Ben 10 Galactic Racing Vita Platinum

 Hello everyone. I recently platinummed Ben 10 Galactic Racing on the Vita and wish to talk about it.

 

 

Overall, a somewhat tedious if easy Platinum. The only reason I felt like I could do this one is that it's the only Vita game I've encountered that has a built in Trophy Tracker that counts individual things you need to do and how much you've already done. Seriously, why don't other games do this?

 

A quick word on the gameplay: This plays like your standard Kart Racer. The only difference are the game's offensive and defensive powers. When going off ramps, you can flick the Right Stick to do tricks/stunts and this charges your Offensive Power. When the meter is full, Press Square and your character will send a powerful shockwave ahead that will spinout racers ahead of you. When doing drifts, you charge your Defensive Power. When this Meter is full, press O and you will get a shield that blocks you from almost every stage and player hazard. Including other Offensive Powers.

 

I will comment that this is probably the only racing game I've played where you can't reverse or brake. Likely because every button on the Vita is taken. R Aceelerates. L iniates Drift. X uses items. Square for Offensive Power. O for Defensive Power. Triangle for Look Back. Left Stick and Dpad for Steering. Right Stick for Stunts/Tricks. The Touch Screen and Rear Touch pad are unused. Fortunatly, the game seems to account for this and crashing into walls will usually knock and turn you back a fair bit to compensate. So not a complaint but something I found a bit funny.

 

The most tedious trophies in the game are "Not Even a Scratch - Block/avoid 100 attacks using your Defensive Power in Single Player mode." and "Outta My Way!!!!!
Successfully bump 100 karts in Single Player mode." When I completed the game's main content, I had done about 25/100 Defensive Power Blocks and 5/100 Bumps. Defensive Power Blocks are tedious to farm because it only counts attacks from other Karts, not Stage Hazards. The game does notify you if an opponent is launching an item at you with a Flashing Red Exclamation Mark but not when an opponent has launched their Offensive Power. I missed so many Offensive Attacks I could have blocked had I been  notified. I found myself using Triangle to look behind me during races to see if someone was doing their Offensive Power which helped block about 10 more. I feel this trophy would be a lot less tedious if it was 50 Max and also counted both Stage Hazards and using Items to block attacks. Like throwing the equivalent of a Green Shell Behind you to block an opponent's Red Shell. Now the player has multiple ways of naturally getting this as they play the game and only a bit more to farm if they missed it.

 

Bumping Karts is a bit misleading. I assumed this meant "crashing your kart into another kart". But no, it means "physically crashing your kart into another that causes them to spin-out".  There's a few ways to do these. You can land on top of another kart, use the game's equivalant to the Bullet-Bill Powerup to and smack people in your way, or use your Defensive Power. The main issue here is that these are rare events. I think I landed on another kart like, 2 times total. The Bullet Bill, even when I tried using it to farm Bumps, would often "miss" as the CPUs weren't perfectly lined up. I usually saved my Defensive Power for actually blocking Kart and Stage Hazards. I feel this should have been 50 Max. Both this and "Not Even a Scratch" required me to keep replaying the final Track in the game, Azmuth's Forge, over and over again since it took an average of 5 minutes to clear and gave around 3-6 counts for either Trophy.

 

Another Tedious Trophy was  "Shattered - Destroy 10 Shard Mines using the EMP power-up in Single Player mode." I did 1/10 in my entire main campaign run. The best way to farm this is to load up the game's Battle Mode, set the timer to 9 minutes and just keep running through item boxes until you get the EMP Power up. For some reason, this was crazy rare. I'd get like 1-2 per game!

 "Omni-Node Master - Pick up 8 different Omni-Node types in each of 10 different races in Single Player mode" requires intentionally dropping back to different positions and hope the RNG gives you different items. 

 

"Tag! We're It! - Win 10 Team Omni-Tag showdowns in Single Player mode." and "Tag! I'm It! - Win 10 individual Omni-Tag showdowns in Single Player mode." require you to grind 20 Battle Modes at 1 minute each on the smallest map. Not too bad but I was constantly checking the clock. 5 is probably better.

"Omni-Trickster - Complete 10 4X stunt combos while racing in Single Player mode.", "Triple Threat - Complete 10 3X stunt combos while racing in Single Player mode." and "Double Trouble - Complete 10 2X stunt combos while racing in Single Player mode." require grinding the same track, Highway Havoc because Air tricks don't stack and Highway is the only track with a jump large enough to barely do 4x tricks and one for 3x. I got 2x naturally while playing but had to spend several runs grinding this out.

