Be careful, if you play this game your Rocket Racer just might Johnny Thunder your Gypsy Moth. What?
From Lego Racers' main menu you have six options, the first of which is called "Build". With this option you can build your own Lego Racer for future use in the game. This option is divided up in to numerous sub-options, with "New Racer" being the first. This is what you select to create your racer. You start off by building the actual Lego character (choosing it's hat/helmet, head, body, and legs), then you create a licence for your character (inputting it's name as well as it's facial expression for the licence picture), and finally you get to build your Lego Racer vehicle (first select the chassis and then use all of the available bricks/parts to build on top of it). When you're done just save your racer and you'll then be able to use it in any mode the game has to offer!
The other sub-options under Build include "Edit Racer" (make changes to any previously created racers), "Copy Racer" (copy a previously built racer from another memory card), "Delete Racer" (if you are unhappy with a previously created racer use this sub-option to get rid of it) and "Test Drive" (take your created racers out on the Lego Racers Test Track to practice, for however long you need).
The second option on the main menu is called "Circuit Race", which is the main story mode of the game. There are seven circuits in total, but only the first is available for play when you initially start out on the game. If you finish in second place or higher on any given circuit you then unlock the next circuit for play. There are four racers per circuit (at 3 laps per race) in all but the last one, and your finishing position depends on how many total points you earn throughout the circuit. In each race you earn 30 points for a first place finish, 20 points for a second place finish, 10 points for a third place finish, 3 points for a fourth place finish, 2 points for a fifth place finish, and 1 point for a sixth place finish. Complete all seven circuits and you are the Lego Racers champ!
The circuits/races break down as such: Circuit 1: hosted by Captain Redbeard (Imperial Grand Prix, Dark Forest Dash, Magma Moon Marathon and Desert Adventure Dragway), Circuit 2: hosted by King Kahuka (Tribal Island Trail, Royal Knights Raceway, Ice Planet Pathway and Amazon Adventure Alley), Circuit 3: hosted by Basil the Bat Lord (Knightmare-Athon, Pirate Skull Pass, Adventure Temple Trail and Alien Rally Asteroid), Circuit 4: hosted by Johnny Thunder (Desert Adventure Dragway, Magma Moon Marathon, Dark Forest Dash and Imperial Grand Prix), Circuit 5: hosted by Baron von Barron (Amazon Adventure Alley, Ice Planet Pathway, Royal Knights Raceway and Tribal Island Trail), Circuit 6: hosted by Gypsy Moth (Alien Rally Asteroid, Adventure Temple Trail, Pirate Skull Pass and Knightmare-Athon) and Circuit 7: hosted by Rocket Racer (Rocket Racer Run). When the tracks start to repeat themselves in the later circuits the direction of the track is reversed, giving you a bit of a different look/feel. I mentioned earlier that if you place second or better in any given circuit you unlock the next circuit? Well, if you outright win the circuit you'll also unlock the hosting racer's car set, so that you can later recreate them in the Build mode! Anyhoo, it's pretty easy to get started in this mode. First you select which circuit you want to compete in, once you've done this you select which Lego Racer you want to control and then you're off to the races. Before each circuit begins there will be a short cutscene that shows the hosting racer talking trash at you.
Getting back to the main menu the third option we come to is "Single Race", which is where you go to have a meaningless, one off, single player race. First you determine from which circuit you want to choose your race (they have to be unlocked via Circuit Race mode first), followed by selecting the actual race you want to compete in. After doing this you just have to select the Lego Racer you want to utilize and then the action begins (by default a 3 lap race against 5 random cpu opponents)!
Fourth comes the "Versus Race" option, which is the exact same as Single Race except you are racing against a friend instead of the machine in split screen action (the games' multiplayer function supports a maximum of two players). It works exactly the same as Single Player, you first select your circuit and then the individual race, followed by each player's racer. You are then taken away for, by default, a 3 lap race against 4 random cpu opponents.
Fifth on the main menu we have the "Time Race" option. This mode works a little differently, in it you compete against just one other racer, a ghosted out racer named Veronica Voltage. Your goal is to beat her and set your best possible lap and overall finishing times. You start off the mode by selecting any of the races from just the first three circuits, beside each race's icon will be flashing your previous best lap/overall finishing times. Once you've selected the race you want just choose which Lego Racer you want to control and you are then taken away for a 3 lap race against Veronica.
