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(More customer reviews)Believe it or not, I've been waiting to play this game ever since it came out in 1999, but my previous computer didn't have the required 3-D acceleration card. However, after I finally got it to work about half a week ago, I was completely blown away by the experience. For such low system requirements (compared to today' games), Star Wars Racer is an incredible thrill ride of a racing game.
Racer drops the player into one of the many podracers seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. All of the contestants in the movie are included, as well as their unique vehicles, and I think Lucasarts has even tossed in a few more, for more than 20 unique selections. Players race through 8 unique worlds and 21 tracks, culminating in the Boonta Classic race, as seen in the movie. Additionally, 4 other tracks can be opened up, for a total of 25. Along the way, as players win money from the races, they can upgrade their engines for better performance. Controls are simple, with the added twist of a power boost that can be charged up. And, whether or not you liked the kid in the movie, Jake Loyd returns to voice Anakin Skywalker (and Andy Selcombe returns as Watto) for true Star Wars authenticity.
Where Racer really blows the players away is its sense of speed. The graphics are detailed, varied, and amazing, and should run with no problems whatsoever. There are jungles, ice caves, volcanos, ruins, and industrial cities; the tracks go into zero gravity tunnels, underneath moving tanks, between propeller blades, through cities suspended in the sky, and more. The areas that must be seen to be believed, however, are the various canyon jumps. Ranging from simple leap frog jumps to rocketing across bottomless chasms, they'll literally press the player into the backs of their chairs the first time through, and wow them at the fact that the podracers don't shatter upon impact. I haven't played many of the current racing games, but for a game more than three years old, the graphics and feeling of speed are still nothing to be laughed at.
Racer, unfortunately, isn't a totally complete experience. The lack of the famous Star Wars music is noticible, and the podracers, though nice-sounding, don't have quite the punch they did in the movie. While all the tracks are unique, many of them feature areas that are similiar. You might go through a third of a track that's exactly the same as one of the previous ones you went through, before venturing into new territory, and then branching back into the same track. Fortunately, save for one, most of the tracks are different enough to justify being called "unique". And the game, while a great experience, is definitely too easy for the most part. With the exception of the last few tracks, most can be whizzed through within one or two tries. I didn't even have to learn how to break until after I completed the first seven tracks. Finally, while there's LAN, there's no other internet compatibility. How many of us have LAN at home?
Still, despite its shortcomings, Racer is an excellent game. The great graphics, sense of speed, and suicidal jumps make up for the game's other flaws. As one of the Lucasarts classic titles, it's now really cheap, and is worth the money even if you only play through it once. Great as in impulse buy or mini gift, especially for Star Wars and racing fans.
NOTE: WinXP users might need to check the Lucasarts website for a patch if they experience a white screen lockup at the start of the race.
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