 

"Kart Collector - Unlock all karts in the game." was interesting. There's like 6 extra unlockable Karts that require you to beat the time trial times on 6 tracks. Which means that by beating the Grand Prix Cups and these 6 Time Trials, you essentially get 100% completion according to your save file lol.

 

The trophies I enjoyed getting were "Prime Drifter - Execute a 750-meter drift in a race in Single Player mode" (it was fun finding a track with a circular ring and just lapping it while drifting. Ended it with a 3000m drift lol), "Got Skillz - Beat the Track Best time in a Time Trial on any track by 10 seconds or more." (Galvan Gorge was a fun track to repeat to get that ace time), "Kineceleration - Execute a continuous boost of 8 seconds or more in a race in Single Player mode." (had to switch to Fourarms for this one due to his top speed and replay Codon Coldera's opening in Time Trials to hit the Boost Pads with my Drift and Boost Item) and "Unstoppable! - Win a race by tumbling or spinning over the finish line in Single Player mode." (just do a trick that messes up over the finish line).

 

Overall, I feel this game's platinum list is a bit of a missed opportunity. Rather than wasting time farming the same repetitive actions, I'd have preferred more mini-challenges in races, or just more Time Trial Trophies. Again, technically, of the 25 tracks in this game, only 6-7 require doing a corresponding Time Trial for a trophy. I'd have gladly traded several of the more grindy/farming trophies in exchange.

 

Moving on from the trophies and talking about the game itself, it's .... fine? Like, it's a solid C tier game. Maybe B- if I am feeling extra generous. The actual racing and driving is solid. The graphics are really good for a Vita Racer. I like the offensive/defensive power system. The side modes are fun. But everything around the game is questionable.

 

Galactic Racing doesn't have CCs like in Mario Kart, instead having a difficulty toggle in the Main Menu. It says "easy and hard" but really it should be "hard and extra hard". Almost every race, I was fighting and clawing for first place even on Easy. The CPU Drivers are crazy fast, recover quickly and if someone gets to pull ahead, it's almost impossible to reign them in. I've had a few Grand Prix Tournaments where I breathed a sigh of relief when one of my rivals got hit and finished in 3rd or 4th because it gave me more of a fighting chance.

 

My advice is to go with SpiderMonkey and his Light Kart or  unlock the Kinecelerator Kart as that will give you the best shot but you still need to put in the work. While I enjoyed the challenge, Kart Racers like this are typically made to also accommodate younger or newer players. Mario Kart is successful because less experienced players can start out in 50CC and work their way up. Ben 10 Galactic Racing asks you to start at 150CC.

The bigger issue is that, if you're not a Ben 10 fan, this game will do very little to sway you. It doesn't really put its best foot forward. Like, say what you will about Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing (also on the Vita), but that game went all out with spectacle and stages and highlighting the characters so that even if you weren't a Sega fan, it was hard not to be like "hey, this character or thing is pretty cool/interesting".

 

For example, take the tracks. Galactic Racing has 25 tracks across 5 Planets. But those 25 tracks aren't unique. Tracks set on the same planet share a lot of the same assets, textures and some even share the same set pieces and sections. I got Deja Vu racing on new tracks in later Grand Prix cups because they reused so much from previous tracks.

 

Moreover, very few tracks feel novel or have any spectacle or represent what's cool about Ben 10. Some tracks shift on the final lap and change how you proceed. But like, ok.  One of the 5 Planets is Kylmyys. It's covered entirely in ice and snow and is the home to the Necrofriggians. The lore says this planet is so incredibly cold that nothing corporeal can even live on it. Which is why the Necrofriggians evolved their Ghost powers. This planet never shows up in any Ben 10 show ever. Ben 10 Ultimate Alien instead showcased the planet Mikd'lty. This planet is tidally locked so one half is a fireball and one half is frozen solid. There's "a twilight zone" in between them, aurora boreialis in the sky, a temple which Pligrms visit with Death Traps etc. Some Necrofriggians also live here because they're the only Alien Species that can survive such extreme temperatures.

 

Galactic Racing opts to choose the Planet that's 100% Ice with no cool structures or lore over the one in the show with far more interesting topography or structures. Kylmyys visually looks no different to any Ice Worlds in any other Video Game. So it's disappointing for both Ben 10 fans (since the cool stuff from the show isn't there) and for newbies (since the scenery won't impress them into checking out Ben 10).

 

It's a similar case for the planet Piscciss. This one actually showed up in an episode once and is 99% water. This planet isn't the most notable or important in the show but has 5 tracks dedicated to it in the game. While some of the tracks do look cool, the game does little to make it stand out. There's no section where you drive underwater and see more of the sealife. You don't even see the main species, Piscciss Volanns, on the tracks.

