Looney Tunes Racing

Ever fantasize about being in a Looney Tunes cartoon? Well, now's your chance with this wacky racer. You can save the Earth from Marvin the Martian as you race for pieces of the Explosive Space Modulator that have been scattered across the universe. Playing as Bugs Bunny. Daffy Duck, Tweety, or Wile E. Coyote, you'll drive a floating jet scooter equipped with punishing gags to use against your opponents. You can throw pies, drop weights, or zap characters with lightning. Get ready for a mindless, crazy ride, especially if you're a fan of the Looney Tunes gang.

Just what we need--another cutesy Super Mario Kart/Crash Team Racing clone. If you've played any of the previous PlayStation kart racers, you know what this Infogrames offering is all about. There is some charm to the game--it has a lot of recognizable melodies from the cartoons, eight of the 'Tunes characters and 18 different tracks. With the Acme Challenge, you can open new tracks, characters and even artwork in return for accomplishing tasks on the tracks (collect things, shoot enemies, etc.). The progressive power-up system is also interesting since you move up a "ladder" of strength to get better goodies by picking up numbered icons on the track. It's nothing too original, but Looney Tunes fans can polish their anvils this fall.

Overview

The cartoon world was stunned when Daffy Duck, coming out of turn five in Duck Dodger world, took an ACME(tm) homing cream pie to the face causing him to spin out of control momentarily, allowing Marvin the Martian to take the checkered flag. When reached for comment after the race, Mr. Duck had this to say: "That was dithspicable!"

And thus the stage is set. Looney Tunes Racing combines the white-knuckle action of NASCAR racing with the intensity of vehicular combat only found in Mad Max movies. Am I kidding? Yes, I am. Looney Tunes supplies the laughs, characters, and secrets. You supply the sore thumbs. Infogrames has brought us a racing game set in the Looney Tunes world complete with familiar faces and places for those of you who wasted your youth sitting in front of the television on Saturday mornings. Select your favorite characters, throw them into the mix and watch as they battle ala Mario Kart through lots and lots of courses. Will you have fun? Wead this weview you wascally wabbit!

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Looney Tunes Racing (LTR), is going to feel very familiar to those who have played the kart-style racing games (Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing, etc.). Players select from a "who's who" of Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, and Marvin the Martian to name but a few. From there, you can play one of four racing modes.

The first mode is single race, which is basically a practice mode. Players pick a character and race on one of the courses provided. In the other modes, new characters and courses are unlocked (more on that later) which will allow the player to practice on any of the unlocked courses making the single race that much more important (practice makes perfect).

The second mode is championship mode, in which your character races though three championships. Each championship has four, five, or six races and your character must finish in the top three as there is a point system. If you don't finish in the top three, the championship is over and you must try again. At the end of the championship, if you do not have the most points you cannot move on to the next one. Finishing this mode will unlock other characters and race courses.

The third mode is the museum challenge. Basically it plays like this: Help Smokey the Genie get the artifacts for the ACME(tm) museum. You can choose from one of 15 different challenges on three museum floors. Each challenge has a different objective allowing for replayability. Some challenges require you to "tag" your opponents a certain amount of times before three laps go by. Tagging means you must collect tokens from around the course and launch them at your fellow racers. ACME(tm) provides many useful inventions for this including the Cream Pie, Anvil Storm, and the ACME(tm) portable rain cloud. Others require that you finish the race in a certain amount of time or collect the letters B, U, G, S in order. Of course if you collect them out of order or finish worse than third, GAME OVER. This is yet another way to unlock courses and characters, provided you pass the challenge.

Finally, the fourth mode is the multiplayer mode. Race split-screen against a friend in a vs. race or a battle (using the tag system). You can only play the first level of multiplayer until you unlock the second by beating the championship circuit in single player mode. From there you can choose how many laps and so on and so forth.

I hate to admit it, but I am a Looney Tunes fan and actually enjoyed this game. It provided some familiar courses for the die hard fan and had many surprise guest stars. On a personal note, Taz was my favorite racer as his constant blahbwabrablaing reminded me of my misspent youth.

