ModNation Racers: Road Trip

 PlayStation Vita
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Feb 7, 2012
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 75 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 45 out of 75
  3. Negative: 11 out of 75
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  1. PandCadventure
    Mar 19, 2012
    9
    This game is fun, the graphics are there, the soundtrack is fun, and the customizable features are super addictive. I've downloaded perfect mods of sonic, Mario, commander Shepard, and spider man! Now all we need is an online feature. This is my first MNR game, if it had an online feature I would never leave my house.
  2. Ps3winz
    Mar 11, 2012
    7
    While Road Trip definitely does not deserve a 9 or 10, it still is a great casual kart racing game that will offer alot of fun. The downsides are the lack of an online multiplayer mode, a noticeable visual downgrade from the PS3 version, and the sluggish in-game menus. The frame-rate isn't as bad as everyone says it is- though it's definitely not even close to 60fps. Overall it's fun ifWhile Road Trip definitely does not deserve a 9 or 10, it still is a great casual kart racing game that will offer alot of fun. The downsides are the lack of an online multiplayer mode, a noticeable visual downgrade from the PS3 version, and the sluggish in-game menus. The frame-rate isn't as bad as everyone says it is- though it's definitely not even close to 60fps. Overall it's fun if you like action and creating stuff.… Expand
  3. rancor
    Mar 4, 2012
    9
    I like the extra features that are not featured in the PS3 version but the PS3 version is still better. Never the less I still enjoy playing it. For a handheld this game is pretty good. I do recommend it more for casual gamers.
  4. spanky36
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    Great game. I really couldn't care less that the online play isn't here, as I didn't pick it up expecting it. Sure it would be nice but I don't buy games expecting it unless its an mmo. The game is fun, and lets us customize carts and tracks, which is fantastic. Graphics are pretty good, especially for a launch title. Pick it up for some fun on the go, without requiring large investments of time.
  5. JDConspirator
    Apr 30, 2012
    7
    For all the hype surrounding a new console, with promises of brilliant games that utilise the system provocatively, there are always those pumped releases that may undoubtable get the attention they were always bound to get- but don't so much deserve that attention. Modnation falls into that camp perfectly. For all its good, including a thoughtful representation of the console hit and theFor all the hype surrounding a new console, with promises of brilliant games that utilise the system provocatively, there are always those pumped releases that may undoubtable get the attention they were always bound to get- but don't so much deserve that attention. Modnation falls into that camp perfectly. For all its good, including a thoughtful representation of the console hit and the engaging level editor touch controls. There are many instances where Modnation fails to live up to the pressure of being SONY's answer to Mario Kart. For one there is an inexcusable lack of multiplayer options. This wouldn't be a big gripe normally, but Modnation is about sharing creations online to create a thriving community and this aspect is absent here. The performance is another issue. There is usually a lot going on, which clutters up the screen with chaos, and the game is prone to massive framerate drops which can get choppy on visually filled levels. Also the racing game plague that is rubber banding is atrocious in Modnation. You are never clear from danger in Modnation, which is normal under the weapon based gameplay. But the rubber banding makes the AI extremely cheap, and the game becomes less fun because of it. So in all, still a decent kart racer with good adherence to the PS3 game, but the technical troubles are too numerous for a thorough reccomendation.… Expand
  6. TheQuietGamer
    Apr 18, 2014
    2
    By far the worst kart racer I have ever played. It's just such a blatant rush job that it's almost offensive the developers expect people to pay for it. Everything here is botched. The touch screen controls are unresponsive and the regular controls are just too touchy. There is noticeable slow down at times and the loading screens are unbearably long. The whole experience fall flat thanksBy far the worst kart racer I have ever played. It's just such a blatant rush job that it's almost offensive the developers expect people to pay for it. Everything here is botched. The touch screen controls are unresponsive and the regular controls are just too touchy. There is noticeable slow down at times and the loading screens are unbearably long. The whole experience fall flat thanks to it's lack of online multiplayer. Sure you've got ad-hoc and can post your best times from the timed-trials mode, but for the most part your stuck with the crappy single-player modes.

