Retro Game Review: Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (2020 Rerelease)

This review is going to be on the shorter end, as it is a shorter game. My background in this game goes back to playing the original version on Nintendo 64 as a kid, I played for fun, and honestly don’t think I ever even finished story mode, I remember it being fairly tough. With the rerelease I picked it up and got all the trophies playing fairly casually over the weekend, so I feel like I have a decent understanding of the game and mechanics without going much deeper than the average casual player will. I will say this though, I did enjoy this replay so much that I’m considering trying to pursue some new individual track speedrun times since the Playstation 5 version has its own leaderboards to fill.

Rating: 9/10

What Worked

The answer to what worked is the same that has been true since the original release, as this is just a port more or less. The gameplay is fast and fun, the pods all have a really nice weight to them, which makes them feel correct in the environment of the game, the one set up by the iconic pod racing scene in The Phantom Menace. The feeling of speed as the scenery just blurs past you is fantastic, but without ever making a player with a bit of experience from feeling totally out of control. The core component that makes this game so good is the primary gameplay experience is top notch, easily one of the most fun racers, even facing a number of fantastic contemporaries with access to much bigger development teams, substantially more resources and time, and modern technology. The gameplay just works.

The visual design is solid, despite the age everything feels very true to the movie that it has been taken from, every racer and their pod looks totally recognizable from the movie, so if you’re like me and think an alien platypus racing a jet car is amazing, you can pick up Dud Bolt and have a blast. Another note in regards to the characters is that, yes, if you want to pick up records, some are viable, and some are not, but if you just want to have a good time and get first in all the story races, you can do it with any character, despite each one feeling unique, in single player they are all viable, which is nice. The pod upgrade system is fairly simple, but still feels fun, I was excited to look for beat up cheap parts in the junkyard between races, and to see the little marginal upgrades have a noticeable effect, something that a lot of games struggle to get right.

The race tracks themselves are all great, each planet has a very clear design space, and the way the game has you revisit the same planets as you go, but with new sections of the track added, and sometimes the direction reversed, it allows you to feel like you have learned and improved, while still keeping each race fresh and challenging in new ways. The shortcuts in each course are almost Mario-Kart esque in feeling, but I would say that’s actually a good thing, little pieces of skill and knowledge resulting in a bit of a time save is satisfying without being cumbersome. I will also say I found the skip in Sebulba’s Legacy purely on accident which was super satisfying to figure out, and I’m happy they didn’t go through the game trying to fix those little things before rereleasing it, leaving games the way they are is the best approach, cult classics like this game get part of their charm from the things the developers hadn’t intended. The joy of replaying levels to push your time to be faster and faster also speaks to the fantastic design and replayability that the developers achieved.

Lastly, I will note that, although it isn’t my favorite course, the Boonta Eve Classic has to be touched on specifically. This is the race from the movie, and the developers did a great job recreating it in a way where it has all the nostalgia while still being tons of fun to play.

What I Did Not Like

Well, I just have a few minor things to touch on here. The first is that I do wish the rerelease had been a remaster, I would have happily paid more to get the same game, with the same levels, glitches, and mechanics, if they had upgraded the graphics to be modern with the same love and attention to detail that the original developers had. This isn’t to say I don’t appreciate the little improvements and optimizations that the game does have, but I would have been happy to spend money to get more. Additionally, although I like fast menus that don’t overwhelm me with nonsense and systems that aren’t really fun or satisfying to play and use, this game is extremely bare outside of the races themselves and the basic upgrade system in place, that as I said, feels pretty good. I don’t know what more they could have here, especially in terms of when this game was initially made, but I feel like some meaningful out of race content could absolutely exist. Finally, a new game+ with harder AI would be a welcome addition, even as a patch or $5 DLC with new trophies, I’d happily invite the new challenge and give more money to this game to hopefully show favor towards a modern rendition.

Conclusion

This is one of my favorite racing games of all time, and I think I liked playing it even more now, as an adult, with all the amazing modern games around, than I did as a kid where this was pretty cool and fresh. This game is just fun, and feels fantastic to play and control, and to look at, in spite of the age of the graphics. The things that it is missing are things that I think most people can forgive a decades old game for, and honestly, playing it makes me hope for a modern reinterpretation, as long as it stands alone single player with everything unlockable through gameplay and not loot boxes and microtransactions. It could even have monthly updates with new tracks and racers like CTR, maybe get Obi-Wan a pod, or have like race a little mini x-wing, the sky’s the limit. If you like fun racers, I think this game is absolutely worth the $15 despite its age and highly recommend it for anybody who thinks it looks fun, you won’t be disappointed.

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