Star Wars Episode 1 Racer Review

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(More customer reviews)This game seemed to come out of nowhere. I like to think that I know what's coming out when in the game world, and the sudden release of Pod Racer on the same day as Episode One made me a little wary. To be honest, Lucas Arts hasn't been the bread and butter in the game industry. Therefore, I was skeptical. Would this be a graphical tour de force or a shoddy port? Well...to be honest..it's a shoddy port. In an entire year for its development, Lucas Arts took a watered down PC version of Racer and slapped it onto a GD ROM. So now the big question is, should you buy it? Your decision to buy it should be based on your experience with this game. If you already own a version of it either on the N64 or the PC then you can look over this title and onto something a lot more tantalizing. However, like me, if you have never gotten your grubby mits on it, and you're a Star Wars fan to boot, then you should at least give it a rent. Let me go through the good stuff first. First of all the music is fantastic. Its tracks taken directly off of the Star Wars Episode One Soundtrack. The sense of speed in this game is amazing, causing motion sickness all around. Pay no attention to the back of the box. One of my friends was going 700mph at one time! The races start off easliy and get extremely competitive, and each time you initially take first place in a race you unlock a pod. The multiplayer is also smooth and very entertaining. With roughly 20+pods and 21 tracks to choose from, this will keep you busy for awhile. Ok, now for the bad. First of all, this is one of the ugliest games ever seen on the DC. I'm sure even a PC could have better graphical displays for this game. Lucas Arts did very little to even use the tiniest fraction of the DC's capabilities, which made me cry after seeing Sega's arcade version of Pod Racer (which runs off the Naomi board and is absolutely gorgeous). The framerate is at 30fps. First of all, that's unacceptable. Every DC racing game, especially this one, should run at 60fps. A game that advertises speed as one of its main seller should be flying when you fire it up, and we all know what the DC is capable of (we've seen Code Veronica, Sonic, and Soul Calibur). Shame on Lucas Arts for not beefing this bad boy up using the DC's power. They are truly messing up royally, especially since their last great Star Wars hit seemed to be Jedi Knight a few years ago. If I were George Lucas I wouldn't let graphical crap like this out of the door. This is actually a step back in visuals for the DC. It hovers in the "good enough" category. For my DC, that's unacceptable. Whew! So after all of that, am I going to keep this game? Hell Yeah! Hey, asside from its graphical flaws, I realized that it was good enough, and frankly the game's fun to play. I recommend it to anyone who likes racers, star wars, or is searching for a new experience. However, I seriously recommend that we write Sega and beg them for not only a version of THEIR PODRACER, but STAR WARS ARCADE as well. Lucas Arts has shown me that they can't handle the Star Wars License anymore. Lets leave it to a company that knows how to make great video games.

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At last! The first Star Wars game for the 128-bit Dreamcast letsyou participate in the famous podrace sequence (which was the critical highlightof the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace). Theselightning-quick vehicles are capable of reaching simulated speeds of up to 600miles per hour, while skimming a mere 4 feet above the ground. You can racealone or against a friend in split-screen mode, on over more than 21 coursesamong eight worlds. Take the controls as Jedi-to-be Anakin Skywalker, or any oneof over 20 podracers, and feel the full-force blast--while avoiding hazards suchas methane lakes, meteor showers, and the unfriendly Tusken Raiders.

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