Customer Reviews

Indianapolis 500 Legends

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The missions are very addictive. High intensity racing made even more fun with using the Wii remote as the steering wheel, controls very responsive, and the AI is VERY good, I was cursing out the Clown Prince within 40 minutes of picking it up.

Graphics a bit challenging, but overcome by gameplay. The old cars are GREAT, and the crashes can be downright FRIGHTENING AND EERIE, flaming infernos and all just like you saw in those old Indy race films (where some drivers died). The drafting and slingshotting is intense.

The Pit Challenges are nothing more than a point and turn exercises, but at least its something different in a racing game.

A very different game packaged with a racing history lesson. Does justice to the Cathedral of Speed, any Wii owner who is a race fan MUST have this game in their collection just for the history alone, the excellent gameplay is just icing on the cake.

GET IT. This is a very good Wii game.

I really enjoyed playing this game. The track looks great ... the cars are realistic and fun ... the AI is great to play against. Then I played it in multiplayer mode.
When you get to play this in two-player mode, the graphics start to drag ... big time. My friend and I felt like we were out to a Sunday afternoon drive. I wish the developers would have put more time into making sure that this game plays well at all levels. Buy this game, but don't get it for multiplayer racing. That part sucks.

Until now the only racing game that was fun and used the wii controls well was excite truck. This game uses the controls in the same way, holding the remote sideways and steering like a steering wheel.

Its sensitive to movement and the game is both easy to learn but challenging to be good, which is a balance that is hard to achieve without becoming frustrating.

The game is only able to support 2 players, and I wish it would support 4 but that's ok. The missions are fun and it's cool that you get to race as some of the legends and in some of the same situations that the Indianapolis 500 is famous for. For Instance if you pick say 1961, you pick a driver and one of the missions may be the same thing that drive faced that year: you're in third with three laps to go - beast your rivals. Things like this. The track and cars adapt to the years very accurately. I heard they scanned photos of the track and cars from each year and worked very diligently to make the game look real...it shows.

If you like racing games this is fun. It's not like Mario kart or such where anyone can have fun with powerups and such. This game relays on you actually racing like a real racer of the times. You need to find the groove, use drafting, slingshots and braking to win.

It's very well done, simple but complex, and cool. I can easily see myself, 25 and my dad 54 playing this game together and having a blast. That's the great thing about the wii and the great thing about this game. Car and racing enthusiast will love it.

I picked this game up a couple weeks ago, along with a Wii racing wheel. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was not disappointed.

The game isn't as high-end in terms of graphics, controls and modes as some of the long-time franchises found on other consoles. However it offers something completely different that none of them offer.

In this game you walk through each of the individual Indianapolis 500's run from 1961 to 1971, working your way through unique situations that the headline drivers of that race had to do. You have to qualify within a certain time constraint, you have to get through a multi-car crash within a certain time constraint, you have to run the last five laps and finish above a certain position... each of these 'missions' unlocks the next mission. After a few missions, you move to different drivers and the cars they ran in the race.

I like the historical aspect, the facts and the idea that you're having to face actual mid-race challenges that these drivers faced.

As others mentioned, the appearance of the cars is pretty cool. Seeing the suspension bounce like the buggy springs that were in place during those early years is also very interesting. The sounds of the cars are enjoyable and I also like the era-specific songs. (For example, 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival.)

You have the ability to adjust the volumes of the music and engine noise to your liking.

If you are looking for an Indianapolis version of Need for Speed or Gran Turismo, look elsewhere. But if you are interested in racing your way through the 60's at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this should be a lot of fun.

This game won't be for everyone, but if your like me and sick of the Need for Speed franchise it's a breath of fresh air. I'm playing this on a 720P DLP projector throwing a 10ft wide image and it looks great. I don't get where people think the graphics aren't good the most important things for me are the cars and track which look great. It is very impressive at the start seeing the entire field of cars as you take off. There is also a cool drafting effect that lets you know when you are in the right position. It looks kind of like translucent blue streamers coming off the car your drafting as you get closer they become thicker and change color to a more purple. It adds to the fun of drafting. Another nice effect is the occasional backfire errupting a bit of flame out of the mufflers of yours and other cars. Driving through flaming wrecks is quite well done also.

My only gripe is with the lack of analogue gas and braking controls. Its not the end of the world, but it would have been nice. The steering control is very good and even better if you have one of those wheels to put your Wiimote into for some reason having the Wiimote in an actual wheel even if it isn't attached to anything really adds to the control. The crash effects are fantastic and so is the in the car view. The music is nothing to write home about, but since the games features car engine sounds from the real cars that is really all I need anyway. The anouncer is pretty decent as well.

