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Pod Racer has Arrived on the DC, But was it Worth the Wait?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: April 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game seemed to come out of nowhere. I like to think that I know what's coming out when in the game world, and the sudden release of Pod Racer on the same day as Episode One made me a little wary. To be honest, Lucas Arts hasn't been the bread and butter in the game industry. Therefore, I was skeptical. Would this be a graphical tour de force or a shoddy port? Well...to be honest..it's a shoddy port. In an entire year for its development, Lucas Arts took a watered down PC version of Racer and slapped it onto a GD ROM. So now the big question is, should you buy it? Your decision to buy it should be based on your experience with this game. If you already own a version of it either on the N64 or the PC then you can look over this title and onto something a lot more tantalizing. However, like me, if you have never gotten your grubby mits on it, and you're a Star Wars fan to boot, then you should at least give it a rent. Let me go through the good stuff first. First of all the music is fantastic. Its tracks taken directly off of the Star Wars Episode One Soundtrack. The sense of speed in this game is amazing, causing motion sickness all around. Pay no attention to the back of the box. One of my friends was going 700mph at one time! The races start off easliy and get extremely competitive, and each time you initially take first place in a race you unlock a pod. The multiplayer is also smooth and very entertaining. With roughly 20+pods and 21 tracks to choose from, this will keep you busy for awhile. Ok, now for the bad. First of all, this is one of the ugliest games ever seen on the DC. I'm sure even a PC could have better graphical displays for this game. Lucas Arts did very little to even use the tiniest fraction of the DC's capabilities, which made me cry after seeing Sega's arcade version of Pod Racer (which runs off the Naomi board and is absolutely gorgeous). The framerate is at 30fps. First of all, that's unacceptable. Every DC racing game, especially this one, should run at 60fps. A game that advertises speed as one of its main seller should be flying when you fire it up, and we all know what the DC is capable of (we've seen Code Veronica, Sonic, and Soul Calibur). Shame on Lucas Arts for not beefing this bad boy up using the DC's power. They are truly messing up royally, especially since their last great Star Wars hit seemed to be Jedi Knight a few years ago. If I were George Lucas I wouldn't let graphical crap like this out of the door. This is actually a step back in visuals for the DC. It hovers in the "good enough" category. For my DC, that's unacceptable. Whew! So after all of that, am I going to keep this game? Hell Yeah! Hey, asside from its graphical flaws, I realized that it was good enough, and frankly the game's fun to play. I recommend it to anyone who likes racers, star wars, or is searching for a new experience. However, I seriously recommend that we write Sega and beg them for not only a version of THEIR PODRACER, but STAR WARS ARCADE as well. Lucas Arts has shown me that they can't handle the Star Wars License anymore. Lets leave it to a company that knows how to make great video games.

A Little More to Offer Than the N64 Version.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: April 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you already own Pod Racer for the N64, or have played it for an excessive amount of time on the Nintendo, you may want to pass on purchasing this title. However, if you haven't played this game in the past, or have played it only a little, then this is one racer that you might want to consider!

Compared to the N64 version, the Dreamcast shows advancements in 3 major areas: Higher resolution, better graphic display (smoother, sharper, and faster images), and the online component which allows gamers to upload their high scores on the Sega Dreamcast Network.

In my opinion, the most noticeable improvement with this version is the incredibly smooth frame rate. After having played a few hours already, I have yet to see any slowdown (this includes traffic situations as well!). The two player split screen mode holds steady at what appears to be 30 frames per second with very minimal (if any) slowdown in traffic. Quite impressive considering the detail of the landscape while traveling at 400-600mph! The detail of the backgrounds are pretty good but what makes them more impressive is that there is no noticeable pop-up or drawing of the landscapes as you fast approach them. I have yet to see a home console racing game that has been able to achieve this!

The musical score is top notch and better than any previous Star Wars game. It sounds as if it was pulled directly from the original motion picture. I can almost see John Williams and his orchestra performing as I crank it through my sound system during gameplay. The actual game sounds are decent, although I would have liked to have heard more of the various "engine sounds" from other pod racers. There really is no distinction between the various racers (such as Sebulba's unique pod engine sounds) as well as when one accelerates and decelerates. Everything basically sounds the same in this area. This was a major dissappointment area for me.

