Pod Racer: Racing
Star WarsŪ Style!
Submitted by James
"Z-Man" Zamkotowicz, Kalidor 6
Published 9/9/99
Note: Images are courtesy of Lucas Arts official web site.
Click on images to view full-size graphics
Once again, Lucas Arts has released spin-off games for Star WarsŪ. This time, the games are related to the newest movie Episode 1: The Phantom Menace™. I was one of the many who pre-ordered the Episode One: Racer™ game, but one of the few that actually waited until after the movie to play it. (Granted this was because I broke my joystick a day earlier on a multiplayer game of Mysteries of the Sith™, and needed to replace it, but I still waited.) So I saw the movie. It was good. It obviously wasn’t the movie to end all movies, but it was worthy of the name Star WarsŪ. That’s enough of that, this is a game review, and not a movie review. So…Episode One: Racer™.
 |
| Anakin's (and you) ready to race! |
This game takes place in the world of pod racing--a fast, dangerous sport (imagine Ben Hur at 900 Miles per hour). You start out with a limited number of the pod racers/pilots available, and as you win levels, more ships become available to you. Also, in the tournament, as you win you win money. This is used to buy upgrades, and pit droids. (They put your ship together after you shatter it by ramming into a wall, or dropping into an abyss. The more droids you have, the faster the repairs and the less down time you suffer.)
 |
| Night racing on Tatooine |
 |
| Racing over snow in the
mountains. Losing an engine pod... |
Fun? Yes, the game is fun to play… for about three days. That is how long it took to me beat the game. This game’s long lasting fun requires multiplayer action, which I was unable to test at this time (Summer vacation means I’m home, and home means a very poor internet connection. When are rural areas (York County PA) doing to receive DSL, and ADSL capability?)
Graphics:
Yes, this game has excellent graphics, the kind that require a 3D accelerator (sorry, mom) and 32 MB of Ram. The graphics are the kind where you almost feel the pain of crashing into a rock at 900 MPH (or whatever their measurement of speed is).
 |
| Racing through canyons on Tatooine |
 |
| 6 out of 12, not good at all. |
Other comments:
Overall, what can I say; it’s a racing game. It’s made for fast reflexes and even faster computers. I liked the fact that I ran into no bugs in the programming or in the game (never did like the taste of bugs). If you have a fast internet connections that will let you play online, great. If not… oh well. It’s still a fun game. But you should think hard before spending $40.00 on a game that you’ll beat in three days.
I have played both the PC and Nintendo 64 versions. While the PC Version is graphically superior, and I liked it better, the N-64 version has the advantage of being a better family game. (4 people in the same room can play on the same TV at the same time.) For those brothers who are very competitive, there’s nothing better than hitting your boosters, and leaving younger siblings eating dust. (This is hard to do with the PC version unless your house has several computers and an equal number of copies of the game.)
 |
| Do you feel the Force as young Skywalker did? |
 |
| Feel the moment, feel the Force. |
Conclusion:
Pod Racer is fun, but might not be worth the money. (Maybe if it’s on sale {BG}.)
(James "Z-Man" Zamkotowicz is a lawyer-in-training / History major at the University of Delaware. While not cramming for the next battery of tests, the Z-Man flies Black Ops missions for Kalidor and contributes regularly with new stories and interesting tidbits about the Star Wars universe. He's usually the first to find out about the newest book, comic, or movie trailer release on the Internet. Hmmm… must be all those Bothans he knew.)
Fetching Results...
