Star Wars: Episode 1 - Racer Review

Feeling of Speed
Lots of Pods, Characters & Tracks
Upgrades
It's Star Wars

High Difficulty
Inconsistent Graphic Quality
Races Seem Void of Opponents

The most anticipated movie in the history of the silver screen has been examined under the world’s microscope for a little over two weeks. Was it good, was it bad? Chances are you have an opinion, even if you haven’t seen Episode 1. Let’s not forget that this is just a two hour piece of entertainment. It’s not a new religion. It’s not the cure for cancer. It’s pure escapism. Just go pay your $8, eat some popcorn and be entertained for awhile. There, was that so hard?

Now that you’ve seen the movie and formed your own opinions, you may decide to check out some of the games based on Episode 1. The first game available is Racer for N64. It is based entirely on the pod racing sequence in Episode 1 that Anikin Skywalker competes in against (besides nameless others) Sebulba to win money to help his new found friends. (I don’t want to give much, if any of the plot away, even minute details...we know how people can get.) At first you may think it odd that the first game is based on such a small part of the movie. But given the popularity of racing games these days, especially of the hovercraft type (Wipeout, F-Zero etc.) Lucas Arts and Nintendo know a good thing when they see it. Ka-Ching.

So how does one go about reviewing a game based on a movie sequence? Simple. Remove any ties to the movie and see if the game stands on it’s own. If this game was called Bob’s Intergalactic Racing Game would it be worth playing? My answer? Yes.

Racer is not going to win any graphical awards. Yes, it uses the 4 meg expansion pak but I found the game very graphically inconsistent. Some levels looked very nice, especially the ice worlds. Some other levels looked they were taken from a PlayStation game: grainy and blocky. Other levels looked great and then later looked grainy in parts. Of course, this isn’t a sight seeing game and good luck trying to take it at all in at 600-800 mph. I haven’t played this game without the expansion pak so I can’t tell you what it looks like sans 4 more megs of ram. I can tell you that there is a fair amount of pop in still with the expansion pak, but it’s rarely life threatening. IE: A mountain doesn’t just appear before you, giving you no time to dodge it.

Controlling your pod racer isn’t very difficult at first due to the ease of the first couple of tracks. You steer, air brake and accelerate. Once you get the hang of that, you’ll need to improve your skills by mastering the "boost’ technique, the ability to turn your pod on it’s side to squeeze through tight spots and the slide/skids that you can achieve with the Z button. Thanks to the speed of your pod and the dangerous landscapes in Racer, you’ll need all these techniques and a horseshoe firmly implanted somewhere on your person to win some of these races.

Each Racer’s personal pod has it’s strengths and weaknesses. This is the area of the game that will make it or break it for racing fans. If you want to beat this game, you’ll have to spend a lot of time upgrading your pod. Any damage you sustain will have to be repaired. Parts may be purchased new or used but you’ll have to earn money by winning races. The more time and money you spend upgrading your pod racer, the better you’ll be. And don’t forget to buy those valuable pit droids. The more you have, the more repairs those little robot grease monkeys can do.

Take note that Racer isn’t about you playing as your favorite racer all throughout the game. Oh no. Sure you can play as Anikin Skywalker throughout the whole thing, but that wouldn’t be wise. The trick is to unlock the different characters, upgrade their pods and use them on the tracks where they are "track favorite".

Racer’s difficulty jumps up fairly quickly which is why you’ll want to get to those upgrades right away. Some of those levels are down right impossible. You’ll need a good memory to remember the track layout, a steady hand and good eye to get through this game. Lucas Arts rarely fools around and this game is no exception. It’s just as tough as Rogue Squadron and we know how forgiving that game was. Just wait until you get to the Gauntlet areas. Ouch. You’ll really need the Force to navigate those nightmare regions.

A nice touch in Racer is the chance to re-visit earlier levels and race again as the game progresses. Look for new areas and shortcuts when racing the same planet twice.

Musically Racer is as inoffensive as it can get. You get another remixed John Williams score. A great pumping rock or techno soundtrack would really pump this game, but we all know that’s not going to happen. So we deal with it.

Complaint Dept. Aside from some of the graphics inconsistencies, my biggest complaint with Racer is the lack of visible opponents. Until the later very difficult levels, it seemed as though I was playing in ‘Time Trial" Mode rather than in Tournament Mode. I rarely felt (in the early stages) that I was actually competing with other pod racers until I purposely slowed down so they would catch up.

The two player mode is fun because you can actually get that "competitive edge" going. I wasn’t crazy about the graphic detail in two player mode, considering that I did have the expansion pak running, but it still looks pretty good.

Ultimately, it’s what you are looking for that will make Racer appealing. Those looking for weapon based racing like Wipeout or even Diddy Kong/Mario Kart may be disappointed. The beauty of Racer is the upgrades and the sheer speed at which the game travels. If upgrading your equipment is your idea of a good time, than you’ll love being able to supe up your machine. Those looking to relive the movie sequence will really have to work their butt off because the Tatooine level doesn’t really offer a challenge until the Gauntlet Tournament. I am going to give Racer high marks for it’s challenge level. The gameplay is addictive enough to keep you coming back. Lots of play value for your money. Also I personally liked the "sim" aspect of buying new and used parts and modifying the pods. If you think you’d agree with me and enjoy this gameplay, then by all means make a purchase. Those who are skeptical, take Racer for a test drive first, but be sure to spend a few hours with it.