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Star Wars Racer
Dreamcast

Publisher: Lucas Arts
Developer: Lucas Arts
Players: 1-2
Difficulty: Easy
Camera: Rear Chase, Far Rear Chase, Front Engine View, Driver View



Additional Pictures
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Additional Movies
Movie 1
Movie 2
Movie 3
Movie 4
Movie 5
Movie 6
Movie 7


If You Want To Help Anakin Win By A Larger Margin Than In The Movie, Pick This Game Up



More Than 20 Racers Are At You Disposal And All Come With Some Great Looking Pods



All Types Of Galactic Worlds Are Able To Be Raced On




Control: (2.5)
Graphics: (3)
Sound: (3)
Replay Value: (3)
Overall:
(Not The Average)
(3)


With Complete Control And Graphic Let-Downs, Racer Loses
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past three years you should have atleast heard of movie Star Wars Episode One: Phatom Menace. Althought many people who saw the movie said it was the worst one ever, some, including the younger crowd, loved it. It was only a matter of time before the media would get ahold of such a great license. One of those media categories that has been untilizing the license to it's fullest is the video-game industry. Lucas has gone above and beyond the call of duty and, with the help of LucasArts, has released many games on all different platforms. Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer, released well over a year ago for the Nintendo 64, has just made it debut on the Dreamcast console. Should Lucas had just stuck with movies?

If you have seen the movie a scene that packs some major intensity would have to be the pod-racer sequence. I for one saw a game coming right as that scene was playing. Anyway, Star Wars Racer for the Dreamcast packs as much intensity into the genre but lacks a certain flare that would set it ahead of the current racers on the Dreamcast.

Gameplay and Background
Basically the story is simple; choose a racer, beat a hell of a lot of tracks, win, and become the great pod-racer in the galaxy. Right from the get-go there is a whole slew of racer, about six or seven to begin with. As you race more and more tracks on different planets, new racers become to rear their ugly Star Wars faces. Characters from the movie, you will be happy to know, are all in the game along with a few new faces. Of course Anakin is there along with Sebulba. All together there is over twenty characters to choose from each with his/her/its own type of handling, acceleration, top speed, etc. Also, each character has their own type of pod-racer that they use in the race. With the help of that little bug guy from the movie (forgot his name, sorry) each pod can be upgraded through a user-friendly upgrade system. Just choose which part on the pod you want to upgrade and how much you want to spend on the item and it happens. Although it is simple in design, it actually makes for a much needed portion of the game.

The game has the basic modes, like Arcade and Two-Player, along with a mode that lets you advance in the game and actually unlock new racers and tracks. Broken into four basic leagues, you can advance through each in any order. Each league is composed of seven different races spaning the galaxy to eight different locals. Each league gets progressivly harder to beat and after you win all seven races in a particular league (three in all) a forth league opens up which contains the hardest tracks of all.

Track design is great. Each planet has its own feel and look to it that seperates it from the rest of the planets. The planets include Tatooine and the Mon Gaza Spaceport to name a few. Also on each track there are loads to obstacles hindering your success like Tuskan raiders, methane gas leaks, and huge earth crushers. All of which help add to the level of difficulty towards the later levels. Finally, the tracks were all created with excellent jumps, bumps, and twists that help make each track a new experience. Flying off huge cliffs on one stage, floating in a vacuum in another, and dodging Tuskan raider shots helps the player enjoy themselves as they play.

Graphics
Over a year ago, Star Wars Racer looked great on the Nintendo 64. Today, on a more powerful system, though, Racer looks like junk. There are texture clashes, pixelation, draw-in, and horrible backgrounds. Only the actual pod-racers are things that catch the eye. Each pod has to jet-propulsion engines that move up and down, side to side as thrust becomes available. Also the way they hover above the ground is a neat thing to see because they are in constant motion, not just floating there motionless. Another thing that is food for the eye is the pre-race movie that was left out of the N64 version. Neat, short movies explain the race along with the high leader of that planet as well as the planet. Aside from the great pods the graphics fail miserably on a system that should be able to handle some great looking graphics.

Sound
If I have to hear Anakin say, "Watch it slime ball!", one last time I might lose it. As if you can not already tell, I hate the sound. Anakin is supposed to be the voice of Jake Lloyd (who played Anakin in the movie) but for some uncanny reason he sounds like the kid from Home Alone. Also each racer has about three sayings so if you play a whole season with one and attempt to beat each race you will lose your mind, especially after hearing the so-called alien noises. An upside though are the pre-race announcers who call the opening of the race by explaining the course as well as the track leader and sometimes your racer. The orators add a small sound clip here and there but it is not enough to get by the incredibly lack of quality one-liners throughout the rest of each race. Another decent attempt at background music can be heard in Racer. Music tracks from the movie were taken and placed in the game and it plays really well, sounds good too.

Control
Control is atroscious in the beginning because in order to handle a pod it takes some serious strains on the figures. Plus if you are confused easily you will not stand a chance at getting a hold of these bad boys. When playing you have to learn the boost which is essential in winning a race. While racing you basically have to push forward, hold the R button with your elbow, use your foot to control the A button, and hold the Y button down with your tongue. Well not really, but it is a lot like that! Also to take turns there is a certain button to bank hard. With all of this running in your head and actually paying attention gets monotonous and at times extremely strenuous on the head.

Overall
If I had to write a letter to Lucas Arts and have them forward it to George himself it would read...
"Dear George Lucas,
Please never try to just port a game from a weak system to a more powerful system again. It is not working. I would rather sticks toothpicks in my eyes then play the game Racer."

--Signed Anonymous
Now maybe I was being slightly harsh there but it is true. After playing the original on Nintendo 64 I can tell you that there is nothing new, at all. I suggest a rental if you like Star Wars. There is a lot to try to unlock and some tracks are enjoyable too. But if you are a racing fan and do not readily enjoy fictional games or Star Wars, do not rent or even look at this game.
-Nick Steinhauer






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