Speed Punks

by Fun Com

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004RFBX
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 5 inches
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,692 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

In the past year the go-kart racing genre on the PlayStation has exploded with titles much in the same way that the skateboarding genre has. With this sudden deployment of numerous titles, all featuring their own cute characters in go-karts, power-ups, and extremely similar gameplay, it's been hard to keep tabs on which one has the most going for it. While Crash Team Racing is certainly one of the best of the genre, Speed Punks, Sony's latest kart racer, easily stacks up with the best. Actually, Speed Punks was originally released last August in Europe under the name Speed Freaks. The game was surprisingly successful - to the point where a special limited edition of the game was released packed with a multitap, making four-player games possible. Even though the game is almost a year old by technical calculations, it is still quite impressive in many areas. One area definitely worthy of praise is the game's physics. The vehicles move, bounce, and steer in a very lively way. You really have to pay attention to just how far you push the analog stick because if you get careless you'll end up smashing into a wall and losing precious time. That's not to say the game is hard to play - it's just not as forgiving as some of the other kart racers such as Walt Disney World's Magical Racing Quest. In Speed Punks, you still have to follow the standard formula of racing around tracks, collecting power-ups, and lining up for speed boosters, but at least it's a little more of a challenge since the physics really make it a bit more of an involved controller process to power slide, land a big jump, and line up for items. Items, tracks, and the other typical kart elements are all packed into Speed Freaks. The game simplifies the whole power-up system by making the items you get more practical and less wacky. There are two types of power-ups you can pick up over the twelve courses - items that make you go faster or items that let you shoot the other racers. The weapons in the game, such as heat-seeking missiles and machine guns, are self-explanatory. While the weapons sound ominous and destructive, the resulting effect is still as harmless as the nonlethal stopping power of one Mario Kart's turtle shells, fitting in with the cartoon nature of the game. Visually, Speed Punks is very nice. The tracks and racers look incredibly sharp even though the racers are composed of very simple, low-poly models. The game features a lot of cool lighting effects that give the game a very polished look and make the heat-seeking-missile explosions look really cool. Most impressive is the game's superfast and consistent frame rate that even holds true when there are four players playing. All that, and the game doesn't even have any pop-up. In the end, Speed Punks is a quality go-kart racing game that offers more than enough variety to warrant yet another kart-racing game purchase. The game's modes of play (tournament, challenge, time attack, and multiplayer) offer a great deal of options that carry the game a lot further than most of the other games in the genre. If you're a fan of Crash Team Racing and have been looking for another fun four-player racer, or if have wondered if any of these kart games are any fun, Speed Punks won't lead you astray.--Ryan Mac Donald--Copyright © 1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome addictive game, September 10, 2002

By 

AERobinson "AERobinson" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speed Punks (Video Game)

I'm new to playstation and this was a great starter game. I can't stop playing. There are 6 racers to choose from, my favorite so far is Monica, and then several different courses. You can do a single track or a tournament and much more. I highly recommend this game to new users. It would probably be too simple of a game to those who are more familar with the system though. If you liked Nintendo's Mario Kart, you'll love Speed Punks.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful kart-racing madness!, February 19, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Speed Punks (Video Game)

Let me start off by saying that this is one of the best kart racing games for PS1 ever made. The characters are creative, each with their own personality, (although their physical features don't vary much). And you gotta love soarin' down the track at 200 mph. Not to mention the arsenal of weapons and traps. And perhaps the best feature of the game, the shortcuts! There is a shortcut in all but one track! (After all, the motto IS "Whatever it takes to win"). Plus, hidden bonus characters to keep the player interested. The only down-side of this game is that sometimes it can seem far too difficult. For example, the final boss race, which I, myself, haven't beaten yet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exellent, but Way Too Difficult, April 29, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Speed Punks (Video Game)

Speed Punks is great, but it is too hard. The turns are too, especially in the hard level. Also, in the hard level the last 2 races, Grand Rapids and Sunset Isle they are almost impossible to win. The easy and medium levels are okay but the track designs in the hard level are outrageously stupid. Everything else is great. I really like it when you can challenge the bonus characters in order to be able to use them. They are Cosworth, the dog of Monty, Tetsuo, the Japanese guy and Beemer, the robot racer of Brains. There are 6 mode where you can race. They are tournament, single race, time attack, vs., multiplayer and bonus.