Renzo Racer from developer EnsenaSoft is an obvious clone of Mario Kart 8 from Nintendo, right down to the way the logo is designed. Nevertheless, the developer wants to put some eyes on their product during the developmental phase as they move through Early Access toward the full launch three to six months from now.

They’re targeting an early 2018 release depending on how things go, and they plan on adding in tournament play, additional secrets, more power-ups, along with both local and online multiplayer, depending on how things go.

They released a trailer for the game as well, showcasing how the physics handle and what some of the stages look like in their current form in Renzo Racer. You can check it out below.

There are 16 different animal characters to unlock and 20 different tracks to ulock.

Now let’s talk about the good and the bad.

The good is that visually the game has a distinct look. It reminds me of a 3D version of Apogee Software’s Wacky Wheels. The animals and karts each have their own unique look and that works well enough for creating a visual identity for the game.

Another decent thing about the title is that the physics appear to work as intended. The karts rock, yaw, swivel, bounce and bump convincingly enough. The developers still plan on refining the physics a bit more throughout development, and it’s good they’re doing so.

As for the bad… this game has a serious lack of speed.

I understand they may want to target casuals with Renzo Racer, but there’s no way hardcore fans are going to stay engaged when the karts move as slowly as they do in the trailer. If they can add some more speed options, similar to Mario Kart with the different level CCs for the karts, then they might be able to carve out their own little niche on Steam as a worthwhile racer.

We’ll see what becomes of Renzo Racer as it moves through Early Access. You can learn more about the game by paying a visit to the Steam store page.