I haven't had a ton of time with the game just completed 3 missions so far so I will update the review later. Just thought this would help any Indy fans sitting on the fence.

Update

I'm halfway finished with the mission mode and having fun. I really enjoy the way they present the history of the Indy 500. The missions are addictive and now that I've gotten better I will go back and get golds in the ones I wasn't able to earlier. The pit stop missions can be a little tiresome, but overall its good fun. I really like the balance the developers struck between simulation and arcade. It's possible to damage your car, but you can still rub tires and bump around with other cars without sustaining any real damage. If you hit another car pretty hard then yes a tire will fly off and sparks will spray from the bare axle dragging on the ground.

The competition's AI is decent as well although they seem pretty vengeful at times after I've knocked them around a bit :).

I'm a little surprised at how many high rating this has received. Not that it's a bad game but it does get a little boring going around in circles on the same track over and over. We purchased this as a racing alternative to Mario and this is good for that, but we also purchased F1 2009 for the Wii and it is much more fun than Indy 500. F1 2009 offers more track choices and interesting layouts (rather than going around and around the same track). For the money Indy 500 is okay and thus 3 stars, but not as much fun as F1 2009 which I would rate 5 stars. If you want to purchase one, spend a few more bucks and pick the F1 2009 over the Indy 500.

Things to know before you buy:

1. The variety of cars and the differences they present add a lot to the fun, so much so that this is arguably the game's biggest draw. The period that the game spans ('61-'71) was an interesting decade of technical advancement and this historical tie gives the game real dimension.

2. As you may have read in the product description you have to unlock new cars and years by "earning" them through various missions. However, the missions themselves are fun and they effectively force you to become a better player.

3. The only negative (for me) is the pit stop regimen. Instead of having to master actually driving into pit lane correctly the game takes over control and "auto-parks" your car. Then you have to use the Wii controller to turn things and move things in order to change your own tires and add your own fuel. Hmmm. It seems that the authors were trying to add tension to the pit stop (which this does) but I am not in love with the approach. My opinion.

4. While you do not need the Wii wheel accessory, it does add a bit of realistic feel and it makes the controller MUCH easier to manage. You definitely want to get it.

GET THIS GAME. Tremendous fun for the low price!

Yeah, the track is monotonous. But the missions more than make up for that. Game play is great. 5 stars for fun.

What's frustrating is the waiting. Say you're trying to beat the devious 1961 Dodge mission. You wait 30 seconds for it to load and start up, and within about 5 seconds the other cars around you have banged you up so badly that you've failed. OK, retry. What's this? Another 30 seconds of load time? Cache the bloody thing, guys! Surely I'm not going to jump around from mission to mission; the most common case is to retry until I finally beat it, right? This costs 1.5 stars of overall rating, which I'm rounding up to 2.

I first saw this game when I was searching for a good cheap racing game. I found it! This game is easy enough to pick up quickly, yet challenging enough to make you earn your glory.

Plus - video footage from old races in between games, reality of game is believable.

Minus - you pretty much have to unlock everything, while I enjoy a challenge, my schedule does not permit me to spend hours mastering a recreation from the 60's where a driver narrowly dodges three wrecks in twenty seconds (to earn you the chance at the next level)

Overall a very good Cheap game, but you have to have the time to work at it and get the feeling of the controls.

This is a must have game for people who are looking for a good racing game and enjoy the history of Indy Car. But even if you dont, this game is really fun and takes racing game missions to a whole new prespective. There are many activities built into the game as you race, battle, pit stop and dodge cars to unlock more cars and more years of racing history and fun.

There is only a few things I can say stopped me from giving it a 5.0 rating...
1. When in the turns, sometimes it gets dark and makes me have to turn the brightness up on my television. This is more likely for the effect of the shadows from the stands, but it does make you nervous when driving 3 wide in a turn.

2. This doesnt pertain to just this game... But I wish a racing game would come out for Wii where you could customize your own race car. There is no customization in this game. You drive their stock cars and that is all.

3. No practice or free mode. You always have to be racing. There isnt any time to have fun and free mode drive or practice without the race setting. Which is upsetting cause like the old Nascar games, I liked to be able to do my own thing.

Overall I recommend this product to anyone interested in a good racing game! You wont be sorry for what you pay for it on here!