Star Wars Racer Revenge

Pros • Great Dolby surround sound • Does a good job of encouraging a little bashing to accompany your racing • Interesting race courses • Easy to get into • Advanced control mode allows you to control each engine separately, just like the racers do in the movie • Good customization of practice modes • Even though the career mode is short, the game encourages you to replay it with different racers to unlock more tracks and racers, etc. • Cool sense of different Star Wars worlds	Cons • Once you master the short-cuts on each track, you are nearly certain to win • Doesn't feel as fast as the original Star Wars: Episode I Racer • Very bland and generic pod-racer upgrade system • Only allows two players • Probably won't hold your interest for too long
Bottom Line A slick arcade racer with Episode I flair; which means, like Jar-Jar, it is more appreciable by youngsters than by serious racing fans, or aging and jaded Star Wars fanatics--who, of course, would call themselves "discerning," never "jaded." With the bittersweet taste of Star Wars: Episode I long since faded, replaced with the acrid tang of serious concern over the imminent Episode II: Attack of the Clones--brought on by the trailer which seems to implicate Mr. Lucas' upcoming film as a cheesy adolescent love story--the spectacular pod-racing scenes of The Phantom Menace are old memories. I suppose anyone who recently purchased the DVD will have Anakin's triumph a little more frontal, and be more interested to test their virtual midi-chlorian count on their PlayStation 2; but for most, the appeal of Star Wars pod-racing has been replaced by dreams of cracking the Matrix, and desires to try out swords in Fellowship of the Ring. Oh, the fame of pop culture is a fickle flame; but so it is, and it is hard not to feel that Star Wars Racer Revenge, fun as it is, has missed its window.

Star Wars Racer Revenge is above all a quick and dirty arcade-style racing game: gas, brake, steering, turbo, gas some more... When you win races, you earn currency--Truguts, in keeping with the Episode I theme--that you use to purchase generic upgrades to your hypersonic sled. Each race has a number of shortcuts that will help you get to the finish line first, and there are various means of unlocking new tracks, pods to race, art galleries, etc. Like all arcade racers, there is a cute little cheat "assist," that keeps the other racers within reach, so you always feel like you are in contention to win. And, above all, you go fast; really, really fast. Rainbow Studios did add to that easy formula a few originalities like an advanced control scheme that allows you to control each engine with a different thumbstick, just as the pod-racers of Episode I control each engine with a separate throttle, and extra points for bashing other racers out of contention; but, if Racer Revenge wasn't a Star Wars game, such a generic little arcade-racer wouldn't even be worth mentioning.

Like all LucasArts titles, however, Racer Revenge is varnished with Star Wars mystique, and buffed with the soft shammy of LucasArts production quality, glossing with well-worth-playing shine. Each race is set on a different Star Wars world, which is introduced with flair, and the worlds have very different, and consistent-to-the-Star-Wars-universe terrain. The Dolby surround sound effects are excellent, and naturally, you purchase your generic (acceleration +1 bar) upgrades from Watto himself. Your opponents include Sebulba and others recognizable from Episode I. And, most of all, there is the cool factor of pod-racers: the ultimate hot-rods. All of this makes the game more interesting and enjoyable, entertaining enough to carry a couple of different characters through the quick and dirty little career mode. And dirty this game is, for Racers Revenge is one of the few racing games that manages to really encourage plenty of demolition in the racing.

It's a real crash-to-pass out there. Rainbow Studios has found a way to keep the computer-controlled racers close together, and mean tempered. There is lots of bashing, and that bashing frequently results in racers been knocked, flaming and cartwheeling out of the race. Watto, with his monopoly on spare parts even encourages this behaviour by offering percentile increases on your prize money for each opponent you demolish. It seems to take more bashing than you'd expect to wreck another racing pod, partly because of the droids who manage repairs mid-race, but all of the banging adds an extra element of fun to the race, and the extra strategic option--beyond the usual speed vs. handling possibilities--of spending all of your early races' winnings on defense so you can more easily bash other racers into lucrative scrap. Unfortunately, Racer Revenge only supports two players, so all of the multiplayer mayhem that might have been is seriously reduced.

In the end, any Star Wars fan will enjoy a weekend rental of Racer Revenge, as will racing game fans; but, like the Episode I movie, it will really only be loved and appreciated by the younger set, who will, probably though, really love it. If you happen to know a young gamer who admires young Anakin Skywalker, and has a stuffed Jar-Jar--as a favourite toy, not as a pin-riddled voodoo-doll--or anyone who watches and re-watches the Episode I pod race on DVD, Racer Revenge would be an especially appreciated gift.

Info & Screenshots