Take a legendary Formula-One champion like Michael Schumacher and put him in an undersized machine and you may have the impetus for light-hearted fun. Not so. Michael Schumacher’s Kart Challenge 2005 is challenging, frustrating and intense action that belies the speed of the machine and tries to render sprint action on a grand scale.

But Merscom, 10T and Inverse Entertainment’s model is slightly flawed, and while the PC game is wonderfully rendered, it lacks the nuances that truly make for a challenging title.

The game itself is rather skimpy when it comes to options. You do not have a lot of initial choices when in customizing your driver. As for game modes, there is the quick race, practice and career. The options also allow you to customize the control settings for the keyboard, a gamepad or wheel. There is a tremendous amount of difference between the controllers. The keyboard seems sluggish in controlling the kart as compared to the gamepad, which is almost ultra sensitive. The wheel is much easier.

There are 17 courses spread throughout the world, and the idea in career mode is to rack up points on the beginning courses and advance.

Graphically the game is very good. Throw out the default graphics settings and bump the resolution for a game that has excellent effects. Smoke erupts from the rear of the kart, skid marks are left and the overview of the track is excellent. But some effects are noticeably missing. When one looks at the kart itself, it is rather light, and much like a pinball machine, leaning into corners allows you to hit them a little faster. While the animations may look like a driver is leaning, there is no effect on the kart, and there are no controls to enable it. That speaks to the physics of the game, which seem a little soft in areas.

The sound of the game is, for the most part, well done. The musical score sounds almost like the endless drone of a dance club, repetitious and boring, but the racing sounds are nicely scored.

The races themselves are challenging. There did not appear to be a difficulty level associated with the races, which is not a bad thing, but as you first start, you may be able to outmaneuver other drivers in the corners, but on the straight-aways you are toast. Your machine will not have the speed to outrace other machines. Unless you weave back and forth to block them, they will zoom past you almost as though you are standing still. If you do block them, expect to be bumped from behind – which can throw you in a spin if you are starting to turn into a corner.

Go-karts are not expected to achieve the speeds of the bigger racing machines, but with this game, speed is relative to the size of the tracks. The tracks are laid out rather well, though there are static animations dotted around them. The same spectator/official will stand in the same place, waving in exactly the same manner as each lap pushes you past him.

Michael Schumacher’s Kart Challenge 2005 is a nice diversion for a racer, not overly complex and a little on the light side when it comes to racing physics. It can be a tad frustrating, but the courses are well done, and graphically – for what it gives you – it sparkles.

Gameplay: 6.8
This is touch on the arcade side rather than a true racing sim. Load times are minor, and there is a difference in controllers when it comes to handling the karts.

Graphics: 8.0
Limited camera options hamper what is otherwise a sparkling bit of eye candy. Some of the physics of racing these machines are overlooked, which means that what you see is not necessarily what you get, but the tracks are well designed, and you will leave skid marks as you go through the courses.

Sound: 6.0
Please, lose the dance club music.

Difficulty: Med/Hard
This can be frustrating, until you really get the game down and start earning points in your career.

Concept: 6.7
The game touches on the nuances of the sport, but does not go far enough. The disparity in the controllers needs to be tightened up.

Multiplayer: 7.0

The game can be played with a LAN/Internet connection, but during the times played, there were tracks set up but no one on them. However, head-to-head racing may well prove more entertaining than against the AI simply because of a more leveled initial base, and human foibles, which do not seem as spontaneous as with the AI.

Overall: 7.0

Graphically this game looks very good, and it does play reasonably well. But the game has very little in the way of options and even at the beginning stages of racing it is hard to accrue points simply because your machine is not that good. Having the peddle to the metal on open straight-aways and being passed like you are standing still may provide the impetus to test driving skills in the turns, but can be source of frustration as well.