1999 video game
1999 video game
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
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![Cover for Star Wars: Episode I: Racer. The title is prominently featured across the top. Below, three podracers compete on a desert planet, with Anakin Skywalker's podracer prominently featured.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/SWracer.jpg/220px-SWracer.jpg) Cover art
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Developer(s)
| LucasArts
|
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Publisher(s)
| LucasArts
Nintendo
(N64, GBC)
Aspyr
(2020 ports)
THQ Nordic
(Playstation 4 and Switch retail)
[5]
|
---|
Designer(s)
| Jon Knoles
Eric Johnston
Brett Tosti
|
---|
Programmer(s)
| Eric Johnston
Mark Blattel
Darren Johnson
|
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Platform(s)
| |
---|
Release
| Windows
- NA
:
May 18, 1999
- EU
:
June 4, 1999
Nintendo 64
- NA
:
May 18, 1999
- EU
:
June 4, 1999
Game Boy Color
- NA
:
December 6, 1999
[1]
[2]
- EU
:
December 17, 1999
Macintosh
- NA
:
December 15, 1999
[3]
Dreamcast
- NA
:
April 3, 2000
[4]
- EU
:
July 28, 2000
Switch, PlayStation 4
Xbox One
|
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Genre(s)
| Racing
|
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Mode(s)
| Single player
,
multiplayer
|
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Star Wars Episode I: Racer
is a 1999
racing video game
based on the
podracing
sequence in the film
Star Wars: Episode I ? The Phantom Menace
. The game features all of the racers and race course on
Tatooine
from
The Phantom Menace
. It adds several new courses, on Tatooine and various planets. It has several single player modes, including a tournament mode. The format of multiplayer mode varies by platform.
Jake Lloyd
and
Lewis MacLeod
, who portrayed
Anakin Skywalker
and
Sebulba
in
The Phantom Menace
, reprise their film roles in the game.
Episode I: Racer
received generally positive reviews from critics. Several major media outlets listed it as one of the top
Star Wars
video games. As of 2011
[update]
, the game holds the
Guinness record
as the best-selling sci-fi racing game, with worldwide sales of 3.12 million units, followed by series like
Wipeout
and
F-Zero
.
[6]
Two podracing games were released later.
Star Wars: Racer Arcade
, an arcade game featuring many similar tracks and characters, was released in 2000. A sequel,
Star Wars Racer Revenge
was released in 2002 for the
PlayStation 2
.
Twenty years after the release of the game, it received an HD re-release for
Nintendo Switch
and
PlayStation 4
. It was later released on
Xbox One
on October 27, 2020.
Gameplay
[
edit
]
Episode I: Racer
features all of the film's racers and the race course used in
The Phantom Menace
.
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
features a variety of tracks spanning several different planets. It includes all of the racers in the film, plus exclusive competitors. The player character's
podracer
is equipped with an
afterburner
that the player can engage for a boost of speed. Whilst engaged, the engine's temperature will rise and if pushed for too long, shall suffer an engine-fire and explode, destroying the podracer and costing the player several seconds to
respawn
and continue racing. The podracer will also be destroyed if one or both engines sustain severe damage from colliding into too many walls or obstacles, requiring the player to steer carefully to avoid falling behind. The player can also actively repair the podracer while competing, but doing so slows the podracer until repairs are either complete or stopped.
[7]
Three single player game modes are available. In Tournament mode, the player character competes in a championship. Completing races awards money, with higher ranked finishes resulting in higher payouts. This can be used to buy parts or repair droids, unlock new tracks, and unlock new racers. Free Race mode allows the player to practice any previously unlocked courses using any unlocked racer. The player character cannot earn money or unlock tracks and racers, but can set the difficulty of the opponents. Time Attack pits the player character against the clock, racing along to try to achieve the fastest time on the given course. This mode is absent from the PC version. Instead the Free Play mode allows the player to set the number of computer opponents to 0.
[7]
Multiplayer mode differs between the PC and console versions. The Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions feature a two player splitscreen mode, and the Windows and Macintosh versions allow play over a
local area network
(LAN). This Windows version uses the deprecated
IPX
protocol to accomplish this,
[8]
and the Macintosh version uses
TCP/IP
. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players.
[9]
Development
[
edit
]
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
was developed and published by LucasArts for
Windows
in May 1999.
[10]
Development took approximately two years. Upon completing
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
, two of its project leads began initial development. Tools included
3D Studio Max
,
Alias Wavefront
, and
Autodesk Softimage
. Multiple graphical
application programming interfaces
(APIs) were tested, including
3dfx Glide
,
OpenGL
, and
Direct3D
. Ultimately the game shipped with only Direct3D support because according to project lead Brett Tosti, when testing Glide and OpenGL the developers "didn't see any performance increases so didn't add support".
