brawler?

Heracles isn’t too bad. For all intents and purposes, it’s a kart racer - that unfortunately means the spectre of Mario Kart looms large when you’re playing the game. Of course it’s not up to MK standards – how could it be, when it was developed for a minuscule fraction of the budget? Judged on its own merits, though, there’s stuff here to like.

There are three championships to play through, with five races apiece, and you can play solo or with up to three others in split-screen mode. There are single-race and battle modes too, again for up to four. It’s no Helen of Troy in the looks department, but the tracks are inventive and cheerful, as are the karts and characters, and there are some interesting powerups too.

Ultimately, though, it does seem a bit pointless when Mario’s racer is more than likely to already be a part of every Wii owner’s collection.

Sep 28, 2009