Speed Racer

Unlike the vast majority of videogame adaptations designed to further boost Hollywood's already bulging coffers, Speed Racer doesn't overreach by trying to justify its existence with masses of unnecessary gameplay fluff, convoluted storylines and flashy worthless extras. Instead it keeps its focus solely on fun-filled Car-Fu racing, not needing to swamp the gameplay with star likenesses and vocal performances in an effort to paper over any developmental shortcomings.

Speed Racer is a good racing game. The key to the success of the game is its simplicity, so it is suitable for beginners and pros.

You won't find an epic amount of unique content here (perhaps throwing the full price tag into question for some), but while it lasts, Speed Racer: The Videogame is a thrilling, futuristic race experience that succeeds with stylish visuals, incredible speed, and addictive combat.

Speed Racer at its core is an amazing game, with great depth, control, and nice difficulty progression. Perhaps Sidhe Interactive will use this great engine (and maybe even the Speed Racer license) for another title with more inspired track design, better graphics, and a more fully-featured package overall.

For what it is, with voiceovers from the actors, what I imagine is probably movie soundtrack, and some excellent-looking, swift racing with seriously fun combat stunts, Speed Racer: The Videogame is awesome.

Not a bad portable racer by any means, but there has been better. I'd suggest this one more for the younger crowd, due to the simplified controls if for no other reason.

Speed Racer: The Videogame excels at multiplayer, allowing two people to play split screen across a variety of Championship races.

Quite simply, Speed Racer works while it lasts. It is not an exceptionally long or difficult game, but while it lasts, it is unusually awesome, managing to distill many of the greatest elements of the original "Speed Racer" series and movie into one manic whole.

Races are frantic and the controls are a pleasure, and the only regret is that there isn't much in the way of track diversity.

I was pleasantly surprised and then challenged at how well a game based on a movie was playing; good controls and level design make this a good find.

Despite having some great gameplay, SR: TVG is ultimately let down by its serious lack of depth.

It's a novel idea that works, yet despite the fun racing action, Speed Racer suffers from limited tracks, a short Championship Mode and no online play. It's worth a few hours of your time, but don't spend $49.99 for it.

A surprisingly adept and entertaining racing game. The fundamental gameplay mechanics are strong, the control well done, and the visual presentation more or less perfectly in tune with the film.

Speed Racer is a movie that assaults your eyes with colour and the game does its best to bring that to gamers.

And so Speed Racer: The Videogame offers a solid, if unremarkable experience.

Speed Racer the Videogame, much like the movie it's based upon, is a resounding victory of style over substance.

Overall, Speed Racer is a very solid F-Zero clone with a few niggles dragging it down. Mainly, it’s the lack of a real sense of speed that disappointed us, which is something we adored about the F-Zero series.

Speed Racer is a very solid movie game tie in that does justice to the film. In fact, it's easily the best movie game tie in of the year, aside from the lack of content the game is a lot of fun and makes every other racing game feel slow.

If you are a fan of the Speed Racer label then you will have a good reason to go check out Speed Racer: The Videogame.

Excite Truck meets F-Zero – entertaining future-racer, but too short.

If you are a fan of racers and are looking for something other than Mario Kart then this is certainly a game worth looking at.

When all is said and done, Speed Racer: The Videogame is a licensed title that is actually a fun game, but it's just not complete.

Speed Racer is definitely a rental unless you're a fan of the television series or the newly released movie.

Speed Racer is a decent racing game, but it never gets your adrenaline pumping. Even the movie connection doesn't juice up the show. Also, unlike most racing for Nintendo systems, only two players can race in split screen mode, and there's no online mode at all.

While it represents a modest improvement over Enter The Matrix, it still shares a vital similarity in that it feels unfinished and rushed to market to meet a deadline.

If you should spot Speed Racer in a bargain bin, and fancy a few hours of simple, entertaining arcade racing, it's worth a look.

It has lackluster graphics, awkward controls, and just doesn't make a memorable or worthwhile game experience.

The flimsy core betrays a bevy of neat ideas nabbed straight from the film. [Aug 2008, p.63]