Mario Kart Wii supposedly has the casual ’cartoon combat racing’ genre locked up tight, but that’s only true if you look among retail games. Heracles Chariot Racing on the other hand is only 800 Wii Points/$8 on WiiWare, and offers a similar but admittedly trimmed down experience. Like most games of its kind, it favors a very exaggerated and whimsical art style, in this case somewhat based on Greek mythology. And like most other casual racing games, the controls are easy to learn; one button accelerates, one brakes, one jumps (yes, your chariots can jump), another uses attack items, and a mix of the analog stick and tilting your Nunchuk handle steering. You get nine characters to choose from, and while they all play similarly they do have their own advantages and shortcomings.

One thing Heracles does much better than Mario Kart Wii is the items and obstacles. You can still get hit by several in sequence, but it’s far less common here than it is in Mario Kart. This means that minor mistakes, or simply being the target of everyone’s wrath, doesn’t keep you out of the action for as long as it could and that’s definitely a good thing. You also get about five courses to race on, though each ’Trophy’ (circuit) of races does make moderate changes to the courses for a partially new experience. Each race will last about two to three minutes, so things are kept pretty fast paced.

You also get Time Trials, and a basic Battle Mode across one of five arenas. While this may not sound like a lot of content, one has to bear in mind the game only costs eight dollars so you’re getting a fair number of tracks and modes to play with. The only real problem is that you will need other people to play with; racing the AI is only entertaining for so long. The multiplayer is competent albeit bare bones, splitting the screen for each racer. Online play is not offered, and the only controls allowed are a Wiimote plus Nunchuk. Still, if you have enough of those to go around, this is a decent game to play with friends and family.

Additional comparisons to Mario Kart Wii are inevitable, given Heracles is in the same genre of casual racing mixed with combat by items. Heracles may be much lighter on content, but it’s also lighter on the wallet, costing a mere eight dollars. With that low price tag combined with an apparent lack of serious competitors in the WiiWare catalog, Heracles stands out. It’s definitely a competent game of its kind, and worth a look if you want a solid racing game suitable for all types of players.