LEGO Racers

It's an interesting exercise to compare the real-life elements to their electronic counterparts. Any LEGO fan will recognize infamous opponents from their plastic incarnations; Captain Redbeard, King Kahuka, and Basil the Batlord are some of our favorites, and they're just as great-looking onscreen as they are in the toy chest kits. The level of hand-eye coordination required to build amazing cars is, we think, lower than with real LEGOS (and there's no dropping and breaking possible!). Parents don't need to buy a million different sets to get all desired pieces--they're all right there on the screen.

We found the racing arena to be a huge hit with arcade-game fans. The tracks are treacherous, the themes are wildly detailed, and there's lots of hidden power-ups and shortcuts for when your skill level increases. If you think you've got all the tracks mastered, try them out in reverse. It's harder than you might think! Drivers, start your engines, because LEGO Racers is worth the ride. --Jill Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description
Customize your own unique LEGO Car and LEGO Driver, then challenge up to five other drivers in landscapes based on four LEGO System themes. A unique power-up system provides players with numerous ways to gain the upper hand. Discover hidden shortcuts and secret pathways that will help you defeat your Champion challengers and become the best in the ultimate racing test!

In this game, your goal is to become one of the greatest racers ever and try to beat the ultimate racer, Rocket Racer. You design a racer, or use a pre-made one. You start on Captain Redbeard, a very easy racer to beat, and work your way up to all 7 racers, all the way up to Rocket Racer, the hardest racer to beat. If you complete a "circuit race," then you will receive points, and move to the next racer. Single races are if you want to do a single race.

The most fun part of the game (in my opinion) is also power-ups + weapons. They help you get ahead of people or keep other people behind you. They are little floating Lego's in the air along the track and you pick them up to get a power-up or a weapon. There are four different colours of legos: each represents a weapon. To upgrade it, you need to pick up a white lego. You can only upgrade it 3 times (including when you receive it): the more you upgrade it, the more powerful the weapon is. There's four power-ups/weapons in this game:

Red Lego (things you have to aim at people): 1st: A regular bomb to throw at people 2nd: Clip thing that you hook onto a car and it brings you ahead. 3rd: A rocket-missile thing that tracks people down and hits them.
Yellow Lego (gas and tornado things to slow people down): 1st: gas that slows people down and swirls them around. 2nd: This little sucker that holds people back for a little while. 3rd: A mummy floaty thing that floats in the air and when people run into it then you'll get dizzy and stay there for a while.
Green Lego (power-ups to speed you ahead): 1st: A very little speed-booster that only lasts for 5 seconds. 2nd: A speed-booster that brings you about ¼ of the track ahead if you use it wisely. 3rd: A VERY good speed-booster that swirls around you and brings you ¼ of the track ahead.
Blue Lego (shields): 1st: It blocks you for a very short amount of time from other people. 2nd: A good shield that blocks you for a good amount of time and whenever someone shoots you with it turned on, it bounces of you and shoots back to them. Works GREAT on bombs. 3rd: Very much like the second upgraded shield except it lasts about 5-10 seconds longer.

Hope this was helpful. :) So click "yes" if this review is helpful to you!


Awesome, but tough on your computer   December 8, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have this game and it is really fun!!!! The only reason I left out one star is because, like all LEGO games, it is really hard on your computer. I also had two other lego games, and together the three totally crashed the computer. My parents won't let us install any games on the computer now. It's a shame, because I really miss playing LEGO Racers. It's not extremely challenging, not if you're played other racing games and are good at them. However, beating Rocket Racer is very (underline ten times) difficult. One of my favorite things to do is creating my own racers to race with. You can mix-match different legs, bodies, heads, and helmets or hats to make your own cool/funny/wierd racer! So, its a great game, REALLY fun, but don't buy it unless you have a really powerful computer.


Lego Racers is EXCELLENT!!!!   November 16, 2001
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Lego Racers was initially a challenge to my son, but rewarded him handsomely by opening up extra circuits and races after he mastered existing circuits. We always knew when he opened a new circuit, he got so excited! This has definitely been the "most-often-played" computer game we own. The sound effects are appropriate for a 6-year-old, but "bad" enough that he loved them; the songs lively; and the on-screen environment is realistic enough to really enjoy the various races.

The rest of us, and some extended family, have gotten into the game too, we range in age from 39 to 6. And all of us have enjoyed it. The "versus" races are very exciting and fun, especially when the 2 competitors are of similar skill.

I highly recommend buying this game, for any age, for a very entertaining and challenging (depending on your "racing game" skills, of course) use of your leisure time. There are enough shortcuts, surprises, unknowns, power-ups, and enough versatility to surpass the price tag. This is a lot of "bang for the buck." And don't forget, you can even build your own car with legos, name it; and assemble AND NAME the driver. "Gentlemen..... (and ladies and children....) START YOUR ENGINES!!"

We'll have Lego Racers 2 very soon.