Played the demo and much improved over the first game. Different vehicle types makes for some great variety within stages. Just wish there were no weapons. Hate that shit no matter what racing game.
I don't like weapons either, but Transformed's are fairly balanced imo. Nothing is stupidly overpowered like a few of the items you see in MK for example, it's all just basic homing missles, green turtle shells, banana peels and boosts. The All Star item can be a game changer, but they mostly give that to people who are way behind, so it's not too bad. And aside from that, the racing itself is much more involved than any other kart racer I've played (even MKDS), so you can make up for a few weapon hits if you're drifting, doing tricks, boost chaining, using shortcuts, etc.
There's also a game mode where all of the item pickups are replaced with more boost pads, so it's perfect if you want a pure racing game. I'd bet that's the most popular mode for online multiplayer (I never looked).
