LEGO Racers

by Nintendo 64

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00001P4VO
• Media: Game Cartridge
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,255 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Product Description
As a kid, I often imagined myself strapped inside my LEGO creations, dodging family pets and chair legs at breakneck speeds. These days, virtual racing fans can simply load up LEGO Racers, build a virtual car from the signature block parts, and compete with computer opponents or a friend around tracks with such exotic names as Dark Forest Dash and Tribal Island Trail.

Players choose a driver based on preferred driving style, and then snap together their dream machine in the LEGO garage. Real-world physics comes into play here: adding a "wedge" brick to the tail improves aerodynamics, and placing a few extra bricks over the wheels adjusts the traction (prior LEGO building experience may come in handy). Each themed track offers unique racing adventures, such as dangerous lava geysers in the Magma Moon Marathon, with power-ups supplying special abilities such as oil slick deployment and turbo boosts. Beat a champion racer and you'll earn the right to pick over his or her machine for the best parts--just like my older brother's unwritten rule during our childhood LEGO playtimes. --Eric Twelker

GameSpot Review
Lego blocks are the little toy building pieces that can be connected to form just about anything you can dream up. Be it space ships, boats, service stations, or undersea cities, the only limiting factor to what you can build is your own imagination. So why not make a game where Lego characters duke it out on the racetrack a la Mario Kart? It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but plain gameplay and boring tracks make this game something even the most hard-core Lego Maniac should stay away from. Unfortunately, Lego Racers is just like most of the other go-cart racing games out there - even down to the modest gameplay. First you pick a car. Then you race around the track. Then you get bored. Along the way you'll troll through classic Lego sets, such as the moon or a giant castle. You'll even get to use wacky power-ups, such as the warp-speed booster or grappling hook. Still, it's cart racing at its worst, as the game forces you to exploit its own weak points just to stay afloat. The biggest draw of this game has to be that it gives you the ability to build your own racing cars. That's right, if playing with Lego bricks in real life isn't good enough, you can pick up an N64 controller and build cars in the electronic world of Lego Racers. But because of difficult controls and an unfriendly construction system, you'll soon find that building stuff is much easier in person, and you're better off just sticking with one of the default vehicles. Everything you would expect from a cart game is here. You can race a grand-prix style race, an up-to-four-player vs. mode, a time-trial mode, and a practice mode. You'll have to beat the different levels in the grand-prix mode before unlocking them in other modes. Things are pretty blocky in the Lego universe, and that shows here. Environments, characters, vehicles, and other oddities all share the same graphical ties to the toy blocks. However, the backgrounds and track itself retain a somewhat real look to them, making it easier to tell where you should be driving. The graphical look of the track design is innovative and cute, with tracks ranging from inside an active volcano to a dark forest. Still, the graphics are by no means stunning, and they leave a lot to be desired. Shadows and other pretty effects would have helped a lot. The music in Lego Racers is only barely acceptable, and it gets irritating rather quickly. Adding insult to injury, the sound effects are decidedly poor as well. What really kills this game is the horrible gameplay. All the Lego Racers handle like bricks on wheels - they seem to meander down the track, knocking into whatever gets in their way. On top of that, the power-up system is terribly lame. Power-ups are divided into four categories, each represented by a colored Lego block that you run into as you race. Other power-ups represented by a white block magnify your current power-up. The object is to collect several white blocks, get the power-up you wish to use, and then use it. However, your power-up changes as you run into different blocks, so you're constantly swerving to avoid the wrong power-up once you've obtained the right one. Unfortunately, only one of the power-ups is of any use - the warp booster. All the other power-ups are really quite lame and don't help out your situation. Also, the computer-controlled characters seem to have no limit to their power-up supply, as once you hit first place you'll be constantly bombarded with projectiles. This makes it almost easier to stay in second place and warp your way into the lead and across the finish line at the last second. The worst element of the gameplay is the plain, boring track design. Simply put, there are no good shortcuts or obstacles, and you'll find that most tracks are just a series of turns that lead you to sideswipe walls. Since the popularity of Super Mario Kart on the SNES, it seems as though companies are rushing to slap their brands or mascots on racing carts of their own. Unfortunately, few of the cart games that have appeared on shelves since the genre exploded have reached the level of Super Mario Kart, and Lego Racers doesn't even come close. With bland gameplay, boring racing and a frustrating Lego construction system, Lego Racers just translates into an incomplete package.--Ben Stahl--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

122 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the fun of LEGOs w/ no parts to lose or step on!, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

As a child I used to play with LEGOs all the time, and now that I'm "grown-up" I couldn't justify buying them. (Plus my pets would probably eat them). So I was so excited when I saw this.

The ONLY bad thing is that it takes so long to build your character and car. After that, its loads of fun to race through LEGO towns against other LEGO drivers, collecting different bricks along the way, that when combined, give you weapons, speed and other fun surprises. Its a must have for any LEGO fan.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lego Racers is a good game, but could of been a great one, December 31, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I just purchased Lego Racers and I think its a good game! When I first heard about it, I was excited to build my own cars out of legos and race them. Now that I have the game I do have a couple complaints. Being a big mario Kart fane I couldn't wait to build a car and race my buddies with it, but Lego racer is only a two player game not a four, which takes some fun away. Also in the two player mode you can only race each other, there is no option to race a friend and the computer. Lego racers is a two player game, but when buying it, I would picture it being only a one player game and let the two player mode be a bonus. Don't buy it if you want a good multi player racing game. Also, it is very slow! Often times I wish it would just pick up the pace a little bit. On the lighter side, it is as much fun building a car and racing the computer that I hoped for. Building a car does take a lot of time, but at the end it's worth it. Lego Racers is a original good game! It could of been a great one with better multi player options and if it was a little faster, but it is still a good one that I would recomend!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Fun Doesn't Last Long, July 18, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Lego Racers was a pretty fun game, but the fun didn't last long. I got this game along with Donkey Kong 64 for Christmas, and I started playing DK64 first. Needless to say DK kept me pretty busy for a while. So it took me at least 1 1/2 months before I really got to playing Lego Racers. It was fun at first, but I beat it in about a week and a half (an hour a day). After that, it lost much of its appeal. What I didn't like about this game was a)The speed of the game was really slow( you can't push "B" to go back, you have to select "back" using "A") Also, once you click it takes up to 5 some seconds before it changes. b) Building a car, although fun, is extremely restricted. I'm always trying to put a part in a certain spot and it won't let me put it there. c) There's no 4 player mode, and the two player mode isn't that great. You only race each other. d) You absolutely need to own a memory card to save your game, otherwise you'll start from scratch every time you turn the game on. And EVERYTHING needs to be saved. This did not turn out to be a problem with me because I have a memory card, although I had to erase everything on it first. Another thing annoying about this was that you couldn't use a rumble pack because the memory card is in the slot. e) There isn't enough tracks. Half of them are exactly the same except for being a mirror image of the original ones. A little disappointing. f) The cars are harder to control than the ones on Mario Kart 64. Okay, enough complaining. These are it's advantages: a) Unique tracks with lots of shortcuts (Really cool!) b) TONS of parts that become unlocked as you progress through the game. c)4 different camera views, one even lets you ride on the bumper! d) Each car performs to how it was built, which makes it fun to build the car that's right for you! Bottom line? Well, considering its price, it not really a waste of money. That is, if you don't already own Mario Kart 64. Get that one instead! I've had it three times longer than Lego Racers, I've played a hundred times longer, and am still not sick of it. BUY MARIO KART INSTEAD!