“NASCAR Kart Racing”
Genre: Racing
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: Nintendo Wii
ESRB rating: “E” for everyone
Price: $39.99
Grade: B+

First off, let’s make one thing clear: “NASCAR Kart Racing” has little to do with NASCAR.

Sure, several of its celebrity drivers are represented and their cars resemble the real machines primarily because of the sponsor ads plastered all over them. NASCAR also allowed licensed re-creations of its better-known speedways to serve as gameplay settings.

And, of course, NASCAR’s bold, multi-color logo stars in big type on the box front.

Regardless, this game has as much to do with NASCAR-type racing as figure skating. Rather, it has the feel of a sport that only two guys in moustaches and overalls could master.

“NASCAR Kart Racing” features 14 bulb-headed animations of Sprint Cup stars and 12 cornball competitors in tiny cars zipping around two dozen different tracks, some of which only vaguely resemble NASCAR courses. Otherwise, the terrain varies from deserts and canyons to back roads and freeways, all of it decorated with odd little obstacles that cost points and time en route to the finish line.

Each player starts out by picking a driver and a teammate who help each other by providing power to pass rivals. The longer the pair stays close together “in the zone” on each course, the more “turbo boost” each driver acquires — measured by a color indicator in the lower left of the screen. When the indicator turns green, drivers can rocket from one position to the next and maybe avoid the oil cans and exploding ordinance the rivals hurl at one another.

Players compete in quick races, skill challenges or championship series. Victory in each — and only victory — unlocks new drivers, race courses, game modes and 62 different trophies, so there’s plenty to do in this game. Racking up wins in the series earns face time on billboards and track sponsorships at each course, establishing clearly who the top dog is that day and setting the tone for a championship run.

Big-head drivers. Outrageous track obstacles. Turbo takeovers. Any of this sound familiar?

That’s why NASCAR seems to play such a small role in “NASCAR Kart Racing” despite the name and abundant ad placement throughout the game. The feel and performance smacks strongly of every Mario Kart game produced in the past decade, particularly last year’s hit “Mario Kart Wii.” One might even think the former is a clone of the latter.

Of course, it is. But for the teammate play, the turbo-building powerslides and the NASCAR logo stamped everywhere, players might think they ought to see Mario or Luigi’s moustached faces peeking out from the grandstands.

Whereas such blatant copying in any other instance might irritate gamers, in “NASCAR Kart Racing” the duplicity actually works to good effect — something young fans of both NASCAR and Mario are more apt to recognize. And the teammate factor makes players think more broadly about what’s happening on each track than just watching Mario or Baby Peach or Funky Kong bounce around.

The weak spots in “NASCAR Kart Racing” are the multiplayer mode, the video frame rate and the character voiceovers. Up to four can play on the Wii at once, but then the screen appears crowded and the track visibility is reduced. (This being a Wii game, there’s no network play.) Worse, the frame rate declines with each additional player, and tracks not unlocked first in single-player mode cannot be used here either.

Then there’s the irritating voiceovers, which aren’t voices so much as gutteral grunts, squeaks and chirps requiring captions to translate. Sillier still, nobody’s lips move when they speak; one initially might think the noises are just a flaw in the program.

But hey, if you’re going to play anything with “kart” in the name, expect it to be silly.