    The career mode here is a frustrating waste of time. It feels unbalanced thanks to how much slower your kart is compared to the karts of the AI. Later tours in the career have tracks filled with unfair drop-offs and obstacles that are there for the sole purpose of screwing you out of a victory. To make matters worse the weapons are entirely useless. All in all it's just unfair and no fun to play.

    The customization options are all just cosmetic. You can change the way your racer and kart looks, but there's no way to make either go faster or handle better. Track customization barely works thank to the unresponsive touch-screen controls. It all just feels so worthless in the end.

    This is one awful kart racer. It's clear the developers rushed it out hoping to get by on name alone. If you're looking for a good kart racer on the Vita I recommend the infinitely superior Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. It not only includes online multiplayer, but it actually work and is fun to play unlike this travesty of a game. Do yourself a favor and avoid this one at all costs.    … Expand
  7. ArkonBlade
    Mar 3, 2012
    8
    i never played modnation racers till i picked up my Vita. i found it to be alot of fun and the custumising your car and character alot of fun.The game plays alot like mario kart but without the feeling like you are getting screwed in the rear 6X in a row and you feel like skill matters abit more in this game. the ability to make and upload and dowload tracks also gives you infinite tracksi never played modnation racers till i picked up my Vita. i found it to be alot of fun and the custumising your car and character alot of fun.The game plays alot like mario kart but without the feeling like you are getting screwed in the rear 6X in a row and you feel like skill matters abit more in this game. the ability to make and upload and dowload tracks also gives you infinite tracks to race on. The graphics are ok for the vita they don't feel as good as they should be. also the menues are not the best and navagating them is abit of a pain. the biggest killer for this game and god knows why they didn't include this but NO ONLINE PLAY!? this deffinitly should have been included in this game and would make the replay value last alot longer. all you get for multiplayer is Ad Hoc mode ... sorry but that doesn't cut it . still though its fun and for only $30 i am still enjoying it.… Expand
  8. DaaS
    Apr 7, 2014
    7
    Despite the lack of multiplayer featured i found modnation really enjoyable, good graphics, good sound and a formula in kart racing game that i love, you can go first and that doesn't mean you cannot defend or have bad items the same for the last place doesn't mean that you will have the best item, that is the formula i like a lot for this game, some issues with the touch interface but inDespite the lack of multiplayer featured i found modnation really enjoyable, good graphics, good sound and a formula in kart racing game that i love, you can go first and that doesn't mean you cannot defend or have bad items the same for the last place doesn't mean that you will have the best item, that is the formula i like a lot for this game, some issues with the touch interface but in general terms a great game for those who love his elder brother in ps3… Expand
  9. Spazgadget
    Feb 21, 2012
    7
    While the joy of having ModNation Racers in your pocket is awesome, and there are some terrific Vita-specific features, it's hard to ignore a couple issues that bring the score down a bit for me. Graphics are colorful but have a strangely compressed look. The game has an amazing set of features (including the ability to download all the user-generated tracks from the PS3 version) butWhile the joy of having ModNation Racers in your pocket is awesome, and there are some terrific Vita-specific features, it's hard to ignore a couple issues that bring the score down a bit for me. Graphics are colorful but have a strangely compressed look. The game has an amazing set of features (including the ability to download all the user-generated tracks from the PS3 version) but navigating between them is sluggish, and finding what you want can be befuddling. A shame a game with so many great features has most of them buried in confusing, disorganized menus. Loading times are on par with the PS3 version (meaning: slow) and the gameplay itself suffers from fairly frequent slowdown.

