Man, that IGN review reads like someone that hasn't played the game or has an agenda. Let me respond to some points:
When it comes to actually racing, LittleBigPlanet Karting features some polished mechanics, but it's just not that exciting. Some tracks have crazy turns and sharp visuals, but most feel empty and forgettable, with long stretches of just driving and trying to nab the occasional score bubble. Like most kart racers out there, you drift around corners to get a quick speed burst, pick-up items to use them as weapons, and basically do whatever you can to end up in first place.
Modnation Racers had mostly terrible forgettable tracks on the disc. Hell, LBP1 and 2's retail levels aren't that great. The big draw of these games are the create modes and user-generated content.
I love kart racers and understand that cheap shots are a part of the genre, but I can't remember the last kart racer I played that frustrated me as much as LittleBigPlanet Karting does. There are a number of issues here. I'd deploy items like the Boxing Glove or Fast Forward Button (both of which propel you forward on the track), and I'd be slammed into obstructions at the end of the animation that instantly killed me. When I'd respawn, I'd be invulnerable for a few seconds, and as soon as that ended, I'd be blasted with a missile from a computerized foe and have no way to defend myself as I had just used the item I had equipped -- the item that led to my death and my subsequent spiral into last place.
Learn the tracks and use your items strategically. The same issues happen in Mario Kart; you can totally screw yourself if you use a mushroom or a bullet bill in the wrong spot. At least in this game you can block EVERYTHING, even the blue shell-type weapon.
But then we get into the game itself. When you best a race or a battle, a versus level version of that trial will pop up on the world. This is the one you'll use to play people online, but when you start unlocking the side missions and mini-games, the planets become overloaded with content and look a bit like a confusing snake's nest. Why not just have the one level ask me if I want to go online and race other people?
Because the story-mode versions of the levels have friggin cutscenes in them and have customized rules specifically for single-player.
This setup is one of LittleBigPlanet Karting's major flaws. Whereas ModNation Racers gave you an online ranking system to level-up in and an easy way to dive straight into races, LittleBigPlanet Karting doesn't. There's no online section from the main menu and no carrot on the end of the stick outside of individual race leaderboards. If you want to play online, you have to click on Story, the planet you want and then the race you want. After you've finished a match, you can vote on what track to tackle next.
In Modnation Racers, career (single player), splitscreen, and online multiplayer were all separate hubs. You'd have to exit one to go to another. In LBP you can just choose the online version of a level directly from story mode, or visit the community section for all the community levels; all of which allow you to choose to play alone or online upon selecting just like in LBP.
The system doesn't feel competitive. It doesn't put competition front and center, and that's what kart racers are all about. You want to dive in and mix it up with the weapons, ramps and shortcuts United Front Games have created, but the way the game is setup makes it seem like the story of LBP Karting is the focus and the multiplayer is just something that's there.
Uh... you unlock stuff for coming in first place... plus you come in first place, you know, beating everyone? You need to come in at least 3rd place to progress the story. And there are online leaderboards. And then there's all the friggin online stuff where you beat other people.
Seriously, this is one of the worst reviews for a game I have ever read.