Graphics

As far as the PlayStation goes, this game could have been a little sharper. Characters looked grainy and there was a little lag when too many racers were on the screen. Otherwise the race clipped along at a steady 25 frames per second. I was mildly disappointed in the graphics but the cartoony noises and voices quickly made me forget about the lack of sharp graphics.

Bottom Line

Not a bad game. PlayStation owners could certainly do worse as far a racing games go. If you are a fan of Looney Tunes and like the wacky and zany feel of cartoons then this game should make you happy. Lots (and I do mean lots) of unlockable characters and courses are only another selling point in an already decent racer. So be very, very quiet and go hunt up this game.

Overview

The cartoon world was stunned when Daffy Duck, coming out of turn five in Duck Dodger world, took an ACME(tm) homing cream pie to the face causing him to spin out of control momentarily, allowing Marvin the Martian to take the checkered flag. When reached for comment after the race, Mr. Duck had this to say: "That was dithspicable!"

And thus the stage is set. Looney Tunes Racing combines the white-knuckle action of NASCAR racing with the intensity of vehicular combat only found in Mad Max movies. Am I kidding? Yes, I am. Looney Tunes supplies the laughs, characters, and secrets. You supply the sore thumbs. Infogrames has brought us a racing game set in the Looney Tunes world complete with familiar faces and places for those of you who wasted your youth sitting in front of the television on Saturday mornings. Select your favorite characters, throw them into the mix and watch as they battle ala Mario Kart through lots and lots of courses. Will you have fun? Wead this weview you wascally wabbit!

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Looney Tunes Racing (LTR), is going to feel very familiar to those who have played the kart-style racing games (Mario Kart, etc.). Players select from a 'who's who'? of Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, and Marvin the Martian to name but a few. From there, you can play one of four racing modes.

The first mode is single race, which is basically a practice mode. Players pick a character and race on one of the courses provided. In the other modes, new characters and courses are unlocked (more on that later) which will allow the player to practice on any of the unlocked courses making the single race that much more important (practice makes perfect).

The second mode is championship mode, in which your character races though three championships. Each championship has four, five, or six races and your character must finish in the top three as there is a point system. If you don't finish in the top three, the championship is over and you must try again. At the end of the championship, if you do not have the most points you cannot move on to the next one. Finishing this mode will unlock other characters and race courses.

The third mode is the museum challenge. Basically it plays like this: Help Smokey the Genie get the artifacts for the ACME(tm) museum. You can choose from one of 15 different challenges on three museum floors. Each challenge has a different objective allowing for replayability. Some challenges require you to "tag" your opponents a certain amount of times before three laps go by. Tagging means you must collect tokens from around the course and launch them at your fellow racers. ACME(tm) provides many useful inventions for this including the Cream Pie, Anvil Storm, and the ACME(tm) portable rain cloud. Others require that you finish the race in a certain amount of time or collect the letters B, U, G, S in order. Of course if you collect them out of order or finish worse than third, GAME OVER. This is yet another way to unlock courses and characters, provided you pass the challenge.

Finally, the fourth mode is the multiplayer mode. Race split-screen against a friend in a vs. race or a battle (using the tag system). You can only play the first level of multiplayer until you unlock the second by beating the championship circuit in single player mode. From there you can choose how many laps and so on and so forth.

I hate to admit it, but I am a Looney Tunes fan and actually enjoyed this game. It provided some familiar courses for the die hard fan and had many surprise guest stars. On a personal note, Taz was my favorite racer as his constant blahbwabrablaing reminded me of my misspent youth.

Graphics

As far as the PlayStation goes, this game could have been a little sharper. Characters looked grainy and there was a little lag when too many racers were on the screen. Otherwise the race clipped along at a steady 25 frames per second. I was mildly disappointed in the graphics but the cartoony noises and voices quickly made me forget about the lack of sharp graphics.

Bottom Line

Not a bad game. PlayStation owners could certainly do worse as far a racing games go. If you are a fan of Looney Tunes and like the wacky and zany feel of cartoons then this game should make you happy. Lots (and I do mean lots) of unlockable characters and courses are only another selling point in an already decent racer. So be very, very quiet and go hunt up this game.