Lego Racers 2

"After 2 Lego Racers games, here comes Lego Playboy Mansion!"

My brother has gotten many Lego games due his fascination in Legos. I can’t blame him though, Legos will always be one of the more fun things in my life, after playing video games, writing reviews, and playing sports. Lego Racers was a decent game that had a lot of potential for improvement when the game first came out. When I heard about the sequel I expected a good racing game that was an improvement over the first. Boy, was I wrong. The game itself is fairly good. But it is about on the same level as Lego Racers when it comes to then itself. The graphics are a bit better, making them some of the best Lego game graphics. Down a few notches compared to Lego Racers is the sound. The sound is about the same, but I expected a lot better. The game has a story that it slightly better than the story in Lego Racers. The gameplay is about the same, but the feel of the game is different. It doesn’t have the feel of Lego Racers and that was one of the more exciting aspects about the game. The control of the game is definitely a lot harder when compared to the original, and that was hard enough. It has a higher fun factor because it can be enjoyed in a better story fashion and the arcade fashion that is a classic in every game. In short, the game is about the same as the original. Little improvement over Lego Racers 1, but it is still an all right game that should be a consideration of every person who enjoys the racing games genre or a kid who likes to play with his Legos. Pardon me, but I need to build up on this review.

Story-5/10- Come on, come all! The Galactic Racing Championships will be held on the planet of Xalax this year and you’re invited to come. Get in your cars and race all of the fellow racers in your area so you can have right to represent your area in the Galactic Racing Championship. The legendary Rocket Racer is back after suffering a crushing defeat from some utter unknown. According to him, he hopes to reclaim his honor by winning the galactic racing championship. Can you beat Rocket Racer after his crushing defeat? Can you get the Galactic Racing Championship? Hell, you gotta play to find out. Better that the original storywise but still comes up short in my opinion. It reminds me just a bit too much of the original. A 5 out of 10 for the story. It’s decent and bland at the same time.

Graphics-8/10- The graphics of this game are surprisingly good and fairly fun. The racing environments are surprisingly large and fairly complex but know extremely. Some simplistic parts are present though. That does prove good in counteraction to some of the complex graphics in the game. The character designs look like real Lego pieces and that does prove to be extreme good for the Lego fans. The cars look like they were really made in real pieces. Personally, this is yet another good thing. Lego Games tried valiantly to make this game look better graphically than the first. There are a few notable flaws such in the things the look round in reality look more square, and the graphics are so vivid they prove to be a the brightness where they can hurt the eyes if staring at it for long periods of time. This game graphically does dress to impress. An 8. The graphics are better looking than the original but there are also a few more flaws in the graphics in the game. God offers homage to Lego in the future for their graphics.

Sound-6.5/10- The sound in this is all right.

Music-6/10- The music in the game is on the level where it would deserve an eight. But that fact that the music can get annoying and repetitive means the score is going to be lower. The music in general is all right and suits the areas very well. The Sandy Bay theme is fairly decent and fits the theme. The Dinosaur Island theme is cool and jungleish, making it my favorite music in the game. The Mars theme is cool and calming, strange for a Martian area. Arctic Music is fairly general and good. Apply what I have said about all of these, factor in the annoyingness and you have the music in Lego Racers 2. 6. Play it to understand.

Sound Effects-7/10- The sound effects isn’t as good as the music but it doesn’t have the annoying parts that the music has. The menu effects are generic menu clicking style effects that play whenever you advance to the next area. The sounds of the cars are soothing to some odd extent. Collisions and things like that are all presented where is would sound like Legos hitting each other rather than real cars. There isn’t much to say about the sound effects. Deserving of the 7 they get, if Lego Racers 3 comes out, the sound effects will be a shining aspect of the game. If they ever make it, that is.

Gameplay- 7/10- The gameplay of Lego Racers 2, is a tad bit disappointing, but it still is a slight improvement over the mediocre gameplay of Lego Racers. The game comes with two main modes: a story mode and an arcade mode. The Arcade mode is a simple, straightforward mode that simply allows you to run a single racer from one of the races in the story mode. The grand jewel of the game is the fact it provides an all right story mode that is executed in a fashion rather well. You create a driver that can look like a policeman or Michael Jackson in Lego form and design a car that can look like a police car or a coast guard buggy. The game progresses where you must complete the objectives at the Sandy Bay area before moving on to the next area. You must collect golden bricks by finding them while driving around or complete objectives in order to advance to the next area. You can also find dust tornadoes in the areas which let’s you get car upgrades. I can’t give away anymore because it would be a spoiler. The control of the game is complex and harder that the original. The game is rather easy at the beginning but gets harder as you advance. The gameplay is a 7. Fun and enjoyable, the first time through.

Replay Value-5/10- Ask yourself. Did you enjoy the game? Then it will be self-explanatory whether you should replay the game or not.

Pros
-Good Graphics
-Good Gameplay
-Good Difficulty consider it can’t be altered.
-All right Sound.
Cons
-Replay Value
-Hard Control
-Mediocre Story
-Repetitive Music

Overall- 6.3/10
GameFAQS Score- 6/10- Good game, worth consideration of Lego fans and fans of the racing genre

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/03, Updated 07/26/03