Y’know, I quite like Garfield. I grew up with this sassy cat for as long as I can remember. I had DVDs of those weird 3D animated films and would occasionally come across a Garfield comic strip or two. This orange fella who loves lasagna is okay in my books. His iconic and lovable design is one of legend, as you can see from how crazy some Garfield collectors get. It’s all cool stuff—same thing happens with Snoopy and a bunch of other cute critters. Garfield has some insane staying power among those critters—but in more of a “why are you still here?” kind of way.
Recently, 2024 saw the release of a new Garfield movie starring Chris Pratt, and now in 2025 we get to witness the majesty that is Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift.
The reception and criticism of the first Garfield Kart seems buried under layers of post-ironic meme reviews, and I think that’s exactly why this new game exists. I can’t wait to see what a small corner of the internet does when this game hits full release. With that being said, let’s dive into my experience with the Closed Beta Network Test!
My Thoughts
Since this was primarily a network test, I’m happy to say that matches were pretty easy to find—I was queueing up with Garf Heads left and right! Occasionally, there were dead spots, but the game makes up for that by dropping you into a bot match, through which you can sneak a peek at some of the locked content if you really can’t wait for the full release.
As for the game itself, I gotta say it’s a cute little racer and it plays well enough for a kart racer. Expectations can be low for the genre, especially when there’s a big IP involved, but I’m happy to report that it’s fun. The depth of driving goes as far as including mechanics like drift boosts and ramp tricks (similar to Mario Kart), but with a lot less pizzazz. Which leads me to my next point.
It’s the presentation where I feel the game really loses marks. Although driving feels decent, it clearly lacks polish in how it feels. Some impactful interactions, like boosting after a drift, really fall flat. Game feel aside, I also think the game lacks a distinct visual identity. Much of the UI, UX, and effects could have been more engaging if the art direction had leaned fully into a comic book style. The most we get is a Ben Day dot pattern on the environments and models, which looks fine, but not memorable.
You get three characters to choose from, and I have a bone to pick. We have our main man Garfield (obviously the right choice), then Nermal (who I hate), and finally Liz (who I barely know). All I wanted was Jon Arbuckle, and I’m tired of being teased this way.
Currently, you can only play with one vehicle with a few different skins, but it looks like you’ll eventually be able to customize kart parts to optimize your driving experience, which should add some welcome depth.
All in all, I’d say I’m all Garfed out! I’m looking forward to seeing how the community reacts when this game launches, and I’d love to see what the full release has in store. Since this is just a beta, this could be nothing more than a nibble of lasagna before a much bigger… lasagna.