Star Wars: Episode I Racer Developer: LucasArts Publisher: Activision Category: 3D Star Wars Racing System Req: P200, 64mb Ram, D3D/3dfx card, Win95/98 Might look like: Roque Squadron Date posted: September '99 Written By: Pieter - This game was tested on PlayDevil.com Game Machine - A little Introduction I think everyone has seen the movie or is going to see it. So the movie came and of course LucasArts has brought us some excellent games based on the movie, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode I: Racer. I could choose which game I would like to review and I chose the racer game, because I played Phantom Menace and oh my god, I quitted the game immediately. Not because it's a bad game, but I don't like that kind of game with a camera view like in Tomb Raider but I'm not here to give comments on the games, I'm here to review the other SW game, namely Episode I Racer and I must tell you, the game is awesome, I just can't get enough of it. Let me tell you why. At 500-plus miles per hour!! When you run the game there is some background music of Star Wars which is always a pleasant thing to hear. In the menu you can choose between Tournament Play or Free Play. In TP you can choose between 5 tournaments, each filled with 7 great races where you have to qualify at least 4th to proceed to the next race. But that isn't quite a problem because when I played the game for the first time I always won. So if you're also a hardcore-racing-freak you won't have a problem with qualifying. After each race you get some credits which you can use to buy some extra's for your kind of a weird race-car. You can buy upgrades like acceleration, top speed, turn, etc. You can also change your vehicle after each of the races. The car you're using is a weird thing, it is more like a 'pod'. I can't really explain it but you'll see what I mean when you take a look at the screenshots. It's weird but cool. You have the opportunity to select one of 12 different vehicles. In each race you have to race only 3 laps, but some of the races are quite long and the opponents aren't quite intelligent in the first 7 races so you can easily win within 3 laps.    After the 1st tournament you proceed to the second where you have to race another 7 tracks, but in these, the opponents are somehow a bit more difficult. In the 1st tournament you become easily the winner but in the tournaments thereafter it's hard to qualify as the 4th. Your opponents aren't 20 seconds behind anymore, now they are just in your back. From the moment you crash or hit the wall you'll lose speed and they pass you and the problem is that they race per 2 or 3 so if you are the 1st and you crash you easily become in the 4th position or even worse, you become the last one. If so, you can forget it to become the first again 'cause you're about 30 seconds behind the 1st. The 1st tournament is for amateurs, the 2nd is for semi-professionals etc. If you choose 'Free Play', you can race the tracks you want to race, but you can't race them before you qualified it in TP so first play all tournaments, then play the tracks you desire. Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. Any problems and/or suggestions are always appreciated on webmaster@playdevil.com Nothing of this entire Site, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, written or otherwise without the prior permission of PlayDevil. Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners. All Rights Reserved. PlayDevil Productions © 199/8-199/9 "rip your own stuff"