Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing ($50, PlayStation 2) is a fast-action kart-racing game featuring all the main characters from the movie “Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”
Gamers can choose between race, team and arena modes and compete on tracks filled with power-ups such as tractor beams and energy balls. The race mode is the basic winner-takes-all game. Gamers compete in nine levels and then go to the final grand challenge. In the team mode, four teams of two compete. The winning team is the first to get a racer across the finish line. The arena mode is the most fun and pits racers against each other in a multilevel arena. The object is to blast competitors out of the game.
The game has all the elements of a great racing game but falls short of being a must-buy. On the plus side, the tracks are well-designed and challenging to drive. Some tracks, such as the underwater Otoh Gunga, look cool but are difficult to beat. But a big problem is that power-ups don’t affect the race outcomes. The best way to win is to not make a mistake and find shortcuts. Also, some arena levels are way too large.
Even with these drawbacks, many “Star Wars” fans will want to own Super Bombad Racing, but most gamers will be satisfied with renting it.
