Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing Review

The next person to say “bombad” out loud gets a wedgie.

When it comes to Star Wars and video games, we’ve all seen the power of the Dark
Side. Too many games from the galaxy far, far away have been utter disappointments.
Does anyone remember Rebellion or Force
Commander? The past is just littered with subpar Star Wars titles.

So now that Super Bombad Racing has been released, I know exactly
what you’re thinking:

(1) Jar Jar Binks is the worst thing ever to happen to Star Wars.
(2) Using the word bombad in public can be
hazardous to your health.
(3) Big-headed Star Wars kart racing is going to suck big time.

Surprisingly, you’re wrong about number 3. Super Bombad Racing is actually
a much better game than anyone would expect.

You’ll start off by choosing one of eight familiar Episode 1 characters; Anakin,
Darth Maul and Yoda are just some of the (enormous) faces you’ll see. If you’re
good enough, a cool secret character from the past can also be earned. Each
racer has his or her own individual stats along the lines of mass, acceleration,
top speed and handling. They also have one unique power that can be used to
slow nearby opponents.

It’s important to note that Super Bombad doesn’t quite handle like
other kart racers. Since everyone is in some sort of ship, the racers hover
over the ground, making for some interesting physics. You can bounce off objects,
fly off ramps and even use your thrusters to soar over gaps in the road.

If there’s one thing that Super Bombad does not lack, it’s items. Items
fall into one of four different categories: frontal attack, rear attack, boost
and shield. Twelve different weapons are available, ranging from probe droids
to ion nets. Five types of boost will help speed you on your way and four force
field pick-ups wiil help protect your huge head.

The modes you’ll find in Super Bombad are as plain as can be – Race
mode, Battle mode and Team mode. Race and Battle are exactly what you’d expect
and Team has 2 or 4 players racing as a team.

With the exception of the cheesy, big-headed versions of the characters, Super
Bombad looks pretty good. Each of the game’s tracks and arenas looks nice
with smooth textures and colorful scenery. The game runs very smoothly with
no slowdown or annoying pop-up to ruin the ride.

The audio isn’t half bad, either. The sound effects in Star Wars games have
traditionally been very good and Super Bombad is no exception. Goofy
versions of Star Wars music can also be heard and goes perfectly with the cranially
enhanced characters.

The glitterstim
in this shipment of spice, however, is the track design. The areas in both the
Race and Arena mode are tons of fun. In Race, you’ll play through nine levels
based on the Dune Sea pod races, the underwater Gungan city and Coruscant. Each
level has its own cool quirks complete with angry
Jawas, underwater monstrosities, or even the occasional KILLER FLYING THINGY!
You’ll also find plenty of shortcuts, if you look hard enough.

The four battle arenas are also pretty cool. My personal favorite takes place
at the Pit of Carkoon where the almighty Sarlacc waits to devour anyone foolish
enough to get snagged by its tentacles [Just so you know, kind reader, we
have given G-Wok a brutal wedgie for all this Star Wars geekery. – Ed.]
You’ll have to be quick though, because almost all of the power-ups are located
at the edge of the pit! Definitely a good job by the level design team.

But they say all good things must come to an end, and with Super Bombad,
that end comes all too soon. The difficulty of the game is very easy; you’ll
make it through the entire game in no time. Some of the racing tracks are pretty
short. No options can be found to increase the difficulty, so you won’t be able
to inject a little more of that aggressive Dark Side into the other racers.
Make sure you’ve got some friends handy, since all that’s left is the multiplayer
game.

For that matter, this doesn’t really add anything of particular interest to
the overplayed kart racing genre. It’s very standard fare, albeit with a very
recognizable license.

But despite its shortcomings, Super Bombad Racing is a pleasant
surprise. Solid presentation coupled with good level design leads to plenyt
of kart racin’ fun. And even though the experience is brief, it isn’t any worse
than an evening with that blithering idiot.