 

The planet Vulpin ..... is an interesting choice. The lore describes it "a pitch black planet on the edge of the galaxy whose ecosystem has been poisoned by the hazardous materials that have been dumped on the planet. Living in the dark caves beneath the surface, Vulpimancers have no need for eyes and use their amazing sense of smell to "see"... Part penal colony, part toxic waste dump, Vulpin has long served as a dumping ground for hazardous materials far too dangerous for other worlds. The little that was once natural here long ago became corrupted by dangerous outside influences....Whatever life does manage to survive among Vulpin's subzero temperatures and the poisoned forests must learn to adapt to the harshest of climates".

That actually sounds cool but the game gives it 5 tracks set in garbage processing and industrial areas that all blend together. You're not going to come away thinking this is an interesting planet.

 

The 2 remaining planets, The Null Void (which isn't a planet but a separate dimension) and Primus are the most novel choices. Null Void in the lore is this alternate dimension used as a pocket prison dimension filled with dangerous monsters, penal facilities, sub-planets and debris etc. Some inhabitants have established permanent living areas in this place. The game does a .... passable job representing this setting. It feels treacherous, like an "evil Rainbow Road". But little representation of the culture. Like, this is the bare minimum I'd want for every track in the game.

 

Primus is a giant organic machine that looks like a jungle-like planet full of vegetation and various fauna. The main creatures on Primus are Volaticus Biopsis, mosquito/wasp-like robots created to scour the universe to collect DNA samples to the Codon Stream. A river/ocean/liquid database containing the DNA of of 1,000,910. Primus/The Codon Stream also "powers" the Omnitrix/Ultimatrix Ben uses in the show.  Think of The Codon Stream as like, Spotify and Ben's Omnitrix/Ultimatrix as your phone you use to stream a handful of songs/aliens. The game does a decent job in representing Primus but a new player is unlikely to get why this place is a big deal and would probably see it as another planet. 

 

There are so many potentially interesting and unique track settings for a Ben 10 Kart Racer. I already mentioned Mykdl'dy but others could be a circus themed track around Zombozo from the Classic Series,  A track based on Los Soledad where you race through some warehouses that then transform into a portal or is mid-HighBreed Invasion so you're racing through a fantasy Alien warzone. A track based on the Forge of Creation as you're racing across a nebula while giant Celestialsapiens ominously look down on you. A Track based on the Peraheadron. A giant planet sized cube maze/labyrinth with shifting rooms and death traps. And that's just some examples from the shows. The game can even choose planets and settings we haven't seen.

Galactic Racing as a whole does very little to showcase Ben 10 lore either directly or as unlockables. You don't get Profiles/Bios on the Aliens or Locations. You don't get alternate costumes or kart customization. This is a shame. Like, one of the racers is Ultimate Cannonbolt with his dull Grey design. You can't unlock an alternate skin of him with his regular white and gold design. Big Chill is represented as just Big Chill. No option to unlock his Red Ultimate Design. Fourarms is limited to just his Ultimate Alien design with no option for his Classic Version. Imagine how cool it would be to like, do races as Big Chill, you get an unlockable telling you facts about him or his species and you unlock his Ultimate Skin. 

 

The character selection in this game is....a bit questionable. A lot of the popular Ben 10 characters and aliens are here like  Ben, Kevin, Vilgax, Ghostfreak, Ultimate Humungousaur, Rath , Heatblast, Big Chill, Ultimate Cannonbolt, Ultimate Echo Echo, Fasttrack (who was created specifically for this game and then showed up in the show), Spidermonkey, Swampfire, Ampfibian and Fourarms. But no Gwen or Max? Imagine a Mario Kart without Luigi or Sonic Racer without Tails. At least the Alien selection is solid.

I think that's my biggest complaint against Galactic Racing as a Ben 10 fan. In theory, you could reskin this game to work for any other IP and it would "work" because the game doesn't incorporate a lot of Ben 10 specifics. You can't really "reskin Mario Kart DS" because a lot of the tracks pull directly from previous Mario games. 

 

The Game does seem to use the same voice actors from the show. So all the Aliens and characters sound legit. The game has the Vreedle Brothers on commentary and.... I find some of their track introductions a bit humorous but find their race commentary grating.  Aside from getting repetitive very quickly, Octagon's mannerisms (e.g "What you might call...") got especially annoying for me. These guys are fine in the show because they have relatively minor roles. But in the game, they have the most lines and dialogue. The story as a whole is silly, nonsensical and non-canon so I am not docking any marks for that. 

In closing, Ben 10 Galactic Racing is a fine kart racer and an easy but tedious platinum. There are better Kart Racers on Vita (only just Sonic). As a Ben 10 game, this doesn't do the best job in celebrating and showcasing what's cool about Ben 10.