Speed Racer (2008 video game)
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''Speed Racer: The Videogame'' is a
racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by Sidhe Interactive for the PlayStation 2 and Wii consoles, by
Virtuos Virtuos is a global video game development company headquartered in Singapore with studios across Asia, Europe, and North America. Virtuos specializes in game development and art production for AAA consoles, PC, and mobile titles – working as a ...
for the Nintendo DS and by
Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...
for
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
s; and published by Warner Bros. Games and Glu Mobile. It is a
tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...
to the 2008 film of the same name, set one year after its events. The actors from the movie reprise their role in the video game counterpart. The mobile version was released in April 2008, and the Nintendo versions were released on May 6, 2008, with the PlayStation 2 version being released on September 16, 2008, alongside the DVD and Blu-ray release. Due to the short development time allotted, Warner Bros. chose not to release the game on other contemporary non-Nintendo platforms.


Gameplay

The game is a racing game similar to the ''
F-Zero is a series of futuristic racing video games originally created by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development, Nintendo EAD with multiple games developed by outside companies. The F-Zero (video game), first game was released for the Super Fa ...
'' series, including tracks full of odd twists, turns and loops which are impossible by realistic standards, set in five vibrant, exotic locations (six in the PS2 version). The goal of the game is not only to win first place in each race, but also to have the most points by the end of the cup to win the competition. Points can be earned by placing high during races, but also by performing stunts and, most commonly, bashing into and destroying other racers with the use of car acrobatics, called "car-fu" in the game. Driving well (i.e., avoiding accidents) as well as car-fu rewards the player with a boost. Four boosts may be collected this way, and may be used at any time. If all four boosts are used at once by quadruple-tapping the boost button, the driver enters a state called "The Zone" in which they travel more than twice as fast as their regular top speed, become invincible and inflict high damage to any opponents they hit. Boosts may alternatively be used to repair the car by refilling the
health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
meter. A full boost will repair half of the health meter, while a partially filled boost meter will only repair a smaller amount of the meter. The player can distinguish the vehicle's health by the gauge on the
HUD Hud or HUD may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman * ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film * ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program Places * Hud, Fa ...
, but also the color of the jet at the rear of the vehicle: if it is bluish-white, the car is fine; if it is red and smoking, it is severely damaged; if the camera suddenly starts to zoom out, the car is about to explode. If this happens, the player must quickly repair their car, or else it will, in fact, explode. If the player's car explodes, the player will
respawn In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...
nearby; however, the brief delay between the car exploding and re-spawning allows many other drivers to pass the player, causing a large dent in their ranking. Each version of the game has its own unique control method. The PS2 version uses a standard control setup, in which an
analog stick An analog stick (or analogue stick in British English), sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joy ...
controls steering and buttons are used for
pedals A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control ...
and car-fu moves. The Nintendo DS version is played entirely with
d-pad A D-pad (short for directional pad or digital pad; officially referred to by Nintendo as a +Control Pad) is a flat, usually thumb-operated, often digital, four-way directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern vid ...
and buttons, although the player can tap the touch screen to zoom in and out on a position meter that it displays. The Wii version can only be played by the
Wii Remote The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact wi ...
itself turned sideways, with or without the Wii Wheel, leveraging its
motion control Motion control is a sub-field of automation, encompassing the systems or sub-systems involved in moving parts of machines in a controlled manner. Motion control systems are extensively used in a variety of fields for automation purposes, includi ...
s to steer and perform stunt and car-fu moves; analog control is not supported in that version as it does not allow external attachments that feature analog sticks. There are a total of 20 selectable characters from the film in the game (25 in the PS2 version), each with their own unique vehicle. Each character also has a specific rival, whom, should the player destroy or finish the race before, award bonus points. For example, Speed Racer's rival is Jack "Cannonball" Taylor. In certain gameplay modes, players can enter alliances with other racers, who will attempt to interfere with the player's rival. Performing "car-fu" on allies will penalize the player, however. Each character's car has different stats, of which there are 4 in total.


Soundtrack

The original musical soundtrack of the ''Speed Racer'' video game was composed by
Winifred Phillips Winifred Phillips is an American music composer and author. Her music composition credits include '' God of War'', '' Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'', and the ''LittleBigPlanet'' series. Early life Phillips' love of music began in childhoo ...
and produced by
Winnie Waldron Winnie Waldron is an American music producer for video games, a producer for radio, a radio script editor / adapter, a manuscript editor and a radio host. Career Radio Waldron began her professional relationship with National Public Radio via ...
. It has received positive reviews. Reviewer Sam Bishop of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
wrote, "The music in the game happily bounces back and forth from vaguely tribal, ambient tracks to more driving, aggressive sounding electronica loops."


Reception

The DS version received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions received "average" reviews, according to the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. In Japan, ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' gave it a score of one five, one seven, and two sixes for the DS version. Similar to the film, the game has also garnered many positive reviews from fans over time, though more obscure.


References


External links

* * * {{Speed Racer 2008 video games Gamebryo games Mobile games Nintendo DS games PlayStation 2 games Wii games Wii Wheel games Speed Racer video games Video games based on films Video games based on adaptations Video games developed in New Zealand Video games developed in China Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Winifred Phillips Warner Bros. video games Glu Mobile games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sidhe (company) games Virtuos games