[11]
The team had to develop a physics simulation from only a few short film clips given to them. According to Tosti, their approximations ended up very close to the film: "We really didn't get to see how good our estimates were until the very end."
[11]
Project lead John Knoles emphasized that the team's goal was for a strong sense of speed. He stated they wanted to make it "feel like an eyeball-peeling racing game, where you're going so fast, you're just nervous".
[12]
The game was originally titled
Star Wars: Podracer
; however, the subtitle was changed to
Episode I Racer
when LucasArts learned that another company owned the trademark for games with "Pod" in the title.
[12]
Actor
Jake Lloyd
, who portrayed
Anakin Skywalker
in
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
, promoted the game at
E3 1999
[13]
and provided voice-over in the game. The theatrical score and various sound effects from
Star Wars: Episode I ? The Phantom Menace
was reused for the game. The podracers were recreated using specifications from the film, and the Tatooine environment was also sourced from the film. Several of the game's other locales had never appeared in prior
Star Wars
games. Tosti said the varied environments were "to add more depth to the gameplay".
[11]
During an
IGN
interview with Tom Byron of LucasArts at
E3 1999
, the question of online play was brought up. Byron was unsure, citing problems "mostly because of latency issues".
[14]
Some multiplayer code from
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
was utilized for
Episode I: Racer
. Ultimately, Internet play was not included. The Windows version uses the deprecated
IPX
protocol to accomplish this,
[8]
while the Macintosh version uses the
TCP/IP
stack. The multiplayer mode can support up to eight players.
[9]
The game was supported by a
$10 million
marketing budget.
[15]
Release
[
edit
]
Episode I: Racer
was later ported and released for several other
platforms
:
Nintendo 64
[16]
Dreamcast
, and
Game Boy Color
. The announced
PlayStation
version of the game was never released.
[17]
The Nintendo 64 version received a special edition
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
hardware bundle, including the standard gray and black console and a copy of the game. Though the Nintendo 64 cartridge can optionally take advantage of Nintendo's
Expansion Pak
memory unit to display additional textures, the limited capacity of the cartridge resulted in the removal of all pre-rendered
cutscenes
of the Windows and Macintosh versions. It is the first LucasArts game to be released on the Dreamcast.
[18]
The
Game Boy Color
release features entirely different game play from its console and PC counterparts. The Game Boy Color hardware is technically incapable of rendering the 3D graphics used in the other versions, so the game instead features one-on-one racing duels on abbreviated, linear tracks using an overhead 2D view. The Game Boy Color version of the game has an additional "rumble" feature.
The game was re-released online via the
DRM-free
GOG.com
store in May 2018.
[19]
On October 18, 2019, the Nintendo 64 version was officially re-released in both a standard and
Collector's Edition
set with approval by
Disney
and
Lucasfilm
in limited quantities by
Limited Run Games
. On March 26, 2020, the
Nintendo Switch
and
PlayStation 4
versions were announced for May 12, 2020.
[20]
The PlayStation 4 version was delayed by two weeks, with a new release date of May 26, 2020.
[21]
On May 11, 2020, exactly one day before the Switch version's release, both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch versions were eventually rescheduled for June 23, 2020 release due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
[22]
[23]
The Switch version supports
motion controls
, allowing players to use them to operate the individual throttles of the podracer's twin engines.
[24]
Reception
[
edit
]
The game was met with positive to average reception.
GameRankings
gave it a score of 75.78% for the Nintendo 64 version;
[25]
75.42% for the Dreamcast version;
[26]
73.79% for the PC version;
[27]
and 69.44% for the Game Boy Color version.
[28]
It has been featured on several lists of the best
Star Wars
video games. In March 2004,
GMR
rated
Episode I: Racer
the fifth-best
Star Wars
game of all time.
[48]
In 2015,
PC Gamer
listed it 3rd in their list of top Star Wars games.
[49]
That same year, it placed 10th in
Rock Paper Shotgun
's top
Star Wars
games list.
[50]
In
Game Informer'
s 2016 list of the 30 best
Star Wars
video games,
Racer
ranked 11th.
[51]
As of 2011
[update]
, the game holds the Guinness world record for the best-selling sci-fi racing game, with worldwide sales of 3.12 million units, followed by other series like
Wipeout
and
F-Zero
.
[6]
Next Generation
reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Yes, it's fast, it's largely customizable, features a lot of options, and it's fun, but it's tough to shake the feeling that if it weren't for the
Star Wars
license, it wouldn't otherwise stand out."
[45]
The editors of
Computer Gaming World
nominated
Racer
for their 1999 "Racing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to
Need for Speed: High Stakes
.
