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"Shoryuken!"
Moderator
on 04/08/2009 at 10:19:08PM
Total Posts: 10340 |
Speed Racer (the movie) made my eyes hurt. It was a fairly enjoyable romp, albeit an American take on a Japanese animation, but the bits that blew me away were the psychedelic races with cars flying off the track in all directions.
The Wii game, while not giving us the same high def style visuals as the movie (you can’t tell me you’re surprised by that!) does offer some very good graphics for the console and even emulates the eye watering racing in the movie pretty well.
Another idea imported from the film is the Car-Fu, a sort of mid air car martial art which sees the cars spinning and attacking each other. This was one of the highlights of the race scenes with some tense (but very fast) battles and it comes across well here. You get spin attacks and shoves to perform, all giving you extra boost which will let you get into ‘the zone’.
Ah, The Zone. This is where everything goes completely mad and where the graphics really work on the Wii. It’s a bit like taking a large handful of something psychedelic while watching formula 1 cars enter the tunnel at Monaco only with brighter colours. At times I wondered whether I’d be able to see properly again. The effect this has on the race itself is that your car goes very very fast for the time the boost lasts and becomes invulnerable at the same time. It’s a bit like a Star Power in Mario Kart but with added eye burn.
So, it’s great graphically, it works well as a movie tie in and it plays well, what could go wrong? Well, since you asked, there’s no story for one thing. In a movie tie in game this is a bit strange. From what I gather it’s supposed to take place after the movie, like the DS version, but with no story you’re just completing race after race. It works in a way as you unlock new races and racers, but it’s a shame they couldn’t add anything in the way of narrative.
Secondly, it’s not very difficult for anyone with a fair bit of practice at racing games. The controls take a bit of getting used to at first, but then you can choose from horizontal steering with the motion sensor controlling both steering and fighting, or more traditional ‘wheel’ racing like Mario Kart with buttons to perform the Car Fu (for me, the best choice). However, the film seemed to be aimed at children and young teens or families, which also suits the game (and, thinking about it, the main Wii demographic).
So overall Speed Racer is a pretty good solid racing game which could be slightly improved. If you’re a fan of the movie you’ll probably love the game.
7/10
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pb
"Shoryuken!"
Moderator
on 04/08/2009 at 10:19:08PM
Total Posts: 10340
|
|
Speed Racer (the movie) made my eyes hurt. It was a fairly enjoyable romp, albeit an American take on a Japanese animation, but the bits that blew me away were the psychedelic races with cars flying off the track in all directions.
The Wii game, while not giving us the same high def style visuals as the movie (you can’t tell me you’re surprised by that!) does offer some very good graphics for the console and even emulates the eye watering racing in the movie pretty well.
Another idea imported from the film is the Car-Fu, a sort of mid air car martial art which sees the cars spinning and attacking each other. This was one of the highlights of the race scenes with some tense (but very fast) battles and it comes across well here. You get spin attacks and shoves to perform, all giving you extra boost which will let you get into ‘the zone’.
Ah, The Zone. This is where everything goes completely mad and where the graphics really work on the Wii. It’s a bit like taking a large handful of something psychedelic while watching formula 1 cars enter the tunnel at Monaco only with brighter colours. At times I wondered whether I’d be able to see properly again. The effect this has on the race itself is that your car goes very very fast for the time the boost lasts and becomes invulnerable at the same time. It’s a bit like a Star Power in Mario Kart but with added eye burn.
So, it’s great graphically, it works well as a movie tie in and it plays well, what could go wrong? Well, since you asked, there’s no story for one thing. In a movie tie in game this is a bit strange. From what I gather it’s supposed to take place after the movie, like the DS version, but with no story you’re just completing race after race. It works in a way as you unlock new races and racers, but it’s a shame they couldn’t add anything in the way of narrative.
Secondly, it’s not very difficult for anyone with a fair bit of practice at racing games. The controls take a bit of getting used to at first, but then you can choose from horizontal steering with the motion sensor controlling both steering and fighting, or more traditional ‘wheel’ racing like Mario Kart with buttons to perform the Car Fu (for me, the best choice). However, the film seemed to be aimed at children and young teens or families, which also suits the game (and, thinking about it, the main Wii demographic).
So overall Speed Racer is a pretty good solid racing game which could be slightly improved. If you’re a fan of the movie you’ll probably love the game.
7/10
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