Product Description

Climb on, strap in and experience the pure adrenaline-pumping excitement of the Podracing sequence from Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Take the controls as Jedi-to-be Anakin Skywalker, or any one of over 20 Podracers, and feel the full-force blast of two massive jet engines at simulated speeds of up to 600 mph. Rein in a turbine-driven chariot through 8 spectacular worlds. Negotiate through flaming methane lakes, Tusken Raider assaults, anti-gravity tunnels and much more in a pulse-pounding, do-or-die fight to the finish where anyone will do anything to cross the finish line. How far will you go?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18127 in Video Games
• Brand: Lucas Arts
• Model: 65318
• Released on: 1998-06-23
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 95
• Format: CD-ROM
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 2.00" w x 5.00" l, .50 pounds

Amazon.com Review
Let's just for a second forget that Star Wars: Episode I, Racer has anything at all to do with the film on which it's based. Would it still have any appeal if you take away the movie license? The answer, almost surprisingly, is yes. This sci-fi arcade racing game is packed with high-speed thrills and a unique style of track-circling action that should get any racing fan's adrenaline pumping.

The game is based on the pod-racing scene from Episode I, which was arguably the best and most exciting segment of the film. Players enter a series of pod races as either Anakin Skywalker or one of his 20 different alien rivals--including Sebulba, once you get far enough into the game to unlock this bonus character. Races are linked in four different circuits, each more difficult than the last. The highest circuit, in fact, can be extremely tough.

Each race is a white-knuckled ride on the wild side, as the game does an excellent job of conveying a feeling of ferocious speed. It helps that Racer utilizes spectacular 3-D graphics to depict the racetracks and their alien surroundings. But racers can't waste time admiring the scenery: tracks are not always well marked, and it's all too easy to get lost and fly off the track.

As with most Star Wars games, the sound effects and music in Racer are top-notch. True, Anakin's cutesy voice can be annoying at times, but the other racers sound great when they complain as you pass them on the track. Watto the shopkeeper, the floating alien guy who sells new parts and upgrades for your pod, is a great character who chatters away humorously as you shop his store.

Overall, Racer is a game that can easily stand on its own merits rather than ride the coattails of Star Wars: Episode I. Intense speed, unique racing action, and excellent 3-D graphics make this one a sure-fire winner. --Michael E. Ryan

Pros:

• Unique, high-speed racing action
• Excellent graphics
• Pod upgrades
• Great sound effects and music

• Becomes extremely difficult at the highest levels
• Tracks can be confusing at times
• The voice of Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker)

Amazon.com Product Description
Star Wars: Episode 1: Racer lets you participate in the famous pod race sequence that was the critical highlight of the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace. These lightning-quick vehicles are capable of reaching simulated speeds of up to 600 miles per hour while skimming a mere 4 feet above the ground. You can race alone or against a friend in split-screen mode on more than 21 courses among eight worlds. Take the controls as Jedi-to-be Anakin Skywalker or any one of over 20 pod racers. Feel the full-force blast while avoiding hazards such as methane lakes, meteor showers, and the unfriendly Tusken Raiders.

GameSpot Review
The Force is strong with Racer, which succeeds as both a racing game and a Star Wars game. There really isn't a lot of competition for Star Wars: Episode I: Racer on either front. The driving genre hasn't had a lot of hits in the past few months, and the only other Star Wars: Episode I game is the disappointing Phantom Menace. But even if Racer had to compete with a host of other good titles for your interest, you'd still want to head over to Tatooine and suit up for the Boonta Eve classic (that's Star Wars talk for getting in gear for some pod racing). Racer is a fast and fun racing game, one that evokes memories of the PlayStation hits Wipeout and Wipeout XL. It has a little Star Wars flair to add to its appeal, but the pure racing action alone is enough to make this game a rewarding experience.

Racer's best feature is its speed. The tracks streak by at a quick pace, especially in tunnels, canyons, and corridors. The illusion of zooming through circuitous levels at 500-plus miles per hour is conveyed quite successfully. It's a sensation that I haven't felt since playing Wipeout on the PlayStation, and I think it's this similar evocation of speed that made me like this game initially. Then I discovered other things about the game that reinforced my positive opinion of Racer. I like that there is an appreciable difficulty curve in the game. The beginning amateur circuit is quite easy, and you'll feel really good about yourself as you race to the number one position in race after race. However, once you move up to the semipro and then pro circuits, you'll find that the other racers are more aggressive, the tracks much more treacherous, and the races just plain harder. Take it up a notch to the invitationals, and you'll notice the racers always taking the shortcuts and really banging into you and leaving you in the dust.

I also like the upgrade and parts-buying aspect. If you continue to win races, you earn money that you can use to upgrade your pod. You can improve turning, braking, acceleration, speed, and several other areas of your vehicle. Or, if you don't have enough money, you can go to Watto's junk pile and scrounge up some parts at a heavily discounted price. You're able to choose from a handful of pod racers in the beginning of the game, and more will open up for you as you win new races. I stuck with Anakin most of the way, but there are over a dozen racers from which to choose. They all have different ratings for handling, speed, and other statistics, but I didn't notice much appreciable difference between the pods.

