Star Wars Episode 1 Racer was a game I loved in the arcades and loved even more on the Dreamcast when it made it to home consoles. The version I am looking at today is the version that was re-released for PC and is currently available on STEAM and GOG. It holds up better than you would think and it is also way more challenging than you would think too!
How to Download STAR WARS Episode I: Racer
You can download the game by clicking the Download button at the end of the review. The game is coming also to PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
The Game Review
The game is set during Episode 1 and you do have a single-player mode to play through. The idea here is that you need to win various races, building up your reputation so you can take part in the big race which is the one featured in the Episode 1 movie. It is a good idea but executed kind of strangely.
You start off with Anakin which is to be expected, but you unlock drivers as you progress. The thing is while the story should be Anakin’s story, you can play as whoever you want in any race so that never really made sense to me. Getting bent out of shape over the story in a racing game is weird I know, but it has always been something I found odd.
The gameplay is fast, frantic and requires that you have Jedi like reflexes. Star Wars Episode 1 Racer is the kind of game that when you first play it you think it is easy and a simple “arcade” style racer. That may be true for the first couple of races, but this game gets very, very hard.
I can imagine kids back when this was first released being very frustrated with this game. It is not unfairly hard and the controls are not rough or broken. It is just a challenging game that demands you take the time to learn the tracks and get good at handling the pod racer so you can win races.
As you progress, you earn money which you can use to purchase upgrades for your pod. You may think that buying things to make your pod faster is the way to. That is not the case, trust me you want to invest in Pit Droids so that they can repair your pod in between races! Your new speed boosted engine is no good if your pod is not repaired properly!
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer features a lot of tracks and there is a nice amount of variety to them. You have snow, sand, futuristic, underground based tracks and so on and they all look fantastic. I always thought this game looked best on the Dreamcast, but this latest version on PC is by far the best-looking version of the game you can play at home.
The audio is what you would expect from a Star Wars game. Star Wars games usually have great soundtracks and this one features music and sounds from the movie which I like. What I do not like is the way other racers talk to you as you pass them or they pass you as they say the same things over and over again.
There are multiplayer options for you if you want, but I never really dived into that so I cannot say for sure how well the game holds up in that regard. What I can tell you is that from a single player point of view, Star Wars Episode 1 Racer holds up very well and is still a lot of fun to play. Just know going in that this is a challenging game that requires some real skill to get good at it.
