Speed Racer: The Videogame
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Developer: Sidhe Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Racing (Arcade)/ Themed
Graphics & Sound: Speed Racer: The Videogame feels like an F-Zero game with more contact and a movie license attached to it. Consequently, while it isn't a great game, it isn't all that bad and has a few good points to it. While the game doesn't look as good as it would on other systems, it still has all the glitz and sparkle that makes the license stand out. Race tracks are twisted and colorful, and seem to be inspired by Hot Wheels tracks more than standard raceways, while the cars resemble their movie counterparts pretty well. The characters look more like modernized versions of the classic cartoon series then faithful replications of the movie actors, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. Sound is one of Speed Racer's strong points. The roar of the engines sounds good and is only really surpassed by the in-game one-liners of the other racers. Each of the characters are voiced by the same actors from the movie, and while there isn't a lot of dialogue, what is there is timed right and doesn't get annoying. During races, overtaking opponents will cause them to shout an exclamation or vow vengeance; meanwhile if you pass an ally, they will cheer you on. I found both your allies and rivals had just the right amount of annoyance in their voice when you tapped into them. It might be a minor element to the game, but Speed Racer's sound makes the game feel a bit more than just a racing game with the Mach 5.
Gameplay: Speed Racer: The Videogame actually does a fair job at being just a racing game. Instead of trying to incorporate the plot of the movie into the game in any fashion, there is no Career or Story Mode, just pure racing, which I kind of like since one of the typical pitfalls of movie tie-ins seems to be trying to get too much of the movie into the game at the expense of fun gameplay time. Races are a bit more than simply driving around a track since you can perform various moves to try and knock opponents around and slow them down. These maneuvers are called Car-Fu, and consist of various jumps and slides on the track. Knocking other drivers around will earn you boost, but there is also an interesting ally system built in. At the start of each race, there is a list of racers who want to ally themselves with you. If you accept the relationship, then they will try and not hit you, and can even help run interference when non-allied or rivalry drivers are in the area. You can also break the allegiances in a couple of different ways. One is simply saying you don't want to be an ally before the race starts, and the other is to give them a good knock during the race. If you annoy them too much, they will start going after you. This adds an interesting element to the game, because while you might be doing everything you can to get ahead of the pack, you will want to avoid performing Car-Fu attacks on allied vehicles. There are a couple of Gameplay modes, but they are all fairly straightforward and self-explanatory. Single Race lets you compete on any unlocked track and with only the drivers you have available in the other modes. Tutorial Mode does a pretty good job of starting you off on the basics and then gradually showing you how to do some really nice looking Car-Fu attacks. Time Trial mode tests your speed as you try and beat previous records, while Championship allows you to compete in different competitions where your final score at the end of several races is what counts. In this mode, you will earn points not only because of your position in a race, but for your Car-Fu attacks as well.
Difficulty: Speed Racer: The Videogame's difficulty comes in two parts, the handling of the vehicles, and the A.I. of the other drivers. As far as the vehicles are concerned, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Each vehicle and driver has their own set of stats. What works best depends on your driving style, but the controls aren't slippery and they do a fairly good job of giving you smooth handling of the vehicles, even when you boost over 300 MPH. As far as the A.I. is concerned, it seems to be pretty intelligent. Allies will move in to block rivals when you need it and opponents will do whatever they can to knock you out of the race, but not at the expense of their own victory. The only major problem I had was the very obvious rubber band effect. There were too many times when I made major progress ahead of the rest of the pack and felt like first place was assured, only to have the rest of the racers suddenly appear by my side before the home stretch. Unfortunately, this effect isn't duplicated when you are behind. The rest of the racers don't slow down when you are in last place, so if you fall behind, you are likely to stay there.
Game Mechanics: Speed Racer: The Videogame's controls seem to take a lot from Mario Kart Wii, or maybe it's just the fact that using Mario Kart's wheel helps to give it the same feel. Holding the controller horizontally (either in the wheel or not), you use the (2) button to accelerate and the (1) to brake. The (B) button activates the boost, and tilting the controller left and right acts like a steering wheel. Performing various Car-Fu attacks involve quick jerks of the controller in various directions, sometimes in combination with the D-pad. For instance, if you just want to just jump forward (like over a car), you just jerk the controller up quickly. But if you want to perform a flip and hope to land on a vehicle in order to knock it out, you hold down the right direction (which would be up when holding the controller sideways). As you play through the game and experiment with different combinations of juking and button pressing, you will find yourself performing some fairly spectacular attacks, but just be aware of the other vehicles and where they are, because they can just as easily attack you. Oddly enough, Speed Racer: The Videogame might be one of those rare titles that are actually better than the movie license it is tying into. But that doesn't say a whole lot considering the quality of the movie. In the end, Speed Racer's F-Zero feel should make a good bit of people happy, and its lack of trying to force the movie's plot into the game helps things out as well. Racing fans should at least check this title out, but I doubt anyone will be impressed enough for the dollar amount to purchase.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Deca Sports Europa Universalis: Rome