I was pleased to find that not only were there eight different worlds to race on, but that each world offered a different track for each circuit. Thus, you'll race on the ice world of Ando Prime three times, one per circuit, but each track will be different enough to constitute a totally new challenge. The graphics for the game are good overall, although the trails left when racing through snow, water, or dust, seem awfully blocky and unfinished. Some levels look particularly good, such as the antigrav mining tunnels on the prison planet Oovo IV and the underwater cities of Aquilaris. Others, like the ghost colony of Ord Ibanna, could have been better realized (the fact that I couldn't fly through this track's netting to plummet to my death from the floating city really bothered me).

I would have to say the sound is decent, although I hated every time the race commentators cried, "It's a new lap record!" It made even less sense when I was in tenth position. How can I make a lap record and lose the race? Anakin's "I won! I won!" exclamation was grating at times, but I liked the angry cries of the aliens when I passed them, as well as their smug taunts when they passed me. Watto humming the Mos Eisley cantina ditty and Anakin humming the Imperial March were also nice touches.

But all is not well on the pod-racing circuit. As good a game as Racer is, it suffers from a few flaws. First, the minimap is bad. The entire graphic for the track map looks like some blurry port from a console. The track is shown as a blocky dotted line, and the competing pods are so hard to discern because they are the same size and nearly the same color as the dots that make up the track. The poor map exacerbates the second problem I have with the game: confusing track layout. Like I said earlier, I like pretty much all the tracks. They are colorful and make for some exciting and windy racing action. However, some of them are also damn confusing to race. Sometimes you can't tell which way you are supposed to go, either because the path blends too closely into the surrounding terrain, or there are no markings pointing you in the right direction, or certain graphic elements look like pathways and turn out to be dead-ends. The track map hardly helps because it doesn't show enough of the track. The third issue I have with the game is a request: Give us some weapons! This game would have been excellent if we could drop some spikes, bombs, or grease trails behind us to impede opponents. I understand that rockets and missiles wouldn't work because the pod racing is based on the movie, but LucasArts could have squeezed in dynamic sabotage, such as throwing garbage behind you or casting some grease bombs or spikes on the track. Once you unlock Sebulba you can use his side-shooting flame jet, and that wasn't even in the movie, so I know the designers could have tried to squeeze in a few more sabotage weapons.

Multiplayer gameplay is fun, because the game itself is fun, but without a way to add computer players to multiplayer races, the game loses some of its appeal.

Overall, though, Racer offers good gameplay. Its sense of speed is great, especially when you are whipping past corridors and canyons at 600mph. The graphics for the most part look good; the tracks are plentiful, varied, and interesting; and the racing experience is plain fun. -- Elliott Chin
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

A total blast!
Simply the best driving game I've played. Almost too much fun! It's terrific to play when you don't have much time to play. A race can be won in minutes or you can play for hours. Worth the $!

The Best Racer Game to hit the Market!
This is probably one of the most exciting and intense racing games I have ever played. Set in the Star Wars universe, this is definitely one that's sure to last a long, long time.

It's a surprisingly long game, although it didn't take too long to beat. It also has great replay value, and I enjoy it now just as much as I did when I first purchased it. Throughout the game, and as you advance through the various courses, you will be able to implement the money you earn to purchase better parts for your particular pod racer. As you advance, you'll also be able to select more powerful (and occasionally weaker) pods to test out. Run through each of them, and see which fits you best. It might be the difference between coming out on top, or being involved in the biggest explosion since the Death Star!

There's also an amazing score of wonderful John Williams music from Episode I. There are various tracks for each course, and they add an even better thrill to the game. The graphics are also very good, much better than on the N64. If you have a good computer, and a decent 3D card, you should have no problems. I have a 300Mhz system with a Voodoo2, and it rocked!

All in all, LucasArts has done it again! May the force be with you! (Believe me, you'll need it!)

Breathtaking graphics make you forget it's not loyal to film
If you think that the "Star Wars Episode 1: Racer" is an effort to cash in on the _Phantom Menace_ hype, you vastly underestimate the talent at Lucasarts. As usual, they top expectations and deliver something far beyond a merchandising tie-in. This is a product which pushes the boundaries of the racing genre. Take this feature-rich game out of the Star Wars Universe and you still have a thrilling, easily-networkable ride.

The large number of different racers with different qualties is somewhat _pro forma_ nowadays in the genre, but Lucasarts takes the idea one step further. By winning purses, you earn money with which to upgrade your racer. Thus there are a number of useful configurations which are only possible through victory.

The number and quality of camera angles is equally impressive. In fact, the cockpit view is downright revolutionary. From this vantage point, you feel the 400-mph+ speeds, and it's comparatively harder in this camera to complete tricky courses.

Where the game flags, I suppose, is in its surprising unfaithfulness to the film. There's no ability to eliminate opposition by "dirty tricks", and you can't disable the "i-crashed-but-now-i-have-a-new-racer" feature. The pod racers are absolutely indestructible here (though they can be seriously damaged) and that's a disappointment. I would've liked a "harder-edged" version--perhaps one you could toggle on and off--but it's a small complaint for an otherwise stunning effort.