Essential for a certain age group, the Pat’Patrouille series (Paw Patrol in the original version) is regularly adapted into video games. After several adventures of action and exploration, the saga faces a juggernaut of conviviality: Mario Kart. A perfect game for the whole family?
Pat’Patrouille, Pat’Patrouille, hurry, they’re on their way again… Those few notes and words are enough to get a bunch of parents to crawl into the back of a closet and cover their ears. Like an enchanting princess rescued and freed in 2013, the antics of Ryder and his gang of rescue pups have become such a phenomenon that toddlers rave about them. And those sympathetic credits, but oh so intoxicating (that’s intentional, of course), play a part in this stratospheric success. Fueled by this wave, the license has expanded to include a wide range of goodies (stuffed animals, toys, miscellaneous items, etc.), and video games are no exception to the rule. But for the first time ever, the franchise takes on karting in a work that can be played by up to 4 people simultaneously on the same screen! Is recreating Mario Kart clichés enough to keep our toddlers happy? Answer in the following lines.
A Mario Kart for toddlers
After the action and exploration, it’s time for karting!
No track is too difficult, because my pilot friends, they rock! From the very beginning of the game, kids will find all their favorite heroes! While the instrumental credits resonate, Ryder offers a program limited to a quick race (with the possibility of customization and a tutorial), an adventure mode (the most interesting), and local multi-person play. The rest only concerns the collection of cosmetics (to disguise his character and tune his car) and settings. The developers of 3D Clouds lived up to expectations, but we would have liked a little more madness in the kids’ offering. So don’t expect an arena competition where you’ll swing objects in your face. Paw Patrol Grand Prix is essentially based on start and finish races.
With its four environments, its seventeen layouts (night, day, etc.) and its colorful atmosphere, the Outright Games title fully respects the codes of the genre! After choosing his pilot from among Ryder and the squad’s various pooches (either Chase, Ruben, Tracker, Stella, Marcus, Rocky, Zuma, Rex, Everest…), the player is sent onto the track to get rid of his opponents and be the first Take a seat. Every victory or every good placement in the rating entitles you to participate in the next race. The progression is very classic and everything has been thought of for toddlers to have fun!
The items are fairly standard, but the races are punctuated by Mayor Hellinger’s slapstick punches, throwing confetti and haystacks onto the track!
There is no question of buttons on the edge for accelerating and braking! Everything runs through the basic buttons (with a little dexterity to get you started quickly) and the slice buttons are used to spin for a temporary boost. In the style of a Mario Kart, of course, each participant can collect items along the way to slow down opponents. Sticky cake, boosted shield, tornado… all means are good to achieve victory! The objects are uninspired and we would have liked more weirdness, but the developers made up for that by giving each pup a special power (which responds to a meter that fills with the bones salvaged from the ground). Chase can set off his siren to disrupt his pursuers, Ruben drops a giant rock on the road, Zuma projects a trail of water, etc. Little ones can have fun right away and don’t need to spend hours in the tutorial.
The outline of a mobile game
The tutorial is well thought out. Children can learn to control their racing car.
On the production side, it’s all pretty nice and the environments have the merit of being quite varied. Jungle, Mountain, Great Valley, Beach… each environment has its variants and children will easily recognize the different locations featured in the series. However, it should be borne in mind that the 3D Clouds studio is used to mobile productions and that at no point does the whole thing take advantage of the power of new generation consoles. It’s not ugly, it runs well, but the special effects or physics models are very basic. The circuits lack life and when the overall atmosphere succeeds with vocals (albeit a quick headache) and catchy music, we quickly feel the lack of resources put into this production. The vehicles tend to be a bit heavy too, even if you get used to it. But in our opinion the biggest problem with this game is its lifespan. We’re bypassing this way too quickly and the studio has gone for a great classic: each reward is unlocked by completing the entire adventure mode! In other words, to unlock everything, you have to stuff yourself with the same (long) mode more than 10 times! Whether for an informed player or the target audience, it’s way too repetitive! Pat’Patrouille Grand Prix is a game intended for small children and only for them. There’s even an autopilot mode that can be activated during the race over the pause. For parents who own an Xbox and subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, the game can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Services Catalogue. What you can imagine about this title that will appeal to our little ones.
The game is graphically quite decent, but it never exploits the theoretical power of current machines. The budget obviously wasn’t huge.
Conclusion
Points cont
- The world of Paw Patrol well transcribed
- Very accessible for children
- Autopilot for toddlers
- French dubs
- 4 simultaneous local players
weak points
- A game too “mobile” for a console and PC title
- Circuits lack life
- Too little content (game modes, tracks, etc.)
- Few official voices and dialogues that are too repetitive
- Spin adventure mode 10 times to unlock everything
- Lack of madness, lack of game modes
Intended for the youngest, the Pat’ Patrouille Grand Prix lives up to its specifications, but never indulges in close overtaking. Picking up the clichés of the likeable racing game à la Mario Kart, the work of 3D Clouds captures the atmosphere – both visually and aurally – of the animated series and will convince all our little ones, who will melt for Ryder and his rescue dog squadron. After 5 or 6 years the title doesn’t last much longer due to a lack of insanity, an artificially extended lifespan (we wring out the adventure mode to unlock pilots and cosmetics) and several game modes that are far too weak. For the goal, it gets the job done, nothing more, nothing less.
The opinion of the readers
Give your opinion on the game!
Table of Contents
