Looney Tunes Racing Review

The wabbit wides again.

As if there weren’t enough kart racers in the world, Infogrames has decided to

plop another one into our laps, this time featuring the timeless crew of Looney

Tunes. As I smack my forehead in disbelief, I wonder what kind of game I have

stumbled upon. Will Looney Tunes Racing be a trick or a treat? Well, it

may not be Halloween, but it turns out that there is a goodie or two in store

for those curious enough to try this game.

Like every other kart racer, Looney Tunes Racing features familiar

characters racing around in a go-kart tournament. A variety of wacky ammunition

is available during the race and players can use them to get the best of their

opponents. Similar to Inforgrames’ Wacky

Races, LTR uses the token system, where characters collect a certain

number of tokens in order to use weapons. Annoyingly, only one weapon can be

used at a time. Oh well, I never got tired of the falling anvil and pie in the

face gags, anyway.

Besides the expected Championship and Single Race modes, LTR comes

equipped with an Acme Challenge mode and an interesting Multiplayer. In the

Acme Challenge mode, players must complete specific objectives in order to gain

artifacts for the ACME museum. These challenges range from smacking your opponents

a certain number of times to picking up special items in a certain order.

The Multiplayer mode has three ways to play: Versus (just racing), Battle (hit

your opponent!), and Wacky (a combination of the previous two). These slight

variations in gameplay help keep the monotony demons at bay and boost the game

past your average licensed kart racer.

LTR‘s sixteen plus tracks are, in fact, loony. You’ll race through

familiar locales, including Gossamer’s castle and the Giant’s garden. While

there aren’t really any shortcuts to take, every single track is outfitted with

cool traps that any player can use to slow their opponents down. Falling rocks,

giant sheep, and large cannons are just some of the nastiness you’ll find on

the road. Watch out for the ‘X’ that marks the spot and be sure to carry your

umbrella!

Controlling the karts is simple and very effective. It’s easily one of the

best control schemes I’ve seen in this genre. Furthermore, there is a “powerslide”

button, making it a heck of a lot easier to zip around the track at top speed.

Give the developers a carrot.

One

of LTR‘s problems, though, lies with the camera work. There are two view

options: close up and less close up. Both angles are just too low. If one of

the angles were a bit higher up, it would be a lot easier to see what is coming

up ahead.

LTR‘s graphics may not knock your socks off, but a solid effort to

go along with sweet sounds gets a thumbs up from me any day. The voice talent

is as top of the line as you can get. LTR is graced with the presence

of official Warner Brothers voice actors. And for more icing on the cake, the

game’s music stays completely in character. You’ll bound to even recognize a

few tunes. Fiiii-garo!

Unlike the Dreamcast’s Looney

Tunes Space Race, LTR has a wide assortment of characters to unlock.

Even Gossamer and Pepe Le Pew are here! Furthermore, several tracks can also

be opened up, giving players access to more outrageous places like the ACME

factory and Wackyland.

A few Looney Tunes mini-movies are also unlockable. With a license such as

this, it is only fitting that a few cool cartoons would be available for adoring

fans. Make that two carrots for the guys in charge.

The biggest disappointment with LTR is that it’s a too easy. Sit down

and play for just a few hours and there’s a really good chance you’ll have beaten

it. It almost takes a special effort to lose races. The game might be geared

towards younger gamers, but even a child could ace this one.

Looney Tunes Racing is definitely one of the more enjoyable kart racers

in recent memory. Fun environments and plenty of familiar faces are always crowd

pleasers. While details such as camera and difficulty slow the game up, it certainly

can’t contain the wacky fun that has always been associated with that wascaly

wabbit.