Gamedaily writes: "Playing Speed Racer: The Videogame, based on the upcoming Speed Racer film,, reminds us of how bad we want a new F-Zero. That's because it lacks the robust career mode and diverse tracks from Nintendo's arcade series. On its own, however, this is a competent racing game that serves as a decent companion to the eye-popping film, offering several hours of fun despite its faults.
Most movie-based video games try too hard to follow plots, often sacrificing gameplay for awful cut scenes and wooden voice acting. Speed Racer ditches the film's narrative in exchange for white-knuckle arcade racing, and in this respect, it succeeds. You select from 19 different racers (including Speed Racer and Trixie, voiced by Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci, respectively) and then race a series of multicolored tracks, each of which features impressive loops and winding turns. Bathed in a neon orgasm, you'll guide your T-180 muscle machine alongside 19 other competitors, hitting Speed-Up Squares and activating boost power for added speed. And in a nice twist, you can't fall off the tracks, which lets you focus more on the car combat."
Sidhe's Griffiths discusses in depth how the GripShift developer playtested, and then took that feedback to improve, their Wii version of the recent Speed Racer game, from Wiimote tweaks to difficulty changes.
With a slick 3D engine and a fluidity that stays locked to 60 frames per second, Speed proves an excellent substitute for F-Zero -- at least, that is, until Nintendo finally gets around to releasing the real thing.
Presentation - 5.0
Graphics - 7.5
Sound - 5.0
Gameplay - 8.0
Lasting Appeal - 6.0
Overall -
Many of you will remember playing racing games like Gran Turisimo, coming back time and time again to gain increasingly difficult licences. Speed Racer had potential to be a thrilling racing title but shoots itself in the foot with sloppy design and a cringe inducing game engine. The dated multiplayer options do little to rectify the situation, leaving this title gathering dust on my shelf.
Unless you're a massive Speed Racer fan, avoid.