Penny Racers

"Underrated? I think Yes! To bad the Track Editor is so weird..."

OPENING STATEMENT
Penny Racers is a great alternative to those who want a fun battle racing game that is not overloaded with franchise characters. The weaponry is especially interesting. From missiles to anvils that hang above your opponents heads and act as weights, you will always find a way to hurt the competition.

GAMEPLAY--7
This is a Mario Kart 64 clone. There is not getting around it. The gameplay is eerily similar. But, gameplay similar to Mario Kart 64’s is not necessarily a bad thing. You can fire weapons, drop weapons, and assist yourself with weapons throughout each race. Your goal is to finish first, and you can do whatever it takes to do so. If you finish in the top three after each race, you can choose a car part from those who finish in the bottom three. Whomever finished first, picks first, second picks second, and third picks third. The races are not that long usually, and they are all in the circuit form. (Meaning that you do laps and do not go from one end to another like you do in Crus’n World.

GRAPHICS--8
The graphics have an interesting look and feel to them, as they are more Japanese anime styled than most other games. The cars look cartoonish, yet realistic. Do not ask me how. They just do. The tracks do not have a lot of scenery, though. THQ would have made the game look a lot nicer with some nice background images. The cars kind of look blocky, but it is nothing too serious.

MUSIC--5
SOUND--7
The music is all peppy and fast, just like the game you are playing. They blend nicely. The songs really get you ready to race fast, but they do not make you really want to fire missiles, cannons, and other painful objects at your opponents. And that is a BIG part of this game.

The sound effects are better than the music. But not much. The sound effects are a little too kiddy. The cannons and missile firing sound like bottle rockets taking off. The engines, like a lawn mover or a snowblower, not a race car engine. The sound effects are not realistic, but neither is this game.

CONTROL--7
The control is a bit loose at times, but it gets the job done. Sometimes you may find it difficult to turn or something like that. So other than the occasional looseness, you an control easily. All of the cars have subtle differences, so only some cars have the looseness in the control.

‘A’ controls the gas, ‘B’ the brakes. ‘Z’ controls whichever weapon you have equipped to your vehicle. The C Buttons seem to do nothing at all. ‘Start’ (as usual) pauses the game. The buttons all are perfect for their respective tasks/

FUN--8
This game is fun. The multiplayer races are fun. but why can't we do races with three or more human controlled racers on the normal tracks. A battle mode like in Mario Kart would have been nice too. The weapons may of had to be slightly modified for a battle mode, though, since very few of them stay on the ground until they are hit, and very few, if any, home. If these changes were added and the track editor was made a little easier to use, then this game would be a much better product than it is now. Think about my suggestions for the sequel that I am hoping for, Penny Racers 2.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM
The artificial intelligence (AI) is considerably beefed up at each new class you unlock. The tracks that say ‘Easy’ next to their name are much less difficult than those that say ‘Hard.’ What does this mean? It means that the AI is done just right in Penny Racers for an enjoyable experience by all.

REPLAY VALUE--MEDIUM
The Replay Value is high if you play multiplayer, and much lower if you do not, so I gave it a Medium. The game is most fun with two-players. Why? Because two-players can be sort of a cooperative game, as they both can earn parts for their vehicles. In the three or four-player modes, you cannot race against the computer players, or on a real track. You need to race on tracks that either you have created, or that were included in the cartridge, but were not good enough to be a normal race. The one-player mode, while entertaining, is basically a quest to get all of the parts to use in multiplayer. (At least it was for me.)

PROS
*Excellent selection of weaponry.
*Many car customization options.
*Graphics are innovative.

CONS
*Not enough tracks.
*A racing game and it only rated Medium in the replay value category.
*Track editor has a horrible layout.

CLOSING STATEMENT
There is not much for me to say here that I have not said before, but here goes. This game offers tons to collect since you can get so many different parts for your vehicle. And you can get 13 vehicles. I like to name my vehicles. One is Orlando, and one is Lester, and one is Britney, and one is Alyssa, and you get the picture.

OVERALL--8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/00, Updated 07/18/01