The sixth and final option on the main menu is called "Options", which is broken up in to six sub-options. These sub-options include "Game Options" (set number of opponents in Single Race between 0-5, or set number of laps in Versus Race between 1-5), "Audio Options" (adjust music volume and sound volume sliders, and toggle between stereo/mono sound), "Player 1 Controls" (view player one's control scheme and adjust any button assignments as you see fit), "Player 2 Controls" (view player two's control scheme and adjust any button assignments as you see fit), "Pick Language" (set the game's language, the choices are English/Espanol/Francais/Deutsch/Italiano/Dansk/Svenska/Norsk/Nederlands/Suomi) and "View Credits" (have a look at the names of the people who created this title).
Once you are out in the world of Lego Racers and whizzing around the track there are a number of things for you to watch out for, which come in the form of powerups. There are five different coloured Lego bricks you can find on each track, each with it's own specific purpose. The Red Brick is a forward firing weapon (cannonball), the Yellow Brick is a rear firing weapon (oil slick), the Blue Brick is a defensive weapon (force field), the Green Brick is a speed weapon (turbo), while the White Brick is a powerup multiplier. Basically if you pick up a White Brick it makes whichever powerup you have equipped, or if you don't have one already equipped the next one you pick up, much more powerful. You can upgrade each powerup in this manner up to three times, ultimately making them extremely potent.
There is a fair amount of information available to you on Lego Racers' game screen. In the top left corner is a display indicating which position you currently occupy in your race. In the top right corner is a lap indicator, and just to the right of this is your current lap time. Just below this is displayed your best lap time for that race. In the bottom right corner of the screen is a small map of the race track you are on, which shows the location of all racers (you are the green icon, the hosting racer the red icon, while the rest of the cpu racers are the blue icons). And finally in the bottom left corner of the screen is an icon representing whatever powerup you may have equipped, which can change as you pick up different powerups or upgrade them along the way.
When you pause the game (by pressing the Start button) you have three options available to you, as such: Continue, Restart Circuit/Race, and Exit. Pretty self-explanatory.
The control scheme for Lego Racers is pretty simple. To steer your racer use the control stick. To accelerate press and hold the A button, while to brake/reverse you press and hold the B button. To utilize an equipped powerup simply press the Z button. For tight corners press and hold the R button during your turn, as this is your powerslide function. Lastly, as for the C buttons, Up changes the camera view, Right toggles your game screen display, while Down performs a look behind.
The presentation backing Lego Racers is pretty good for the time frame in which it was released. The game does a great job at being faithful to the Lego toy line in the appearance of the Lego minifigures and vehicles that are present in the game. Overall the graphics are pretty good, but they could have used some extra polish and smoothing out. There are some rough patches here and there, but overall the look of this game is very solid. The music and sound effects are also very good. The music is quirky and kiddie, with each race having it's own type of theme. As for the controls, they are laid out very well and respond perfectly. The only issues you run in to with the camera angles is on the two player split screen, but that's pretty much standard fare for such a mode.
The upside totally outweights the downside on this game! On the side of pros you have the overly solid appearance and functionality of the game, you have all of the extra game modes including a pretty cool Build mode, lots of fun (especially the Circuit Race and Versus Race modes), and the game has a great length to it as well. Seven circuits worth of racing, over 13 diffrerent tracks is pretty decent. The only downside to the game is that at times it can be hard, frustratingly hard. That's not really a con as games are supposed to be hard to some degree. But I've found it very hard to unlock the car sets in a few of the later circuits in this game and it's really been bothering me!
As for tips and tricks, I have just one, but it is importnat. The racer you use doesn't really matter. They all have their different attributes but in the end they all equal out. The key to good finishes in this game is the efficient use of powerups. If you can stay out of trouble and keep close to the front of the pack you put yourself in a good position to win if you can effectively manage using nitro powerups, upgrading them to higher levels throughout if you can, and blasting ahead of the completition. This tactic is essential if you are to win the harder races in this game.
Overall Lego Racers is yet another great entry in the ever expanding library of Lego themed video games. Although it was one of the earlier attempts so it does show some of the early signs of building a franchise, a little rough around the edges so to speak. But it's chock full of content and is totally fun, a definite must for aficianados of Lego video games or even just kart racing games in general.