Lego Racers
Reviewed by Roy Koopa
Next to Mario Kart 64, this is one of my favorite racing games
for the Nintendo 64. The power-up system is one of the best
I've ever seen. Like Diddy Kong Racing, you can keep getting
better and better power-ups. And the shortcuts aren't very
hard to find. It's mainly a one-player game, because you must
build your own car out of Legos, and it's basically about building
upgrades to your car as you win. The better pieces your car
has, the better chances you have of winning.
Graphics A
The graphics are the best of any racing game I've seen. It helps,
of course, that I remember building those sets, and the tracks
are straight from the actual sets. The cars that are actually built
look amazing, with parrots or treasure chests, or the actual people
themselves, which you build. The tracks have features like falling
towers, lightning bolts, shooting lava, and even UFO spaceships
that propel you backwards.
Music and Sound A
The music is awesome, and those annoying parrot squawks are
pretty good too. The voices remind me of the voice clips of Mario
Kart 64, because there's a different voice for each character
(even though Captain Red beard sounds Australian).
Game Challenge A-
This is a real challenge, because you must use the right item to
beat each character. Like for Red beard you must you shields, and
so on. Once you get the hang of it, (and get good items) you can
master this one without much trouble. One difficulty is turning
around when you get stuck, because there's no Spin-Turn like Mario
Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. You must keep getting those warps
to get ahead of your opponent, and although the computers remind
me of Mario Kart (they cheat really bad), you can win the races
with ease after a while.
Game Play-Fun A
The only thing I wish this had was 3- and 4- player modes, and
battle modes (like Mario Kart). It's really fun to build cool-looking
cars, and then blast your opponents with the cannon balls or rockets.
It's also cool to use the shortcuts, like the one through the waterfall,
that are not obvious at all. It's cool to battle it out with the characters
I played with years ago, and exploring the tracks makes it even more fun.
Frustration
It can get really frustrating after a while if you're stuck on one
particular race track, or running into a wall and taking an entire
minute to get out. It's also frustrating when you're in first place on
the last lap, you bump into a wall, and you end up in last.
Replayability A+
This is really worth playing again, because with the Controller Pak,
you can build a different racer every time if you want. With all the
different tracks, it's really fun to go back and find the shortcuts
and try a different route every time. It's a game that's awesome
to play with 2 players, because then you could leave behind Mummy's
Curses or shoot rockets to make a comeback. And you always want
to race again when you lose on your first try.
Game Value A-
This game cost me $50, and it was well worth the money. It
needs some more tracks for 2- player racing, but with the ability
to build cars and people, you get your money's worth
Power-ups A+
The power-ups are really powerful, more than the ones in Diddy
Kong Racing, because if you hit another color, that one is as fully
powered up as the other one was. My favorite is the warp, because
you blast forward in the race, from last to possibly first! The Mummy's
Curse is fun to pull on people, because it slows you down for a looooong
time. The cannon balls are better than the rockets in Diddy Kong Racing,
because these ones will follow the opponent to a certain extent.