13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good for fans of the genre..., May 16, 2001
This review is from: Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing (Video Game)
This was the game that finally got me to break down and buy a PS2. I like sort of wacky, off-beat games, and this fit the bill. It combines two things I'm pretty fanatical about: Kart racing and Star Wars. Since Super Mario Kart for SNES, Kart racing has been my favorite genre. The problem is that no game has ever exceeded the greatness of the original SMK. This one certainly doesn't. The presentation of the game is great. The characters all look strange and cool with super-deformed heads. They all make snide comments, taunt, look around and are very well animated. For all the criticism of the graphics, I must disagree. I think the graphics are actually raelly pretty cool for what they are. The designers were going for a cartoony look. The characters all have different abilities, and they actually do handle differently. Plus, each character has a special powerup only he or she can use. That does encourage players to at least try all the characters. The controls are smooth, and easy to learn, but of course are alittle "floaty" and different from standard kart games, because, after all, you are *flying*. It's a little like F-Zero.
There are some problems, though. First, the game is way too short. Sure, it packs a lot of two player fun, especially in battle mode, but the one player challenge is over way too fast. I beat all the circuits in about an hour and a half. After that, there's a mirror modes, a secret racer, trying to score your best time, etc. But the the thrill is over pretty quickly. One feature that the oiginal SMK had that, to my knowledge, no kart racer has had since was the way that record times were saved for courses WHILE you played the various Cup races. In all Kart games since, the records are stored seperately and only are affected by what you do in time trial modes. That little feature added a alot, in that it encouraged players to play the the circuits over and over again. Stunt Racer FX even saved an overall time for the circuit record. That would have helped here. As it is, once you play the circuits and get first in everything (which won't take long) you are going to relegate this game to the shelf until some human challengers visit. The game is worth holding onto just for the multiplayer, though. My second big gripe is that the game is a little buggy (like most Lucasarts PC games). The third track has frozen up on me several times and caused me to have to reset my PS2. Also, there are places in the game where you can get stuck and have to restart the course. The fountain in the Sheed city is a good example. There's no excuse for shoddy work like that!
Overall, the most important things is that this game is pretty fun and you'll either love or hate the *cute* factor. I loved it. I even liked Jar Jar. It got me to actually like some of the silly episode one characters, so it must be doing something right!
As a final thought, what's up with the Obi Wan's "surfer dude" make-over??? Some of the things he says and his new found valley-boy accent are really weird and don't make much sense....
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun in multiplayer mode!, August 4, 2002
This review is from: Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing (Video Game)
When you think of Super Bombad Racing, think Mario Kart ... but instead of little cars, you have cool little Star Wars ships. And the drivers are the various characters - with giant heads! It is TOO cute, and great fun.
There are the regular race courses, where you learn how to drive each character. They're all a bit different from each other, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Try to get through all the courses to unlock secret options and characters.
Like most of these games, though, it really gets fun when you bring on another human. Suddenly you've got a little Darth Maul chasing after a little Yoda, blasting away! With four players it gets even more hilarious.
A relatively short game on the single-player side, but endless fun with friends and family!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the usual kart racer, April 26, 2001
This review is from: Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing (Video Game)
From the swamps of Naboo to the planet of Corusant SWSBR covers the star wars universe. Lucas Learning has produced the most innovative kart racer since DKR on N64. All nine of the levels have plenty of eye candy like on Tatooine there are sniping Jawas on the cliffs, dewbacks and the impressive sandstorms. Also there is the option of driving all the courses backwards. I really liked the level designs instead of the usual one huge short cut per map there are several small ones and multiple routes per map. There are nine drivers to choose from(beat the galaxy circuit with Anakin to unlock Darth Vader) and each drives and handles differently. Also each character has thier own taunts and special weapon like Darth Maul throws his lightsaber and Obi-Wan can levitate the closest racer. There are five different modes of play. The Arena mode lets eight racers compete in a free for all on one of four different arenas. The controls were very easy to get used to. You just have to learn over 25 different gadgets to use along the way. So what are you waiting for pick your racer and blast Jar Jar into oblivion.
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