Star Wars Episode I: Racer

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Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Racing
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Star Wars Episode I: Racer is a 1999

Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba
in The Phantom Menace, reprise their film roles in the game.

Episode I: Racer received generally positive reviews from critics. Several major media outlets listed it as one of the top Star Wars video games. As of 2011[update], the game holds the Guinness record as the best-selling sci-fi racing game, with worldwide sales of 3.12 million units, followed by series like Wipeout and F-Zero.[6] Two podracing games were released later. Star Wars: Racer Arcade, an arcade game featuring many similar tracks and characters, was released in 2000. A sequel, Star Wars Racer Revenge was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2.

Twenty years after the release of the game, it received an HD re-release for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It was later released on Xbox One on October 27, 2020.

Gameplay

Across the top race statistics are featured in a heads up display. Sebulba's podracer is featured in the center of the screen, spewing a flame from its side. A desert world is the racing environment.
Episode I: Racer features all of the film's racers and the race course used in The Phantom Menace.

Star Wars Episode I: Racer features a variety of tracks spanning several different planets. It includes all of the racers in the film, plus exclusive competitors. The player character's

respawn and continue racing. The podracer will also be destroyed if one or both engines sustain severe damage from colliding into too many walls or obstacles, requiring the player to steer carefully to avoid falling behind. The player can also actively repair the podracer while competing, but doing so slows the podracer until repairs are either complete or stopped.[7]

Three single player game modes are available. In Tournament mode, the player character competes in a championship. Completing races awards money, with higher ranked finishes resulting in higher payouts. This can be used to buy parts or repair droids, unlock new tracks, and unlock new racers. Free Race mode allows the player to practice any previously unlocked courses using any unlocked racer. The player character cannot earn money or unlock tracks and racers, but can set the difficulty of the opponents. Time Attack pits the player character against the clock, racing along to try to achieve the fastest time on the given course. This mode is absent from the PC version. Instead the Free Play mode allows the player to set the number of computer opponents to 0.[7]

Multiplayer mode differs between the PC and console versions. The Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions feature a two player splitscreen mode, and the Windows and Macintosh versions allow play over a

TCP/IP. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players.[9]

Development

Star Wars Episode I: Racer was developed and published by LucasArts for

application programming interfaces (APIs) were tested, including 3dfx Glide, OpenGL, and Direct3D. Ultimately the game shipped with only Direct3D support because according to project lead Brett Tosti, when testing Glide and OpenGL the developers "didn't see any performance increases so didn't add support".[11] The team had to develop a physics simulation from only a few short film clips given to them. According to Tosti, their approximations ended up very close to the film: "We really didn't get to see how good our estimates were until the very end."[11] Project lead John Knoles emphasized that the team's goal was for a strong sense of speed. He stated they wanted to make it "feel like an eyeball-peeling racing game, where you're going so fast, you're just nervous".[12]

The game was originally titled Star Wars: Podracer; however, the subtitle was changed to Episode I Racer when LucasArts learned that another company owned the trademark for games with "Pod" in the title.

TCP/IP stack. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players.[9] The game was supported by a $10 million marketing budget.[15]

Release

Episode I: Racer was later ported and released for several other

cutscenes of the Windows and Macintosh versions. It is the first LucasArts game to be released on the Dreamcast.[18] The Game Boy Color
release features entirely different game play from its console and PC counterparts. The Game Boy Color hardware is technically incapable of rendering the 3D graphics used in the other versions, so the game instead features one-on-one racing duels on abbreviated, linear tracks using an overhead 2D view. The Game Boy Color version of the game has an additional "rumble" feature.

The game was re-released online via the

Disney and Lucasfilm in limited quantities by Limited Run Games. On March 26, 2020, the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions were announced for May 12, 2020.[20] The PlayStation 4 version was delayed by two weeks, with a new release date of May 26, 2020.[21] On May 11, 2020, exactly one day before the Switch version's release, both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch versions were eventually rescheduled for June 23, 2020 release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22][23] The Switch version supports motion controls, allowing players to use them to operate the individual throttles of the podracer's twin engines.[24]

Reception

The game was met with positive to average reception.

Rock Paper Shotgun's top Star Wars games list.[50] In Game Informer's 2016 list of the 30 best Star Wars video games, Racer ranked 11th.[51] As of 2011, the game holds the Guinness world record for the best-selling sci-fi racing game, with worldwide sales of 3.12 million units, followed by other series like Wipeout and F-Zero.[6]

Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Yes, it's fast, it's largely customizable, features a lot of options, and it's fun, but it's tough to shake the feeling that if it weren't for the Star Wars license, it wouldn't otherwise stand out."[45]

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Racer for their 1999 "Racing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Need for Speed: High Stakes.[52]

During the AIAS' 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards), Star Wars Episode I: Racer won in the category for "Console Racing Game of the Year".[53] Star Wars Episode I: Racer also nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the "Favorite Nintendo 64 Game" category, although it lost to Donkey Kong 64.[54]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "GB Station - Release Dates". November 28, 1999. Archived from the original on November 28, 1999. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Deniz, Tuncer (December 7, 1999). "Star Wars: Racer Goes Gold". Inside Mac Games. Archived from the original on July 16, 2001. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Star Wars: Episode I Racer". sega.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2000. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  5. ^ "Star Wars Racer and Commando Combo". THQ Nordic. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4053-6546-8
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  7. ^ a b "...and You Thought Princess Leia Was Fast". Game Informer. April 13, 1999. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "TN IPX Protocol". Microsoft. September 29, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2017. (removed by Microsoft in Windows Vista and above)
  9. ^ a b "Amazon.com: Star Wars, Episode 1: Racer: Video Games". Amazon. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "Star Wars Hits The Shelves". IGN. May 18, 1999. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c Ryans, Cory (May 14, 1999). "Interview: Brett Tosti - LucasArts". Pure Gaming Network. Archived from the original on November 25, 1999. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8118-6184-7
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  13. ^ "Nintendo 64 - Star Wars: Episode 1: Pod Racer publicity clip featuring Actor Jake Lloyd". Access Hollywood. Summer 1999. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  14. ^ "Star Wars Episode I: Racer". IGN. May 14, 1999. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "L.A. Games: Nintendo Bets On 'Star Wars' Races". Los Angeles Daily News. May 14, 1999. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2019 – via The Free Dictionary.
  16. ^ "Star Wars games mania". British Broadcasting Company. June 9, 1999.
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  18. Gamasutra
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  19. ^ "Star Wars: Episode I Racer Re-Released for PC on GOG". IGN. May 1, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  20. ^ "Star Wars Episode I: Racer for PS4 and Switch launches May 12". Gematsu. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
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  22. ^ "Star Wars Episode I: Racer remaster gets another delay on Switch and PS4 • Eurogamer.net". Eurogamer. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
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  28. ^ a b "Star Wars Episode I: Racer for Game Boy Color". GameRankings. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
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  30. ^ Marriott, Scott Alan. "Star Wars: Episode I: Racer (N64) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  31. AllGame. Archived from the original
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  32. ^ Savignano, Lisa Karen. "Star Wars: Episode I: Racer (Mac) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
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  45. ^ a b "Finals". Next Generation. No. 55. Imagine Media. July 1999. p. 97.
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  48. ^ GMR. March 2004
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External links

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