Speed Racer

Speed Racer: The Video Game

Rating E

Score 7.0/10

             The new movie was released and the video game soon followed.  This game is available on the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2 and the Nintendo DS.

             When most gamers see a movie game, they usually avoid it.  Almost all movie games lack good gameplay for different reasons, such as the rush to get the game done or trying to follow the movie too closely.  This game is part of the handful of good movie games.

             This game doesn’t feel rushed or incomplete and it doesn’t even have a story mode!  The whole experience is a flat-out racing game.  You race in tournaments or in single races or perhaps with a friend.  Your car is a very futuristic car, featuring big jet engines and all wheel driving and turning.  Your car can jump, front flip, barrel roll, back flip, and even drift – not only sideways, but backwards and even upside down!

             On top of all that, you can attack rivals with everything from simply ramming them, to jumping on top of their car, to even launching them forward with a precise back flip to their bumper.  Think of it as Burnout meets HotWheels.

             If I said this game had a lot of tracks that complimented the gameplay well, I’d be lying.  The game has four tracks, each with six different versions, like a short version, a long version, a reversed version of the short version, etc…You could say there are twenty-six tracks, but there are really only different “versions”.

             Though is has great, addictive gameplay, there’s only a tournament mode and quick play.  A short game to say the least!  Although is stays out of the “bad movie game” pile, it’s not worth $50 of your hard earned money.  Making the game a little bit longer would have made all the difference.