Lego Racers

Let it be known that I'm generally not into racing. Yes, it's true; a man who doesn't enjoy cars. Not even a little. I've tried various of them, and there's one or two title that I even respect(for their creativity), but when I tried this game(even to the point of playing all the way through it), it was at least partly out of respect for Lego. This international franchise which started decades ago out of a small village in Jutland, right here in Denmark... that impresses me. That creating building blocks(starting out with the extremely simple ones) can build(pun intended) such a huge business, and last for so very long. That, one has to respect. Heck, I remember playing with them, myself... owning countless of the sets that allow kids all over the world to create their own little medieval fortress, alien spacecraft or a wild West Sheriff's office(and that's only naming a fraction of the possibilities). Plenty of major franchises get the racing game treatment... South Park has one, as does The Simpsons, heck, following Episode 1, Star Wars even got a Podracer game. Naturally, Lego made one, as well. With the franchise being built on the basis of building blocks, it was a smart(if somewhat obvious) decision to let the player build his own cars(you can also customize the appearance of the driver, with a number of possible combinations). You are given a few choices of how the basic structure of the car should look, and after that, you have some sets of building blocks to use. Building a car(while it's somewhat limited how many blocks there is room for) is entertaining and a great creative exercise for anyone playing this game, regardless of their age. The game has a few different modes of play; Circuit(the main mode of the game; each holds four tracks), single race(which gives you opportunity to play the Circuit races one by one, useful for practice), versus(simply put, two players on the same computer) and time race(which pits you against Veronica Voltage, the ghostly record-holder, in setting a record for how fast you complete any track of your choice, of the ones you've already completed in Circuit). Circuit is comprised of six regular circuits and a final special one, with one only track, where you race the racing champion of the game, Rocket Racer. To complete a circuit, you merely need to make it through the four(or in the case of the last circuit, the one) tracks, making it into the top three. If you make it to first place, however, you are awarded the basic car structure and building block set of the reigning champion of that circuit(each representing a released and well-known building set genre, such as pirates, moon base, ancient tribes, etc.). Thus, a big motivation for making it all the way through the Circuit mode(and racing well enough to get first place on each circuit) is to get access to all the car parts. It would be a dirty lie to claim that there are infinite possibilities, with how small the cars are and how little room there is for pieces, but each player will still be relatively satisfied with what he can build, and there will be a degree of unique quality to some of them. The graphics are fine, and they hold up nicely. The control is simple. The programming of the cars movement and the physics of the game are a little disappointing... maneuvering your car is more difficult than it should be, if only a little. This will cost you some victories that were otherwise definite, and be a source of frustration to many. Let there be no doubt; if you are merely looking for a racing game, there are countless of titles that far surpass this. Play this for the fun, for the world it lets you travel to and to be allowed to build a virtual Lego car. The AI is rather competently programmed... the opponents will grow in difficulty as you progress through the game, and they employ the same tactics that are available to yourself to get ahead. Each track is based on some world seen in the available Lego sets, and, while there is little time to do so in the fast-paced racing across them, they are a real treat to look at. Intricately detailed, beautifully animated and thoroughly immersing. Some contain shortcuts, some outside dangers, but all look like you'd expect a track built there to look. Whether you're racing across an alien-inhabited planet or through a cursed and ancient tomb, you'll be hard pressed to find things that shouldn't be there. Lastly, the power-ups deserve a mention. Some racing games have power-ups, and, when dealing with franchises, the makers attempt to make them appear as something that makes sense in the context of where they're find and what they're good for. Here, it's kept nice and simple; they are in the form of differently colored building blocks of the same size. You can only carry one at a time(picking up a second one will replace the one you have, dropping the old in its place), and each is good for but one use. The colors are red(projectile), yellow(trap), blue(shield, that protects from the effects of the two aforementioned blocks) and green(turbo charge). These are picked up as you drive along, meaning, you need to be a skilled driver(and it doesn't hurt to know the track like the back of your hand) to get something good(and at the at the right time to use it to gain an advantage). Add to that the "enhancer" blocks... white blocks that bring your current(they cannot be used by themselves) colored power-up block up one level. Apart from the original effect of the colored blocks, there are three levels, each increasing the power. What the various levels of the power-ups are, I shall leave to be explored by the players. I recommend this to fans of Lego and/or racing games. Cartoony and fun. 7/10