Fun for the first three races. After that, it gets kinda tedious.
First Impression:
Oh look! A childhood fandom! Will I be able to have fun and reminisce the insane episodes and the randomness of it all? More importantly, will I be able to play as Dick Dastardly? Let's find out, shall we?
Gameplay:
I was expecting a racing game. You know. You're in control of a character in a car and you try to beat other racers. I was expecting control using the directional pads and have a camera angle akin to Mario Kart.
Oh man, was I wrong.
Wacky Races puts you behind the wheel with the entire cast at your disposal. There's no one to unlock. Everyone's there to begin with, from the Slag Brothers to Penelope Pitstop minus Dick Dastardly. There are no alternate cars to unlock, no extra powers, nothing but an alternate difficulty setting. THAT'S IT.
The rallies play like an episode of Wacky Races: you have three tracks to race in and in the middle of the races, Dick Dastardly tries to stop you from advancing by sabotage and dirty sneaky tactics. In the game, these are represented by mini games. If you pass, you retain your race position. If you fail, you end up at the back, bringing up the rear.
Much like the cartoon, you also get powers. There's an offensive booster which helps you speed up and damages your opponents' cars, an offensive which has you poking the other cars to damage them, an aerial power which has you flying over the rest of the cars and a booster that makes you zoom right ahead of the competition. You activate these powers by tapping the icon when it becomes available after you pick up a powerup on the track.
Everything is controlled via the STYLUS. Yes, you heard me. The stylus. You put the stylus in front of your car and move it in the direction you want to turn. There's no way to accelerate or slow down. Now I don't know about you... but that makes racing a bit.. I don't know.. Awkward?
And the last stretch to the finish like... Oh BOY.
This involves BLOWING into the microphone and scratching on the touch screen with your stylus while your car goes on autopilot. Why? I don't know. It works. I don't know why. But it works.
Once you get used to it, however, it's.... alright.
Last words:
It's alright for a quick fix. If I was looking for a racer, I'd still pick up Mario Kart.