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Star Wars Episode 1: Racer - Appreciation Thread

mattx5

Member
Back when it came out for the N64, this game was the shit. Top notch graphics, excellent sense of speed, mind boggling track design and tight controls.

Anyone else remember this gem? If you loved it, say why. If you hated it, explain your filthy ways!

I LOVED the track design in some of the later levels, especially the psychedelic segments where you'd be narrowly avoiding asteroids in a zero g tunnel, or making thousand foot drops.

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i remember playing it on pc. it was a very fast racer from what i remembered. and very enjoyable
 
It was a very fun game but I always thought it was stupid that is wasn't called Pod Racer.
 
Hell yeah! I loved this game, spent a lot of time on it, I seem to remember it being fun either upgrading your pod or saving up for new ones, it had a great sense of speed also which is what you want in a game that involves pod racers!

This is a classic for me.
 
I liked this one better than Sega's linear pod racer game. Although the only character I ever played as was Anakin for some reason.

The PC version has a much better sense of speed than either the N64 or Dreamcast versions.

But yeah, I spent a lot of hours on this game, quite fun. I should dig it out one day.
 
I think once you suped up the fastest racer (the big four engine racer, I think), SW1:Racer was probably one of the fastest games I've ever played. It was no use using brakes, you just had to memorize the tracks perfectly so you can take turns at the exact moment. Very, very fast game.
 
Naked Shuriken said:
.. I must admit that I liked it more than Fzero on gamecube
Me too, although I'll take F-Zero X over both. Still, Episode I: Racer kicked ass. I recall being annoyed with some of the customization stuff, maybe because parts broke down but it was difficult to make money for replacements? I can't remember. It was fast as hell though, and a lot of the courses were damned fun. The graphics were sometimes a little weak, and I know I always wanted to buy the Dreamcast version in order to eliminate some of that. I'd absolutely love a new version.
 
I played this game to death on both the N64 and Dreamcast. I loved it. It's one of those few games which make me want to do everything that there is to do in them.
 
I owned this game for the PC and it was fucking awesome. I remember the super crisp high-res graphics and upgraded textures along with the super smooth and fast frame rate, good times. I need to find my CD again and reinstall it, I remember having a blast.

Anyone else enjoy the dual analog setup of the N64? Sure it was unyielding and difficult but it was interesting nonetheless.

I never did play Racer Revenge, was it truly a better game or did they screw up on track design (as said by someone earlier)?
 
I owned this on the Dreamcast as well, and loved it. Great sense of speed, nice challenge, killer graphics (for the day). Just a pure, fun racer.
 
TekunoRobby said:
Anyone else enjoy the dual analog setup of the N64? Sure it was unyielding and difficult but it was interesting nonetheless.

It was a cheat mode, wasn't it, rather than a standard feature? Now that was insane - one controller in each hand was the only way to play the game. And the memory expansion was compulsory too...
 
I just picked up Racer Revenge for nostalgia, and it's not as good as Episode I Racer, but it's still very fun. The advanced control setup to mimick the arcade version makes it a totally unique experience. My local Game Crazy sells the game for 2.99.
 
My only cons about pod racer were the games I traded in for it. I recall IGN advertising about trading in 3 games to get it and I was all over it :/ Gave up gems like Mischief makers and DKR. The other thing was the lack of music, but on the other hand having the music come in on the last lap really pumps you up.
 
I thought it was just me who liked this game. I never completely beat it on N64 though. Some of the later levels were just impossible for me. Couldn't turn if my life depended on it...
 
Funny that you mentionned this game. I just played it for the first time on the N64 this weekend. The thing is I had experienced this game back in the days on the computer and tought it was such a great game.

Now when I palyed it on the weekend, it was on a 50" Sony XBR tv set (not mine). GOD it was FUGLY ! I couldn't bare to see that and the gameplay wasn't enough to keep me playing. We dropped the thing in favor of some Street fighter 2 Turbo (snes). 2D games age well.
 
Episode 1 Racer was indeed a fantastic game, though there was always one thing that bugged the hell out of me.

Now I might be crazy, but I could have sworn that if you were ever in second place during a race, and the person in first went so far ahead that you couldn't see them on screen (only the map) that you could never, ever, catch up to them.

I might have just sucked at the game, but if that ever happene to me, never once did I catch back up.
 
I bought the DC version of this game the same day that I bought my N64 along with F Zero X (and other games)

SWE1:R was a sweet game...and I really did love the track design...better than F Zero X in nearly every way IMO
 
Now if there was ever a game that would be remade on next gen it would be this one! It would piss all over F-Zero's left boot.

DCX
 
I played the PC version of this to death. Great game, although it was really easy and there was only something like 6 tracks with tweaks to the layouts for difficulty levels. Being able to upgrade your ship was a nice touch as well.

LAN parties with this game in between Half-Life sessions made for a nice break for sure.
 
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