Ben 10 Ultimate Games

We got a chance to preview the new title and get some hands on Omnitrix/Ultimatrix action. Ben 10 Galactic Racing introduces a slightly modified story to the Ben 10 universe. Instead of an earth adventure, Ben Tennyson is called upon to participate in a inter-Galactic race (you could probably have figured that out from the title). The race takes place every 1000 years. This story introduces a new alien character to the universe named Fasttrack, while giving old-school alien Diamondhead a video game debut.

The game has 25 playable tracks. You can play as both Ben and Kevin Levin (Kevin 11). Surprisingly, and unfortunately, Ben’s cousin Gwen is nowhere to be found. It’s a little upsetting to see that the crew’s main Anodite is not there to use any of her mystical powers. There are also 13 aliens available to play with for a total of 15 characters. Familiar aliens like Spidermonkey, Rath, Big Chill, Swampfire, Cannonbolt and Galvan are all there. Yes, Galvan made his way into the game and not Gwen. Gamres will have access to a handful of ultimate transformations including Ultimate Humungousaur and Ultimate Echo Echo. Each character has 2 carts each, a heavy and a light version. There are also six extra unlockable karts. Fans will be delighted to know that they can unlock the “Rust Bucket”, Grandpa Max’s famed RV. Where’s Grandpa Max and who gave Kevin and Ben permission to drive his Rust Bucket?!

Controls are easy to pick up if you’ve played a kart racer before. You can perform power slides and grab power ups. One power up allows you to toss vines out in front of you that spring up and attack karts ahead of you. It’s like tossing a turtle shell but more animated.

Each player has an offensive and defensive power bar. Performing power slides will fill up the blue defensive bar while performing stunts will fill up your offensive meter. Stunts are easily performed by flicking the right thumbstick while coasting off of an elevated ramp. Kevin’s defensive power is unique to his Osmosian ability. He can turn into metal to protect himself. I couldn’t tell if he was turning into Taedenite (the hardest gem in the Ben 10 world, which trumps diamond) or platinum. Suffice to say Kevin 11 was relatively impervious. Seeing Kevin show off his Osmosian powers made me miss Gwen’s Anodite powers even more. Really, who dropped the ball?