Controls are very precise and are quite frankly, excellent. No gripes from me here.

While I haven't spent numerous days playing this game yet, I have a feeling that the replay value of this game will span about two to three months depending on how much game play is involved. I could be wrong - but that is the general feeling I have at this point.

The AI of the game is probably what you would expect from a racer - about average, although on occassion a pod racer may try to ram you into a wall, and Sebulba may try to "fire flash" you if you pull up along side. Generally speaking, the competition is fairly easy for the most part.

There are 20+ racers in all, 8 worlds, and 20 tracks to compete on. Jake Lloyd does the voice for Anakin (although he really doesn't say much other than "HEY!" and "Yippee!"). Some race course obstacles offer a challenge to the game - some of which are Tuskan Raiders firing off rounds at you, rocks, caves, meteor showers, and methane lakes.

All in all, I enjoy this game. But this is coming from a person who hasn't played the N64 version very much. I would highly recommend this game to Star Wars fans and first time players of SW Episode 1: Racer, HOWEVER I would give caution to those who have played it on the N64 for considerable amounts of time - rent it first. LucasArts should have spent a little more time with the DreamCast version in order to offer some new value other than a graphically spruced up version.

Kickarse Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is probably the best game ive ever played of star wars mostly cause I mean hey Its on the dreamcast and thats all u need! Graphics, Sound, and All the best In game graphics and Cinema Graphics combined! So if u add Star Wars to it! You know ye gonna love it! If you dont buy this ye a fool! FOR ALL THOSE NEGATIVE VIEWERS FLAMING THIS!! Your all nothin but a bunch of Sad Sad Star Wars hating Munchkins... 'Tis a pity.

-A figment of ye Imagination

Boring

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: July 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

It was fun for about two or three races after that it got very boring and very repetitive. Probably better for younger kids but older gamers will lose interest fast. Save your money. This game's a waste.

A good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I see all these people writing and saying it was too hard. Man, they must be crazy. Yes it's a challenging game but NEVER has a game been so fast! This is what pod racing should be! You won't fing a faster game on the dreamcast. Not only will you see all of the racers from the movie, which sucked, my opinion, but about 10 other racers with the craziest pod designs you could imagine. And the stages are so well animated, over 12 of them. And the options let you create the perfect pod racer. Well, upgrade the perfect racer at least. Look, if you buy this game, you won't be disappointed. But, if your saving for a PS2, wait for something more in depth. A game that the other "gamers" couldn't handle.

600+ MILES PER HOUR, 4 FEET OFF THE GROUND, ONE CHANCE.....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is SAWEEEEET! I think that this game is the best I've ever played. Get it now, because Nintendo bought Sega and is goin' outta production...

Very above average! Good gameplay.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is extremely enjoyable if you've played N64. The courses are varied and offer challenge and make the player concentrate. Some courses are very hard and nearly unbeatable if one doesn't memorize them, as I do. In my personal opinion, it is an honor for an amateur to place 4th in the Amateur podracing circuit. It is even more so if they place 7th in the Galactic and Invitational circuits. So, it is pretty fair. All the podracers to choose from are top notch, but the best armor and durability goes to a player named Gasgano. (If you disagree, there are many choices) This is the player I use the most on the more advanced courses. If you are a beginner, go with Anakin Skywalker.
Go buy this game if you like good, technical fare.

a good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

the graphic a below advage for dreamcast but the game play fun and different form other raceing games because you have to find the quickiest route .Your pod take on damage and boosting is fun.

Good Game for the Money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I really liked the game. It's not too tough. Not gory. Not aggravating. It was just engaging enough. ...

One of the best racing games that ever hit the market!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 15
Date: March 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I havn't played Podracing for dreamcast yet, but from what I've played on the computer and the N64 I think that it's my favorite racing game that I've ever played! It's graghics on the N64 were pretty good so I can't even imagene what the graghics would be like for dreamcast. I think it's a challenging game because you have to buy and sell parts of podracers and it has all the podracers from Episode 1 such as, Subulba (My personal favorite ¦)), Anikan, Gasgano and a whole lot more!

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