    The game isn't terrible by any means, and fans shouldn't be dissuaded by the games problems, but... the problems do exist, so be prepared for them going in.    … Expand
  10. bigbaldwolf
    May 25, 2012
    6
    This game had great potential but is let down by some fundamental things that are missing. There is no online play which for a racer is crazy, especially a community racer such as this. Secondly, the game isn't running at the Vitas native resolution and can look blurry. There can also be framerate issues at times as well. I have still had a lot of fun with this and the editing optionsThis game had great potential but is let down by some fundamental things that are missing. There is no online play which for a racer is crazy, especially a community racer such as this. Secondly, the game isn't running at the Vitas native resolution and can look blurry. There can also be framerate issues at times as well. I have still had a lot of fun with this and the editing options works really well with the touch screen. It's not quite pick up and play though due to the long loading times before each race. It's worth a purchase if you see it cheap but don't expect this to be the best racer on the VIta… Expand
  11. OttawaExile
    Nov 28, 2012
    8
    I was torn between 7 and 8 but I decided to bump it up. The courses and handling felt true to the PS3 version there are loads of tracks and unlockables making carts mods is easy enough. The only reason this game gets knocked down is the lack of online multiplayer which for Modnation is a pretty big oversight. If you are looking for a fun racer with lots of replayability this is for you, ifI was torn between 7 and 8 but I decided to bump it up. The courses and handling felt true to the PS3 version there are loads of tracks and unlockables making carts mods is easy enough. The only reason this game gets knocked down is the lack of online multiplayer which for Modnation is a pretty big oversight. If you are looking for a fun racer with lots of replayability this is for you, if you are looking to race against people online look elsewhere. What it does it does well... but it could have done more.… Expand
  12. SuperVideogamer
    Aug 29, 2013
    7
    Modnation is great kart racing game it's really fun and a good time waster first off:i like the the way the game has a great variety of creation options, There great aumont of different items to customize your Mod,kart and cool tools to create a racing track,and if your really creative u can share your creations with the world!,and if your not creative(like me) then you can rate andModnation is great kart racing game it's really fun and a good time waster first off:i like the the way the game has a great variety of creation options, There great aumont of different items to customize your Mod,kart and cool tools to create a racing track,and if your really creative u can share your creations with the world!,and if your not creative(like me) then you can rate and download any creation u want,the racing is fun and there good weapons u can use each with three upgrades but the bad about the game is that sometimes when ur racing the game gets really slow and glitchy,the visuals aren't that impressive and the worst thing about there is no multiplayer only adhoc(sigh) but it is in fact still a great game,if u c it on sale pick up
    That why my score is:7/10(A different racer but with major flaws but still really fun)    … Expand
  13. Xevon
    Jan 31, 2014
    6
    ModNation Racers: Road Trip is bizarre in that it's a game that comes inconceivably close to excellence yet consistently fails to make the cut each and every time. On the surface, it bears an uncanny resemblance to ModNation Racers on the PS3, but falls short due to an abysmally low internal rendering resolution resulting in blurry 3D and muddy 2D. The music is almost good, but isModNation Racers: Road Trip is bizarre in that it's a game that comes inconceivably close to excellence yet consistently fails to make the cut each and every time. On the surface, it bears an uncanny resemblance to ModNation Racers on the PS3, but falls short due to an abysmally low internal rendering resolution resulting in blurry 3D and muddy 2D. The music is almost good, but is ultimately weak compared to it's big brothers counterpart and comes across as agitating and poor. There's also bad loading times, inexplicable bursts of lag and sub-par framerates across the board. It lacks multiplayer, yet supports all of the other community features - it was great being able to download my PS3 tracks, racers, karts etc and use them all without a fuss, but with the lack of multiplayer, it loses much of it's point. Road Trip is almost good, but it does far too much wrong to be worthy anything more than mediocre. Final Score: 6.4/10… Expand
  14. Jrc126
    Feb 28, 2014
    7
    its ModNation Racers for psp but more with less vice versa For a vita game this is pretty great and stuff.the bad side is though it's definitely not even close to 60fps there are big handfulls of frustration thrown in too. there PS3 version is the best version.don't get me wrong but game is don't compare to PS3.
  15. INU4SH4
    Jul 13, 2020
    6
    Not the greatest racing game around but still a decent title for the VITA. It might keep you hooked for a few hours but the mechanics aren't that great. Customization is cool though.

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Best PS Vita Game of 2012
37
#37 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2012
61
#61 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 51
  3. Negative: 6 out of 51
  1. Gamer.nl
    Apr 28, 2012
    60
    ModNation Racers is nothing to write home about, and is best compared to standing still in traffic during rush hour. You'll stand still, pull up slightly, hit the brakes, and stand still again. Not even beautiful scenery will rectify this road trip.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Apr 17, 2012
    74
    Misses the point completely with the anemic multiplayer options. [Apr 2012]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Apr 12, 2012
    70
    It's still fun, but there are big handfulls of frustration thrown in too. [May 2012, p.79]
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