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.