First Look: Muppet Race Mania

There seems to be no slowdown of the recent boom in cart racing games - especially ones that have cartoon characters attached to them. One of the latest to come through our offices is Muppet Race Mania, from Traveller's Tales. The game makes use of Jim Henson's Muppet characters, and as you can imagine, it is quite fun and silly. Today we're delivering some screens that show off some of the cute tracks and characters.

Muppet Race Mania plays quite similarly to most of the other cart games - you race around tracks while you collect power-ups to slow down your opponents. There are 28 tracks to race through, as well as four bonus tracks that you can unlock.

Graphically, the game seems to be on par with Crash Team Racing - a feat that isn't easily achieved. The levels are big and nicely detailed - each one resembles a scene from one of the Muppet movies. But even more impressive is the music - it's cool, but not something we're accustomed to hearing in games. Remember the music of the old Muppet Show (those big-band-style blues and jazz tunes)? Well, that's what you'll find in Muppet Race Mania. Surprisingly, it works well, and it actually gives the game a unique flair.

Enjoy these screens we've nabbed for you, and stay tuned for an interview with the developers of the title next week.