So whom do I get to race against?
There are 21 characters in all, each with their own unique 'pods'. You won't be able to select all of them at the beginning - you'll have to unlock them by doing well. Some of the names are rather amusing - Slide Paramita (ha!), Toy Dampner (tee-hee!), Fud Sang (mwah-ha!) and Wan Sandage (no thanks, I've already eaten!) spring to mind. And don't forget Sebulba, undisputed master of the outlawed sports and Anakin's arch-rival.

And the trackage? Surely not just Tatooine?
Of course not. Although the racing action in the film is limited to Tatooine, LucasArts have provided another seven worlds on which to prove yourself: Ando Prime - an ice planet with frozen lakes; Aquilaris - all water-covered with underwater tunnels and ducts; Ord Ibanna - a world of pastel hues, similar to Bespin (the cloud city from The Empire Strikes Back); Baroonda - more like Monsoonda, with its torrential downpours; Mon Gazza - all bridges and fuzzy orange skies; Oovo VI - an asteroid-based penal colony (fnar!); Malastare - night racing under the stars.

That was a bit of a long sentence!
Yes it was!

Okay. So we've got some tracks, various participants and a lot of speed. What makes this any different to all the other racing games?
Not much. The courses are massive; some are even as long as 41 virtual miles. Also, events are triggered during the race to spice things up a little.

Beetle Adventure Racing has got big tracks and set events!
Yes, but you can't upgrade your vehicle, can you? In Star Wars: Episode I Racer you get to soup up your trusty mount in between races. Depending on your finances, you can buy new parts or scavenge from previously trashed pods. The problem with the latter option being reduced reliability.

So things can malfunction during a race?
Indeed. Imagine you're zooming along at 600mph and one of your engines bursts into flames. What do you do?

Shout "Aaaaaaargh!" and then die in a ball of fire?
Not bad. Alternatively you could ease off the gas for a while and let the engine cool down. Affluent racers would simply have bought a decent cooling system before the race. You can also tweak your pod's turning ratio and engine power among other things.

That sounds great.
It should be. It's Star Wars.


*Graphics look a bit tasty with the Expansion Pak
*Plenty of massive and varied tracks to master
*Two-player mode rocks!
*Sadly there's no four-player mode...
*... but hey! It's Star Wars!