[52]
During the
AIAS
'
3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards
(now known as the
D.I.C.E. Awards
),
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
won in the category for "
Console Racing Game of the Year
".
[53]
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
also nominated for the
Blockbuster Entertainment Award
in the "Favorite Nintendo 64 Game" category, although it lost to
Donkey Kong 64
.
[54]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Star Wars: Episode I: Racer [GBC]"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
December 4,
2023
.
- ^
"GB Station - Release Dates"
. November 28, 1999. Archived from
the original
on November 28, 1999
. Retrieved
December 4,
2023
.
- ^
Deniz, Tuncer (December 7, 1999).
"
Star Wars: Racer
Goes Gold"
.
Inside Mac Games
. Archived from
the original
on July 16, 2001
. Retrieved
April 16,
2024
.
- ^
"
Star Wars: Episode I Racer
"
.
sega.com
. Archived from
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on October 27, 2000
. Retrieved
December 29,
2023
.
- ^
"Star Wars Racer and Commando Combo"
.
THQ Nordic
. Retrieved
April 1,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Guinness World Records 2011 - Gamer's Edition
. Guinness World Records Ltd. 2010. p.
76
.
ISBN
978-1-4053-6546-8
.
- ^
a
b
"...and You Thought Princess Leia Was Fast"
.
Game Informer
. April 13, 1999. Archived from
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on May 8, 1999
. Retrieved
March 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"TN IPX Protocol"
.
Microsoft
. September 29, 2009
. Retrieved
March 8,
2017
.
(removed by Microsoft in Windows Vista and above)
- ^
a
b
"Amazon.com: Star Wars, Episode 1: Racer: Video Games"
.
Amazon
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
"Star Wars Hits The Shelves"
.
IGN
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on April 17, 2001
. Retrieved
March 29,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
Ryans, Cory (May 14, 1999).
"Interview: Brett Tosti - LucasArts"
. Pure Gaming Network. Archived from
the original
on November 25, 1999
. Retrieved
March 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Smith, Rob (2008).
Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts
.
Chronicle Books
.
ISBN
978-0-8118-6184-7
.
- ^
"Nintendo 64 - Star Wars: Episode 1: Pod Racer publicity clip featuring Actor Jake Lloyd"
.
Access Hollywood
. Summer 1999.
Archived
from the original on December 13, 2021
. Retrieved
March 6,
2017
.
- ^
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.
IGN
. May 14, 1999. Archived from
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on April 13, 2001
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
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.
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. May 14, 1999. Archived from
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on February 13, 2016
. Retrieved
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2019
– via
The Free Dictionary
.
- ^
"Star Wars games mania"
.
British Broadcasting Company
. June 9, 1999.
- ^
"Star Wars: Episode I: Racer - PlayStation"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
January 2,
2017
.
- ^
Hong, Quang (January 31, 2000).
"Lucas Arts Supports Dreamcast"
.
Gamasutra
. Retrieved
March 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Star Wars: Episode I Racer Re-Released for PC on GOG"
.
IGN
. May 1, 2018
. Retrieved
March 3,
2018
.
- ^
"Star Wars Episode I: Racer for PS4 and Switch launches May 12"
.
Gematsu
. April 16, 2020
. Retrieved
April 16,
2020
.
- ^
"Star Wars Episode I: Racer Remaster Delayed On PS4"
.
Gamespot
. Retrieved
April 28,
2020
.
- ^
"Star Wars Episode I: Racer remaster gets another delay on Switch and PS4 ? Eurogamer.net"
.
Eurogamer
. June 16, 2020
. Retrieved
June 17,
2020
.
- ^
"Star Wars Episode 1: Racer comes to Switch, PS4 on June 23"
.
CNET
. June 16, 2020
. Retrieved
June 16,
2020
.
- ^
Berger, Josh (June 23, 2020).
"STAR WARS: EPISODE I RACER Has Finally Become Available For The PlayStation 4 And Nintendo Switch"
.
GameFragger
. Retrieved
August 19,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
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.
GameRankings
. Retrieved
August 15,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
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. GameRankings
. Retrieved
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2014
.
- ^
a
b
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. GameRankings
. Retrieved
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2014
.
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a
b
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. GameRankings
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. AllGame. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. AllGame. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Cook, Brad.
"Star Wars: Episode I: Racer (GBC) - Review"
.
AllGame
. Archived from
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on November 20, 2014
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. AllGame. Archived from
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on November 20, 2014
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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. AllGame. Archived from
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on November 20, 2014
. Retrieved
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2014
.
- ^
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. No. 76. p. 74.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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. Archived from
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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a
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- ^
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
External links
[
edit
]
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