Star Wars: Racer Revenge is the sequel to the Star Wars Racer game that made its way into stores a few years ago to co-incide with the release of the Episode 1 movie. Remember the pod racing scene from Episode 1? Well Star Wars Racer took that scene and turned it into a game where you choose a character and a vehicle and tour the pod racing circuit accross the galaxy in a quest to win the Boonta Eve Classic on Tatooine. Star Wars: Racer Revenge is set 8 years after the original, and the evil Sebulba is back to get revenge on Anakin Skywalker for stealing his glory last time.

Revenge is one of those Star Wars games that will really annoy the die hard Star Wars fans out there. For the sake of the game, it is assumed Anakin never actually left Tatooine to become a Jedi and is still touring the pod racing circuit 8 years later. While this little bit of poetic license didn't really bother me, I can see how it might get up the nose of some people. But apart from these facts, Revenge is not so much a sequel as a remake of the original. Aside from the fact it is set 8 years after the original, the aim of the game is pretty much exactly same (beat Sebulba and win the Boonta Eve Classic) and the mechanics of the game are pretty much exactly the same. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, as the original Star Wars Racer was a fun, fast paced racing game with a good share of thrills and even some fun multiplayer racing.

Though, its not necessarily a good thing either. After playing for a while you will get a very definite feeling of having seen it all before. For the most part, the tracks and the racers are the same as the original. While there are a few new faces, and while the tracks have been done up quite considerably, its still all a little bit too much the same to be considered a new game. I suppose there isn't a real lot that could have been done to set this game apart from the original, considering the entire pod racing games are based off one 15 minute scene in the movie. Theres only a limited amount of inspiration to draw upon for a game of this type I guess. Still, it does noticeably harm the game's lastability if you have played the original.

If you haven't played the original though, you will most likely have a blast. Star Wars: Racer Revenge is one of the fastest racing games I've played to date. The sense of sheer speed as you're hurtling through canyons at breakneck speed is quite impressive. For anyone who doesn't know, the "pods" that you race are small little one man vehicles pulled through the air at tremendous speeds by two or more massive jet turbines. For a real thrill I suggest using the camera mode that puts your viewpoint between the jet turbines at the front of the pod. Racing becomes all about split second reactions as you're whipped along in a blind frenzy, its really quite well done. And when you fire up your turbo, well, its just a matter of hang on tight and enjoy the ride :)

There is also more emphasis on taking out your opponents in this installment than there was in the previous one. The game actually takes into account attacks you launch against the other racers, and if you initiate a ramming maneuver or some such thing, you wont actually take any damage from the collision. Along with the bonus points and money you get from taking other racers out of the race, this provides for some motivation to be extra vicious out on the track. Of course, people will try and take you out also by ramming you and damaging your engines. Luckily, each pod racer can self repair. You can repair yourself at any time during a race and as often and as much as you need. Of course there is a downside though: while you are repairing you slow down considerably. This can be upgraded though between races. As you win more money you can buy upgrades for your pod racer. You can upgrade things such as speed, acceleration, handling, defense (ie, how well you stand up to being rammed, etc), and repair speed.

The graphics are very nice and very smooth. As I mentioned earlier, they convey the sense of speed incredibly well, and in a game like this, thats what really matters. While some of the models aren't as detailed as they could be, you really dont have time to notice while playing the game. The graphics on the tracks are generally very nice, if a little bland in some places. On the desert tracks for instance you get a wide choice of brown rocks, brown sand and oh, brown dirt. Realistically though, I guess theres not a lot that could be done to change that. Sound effects are top notch, as you would expect from a Star Wars game, and match the sounds from the movie perfectly.

All round, a pretty solid title. If you have played the original Star Wars Racer then you will pretty much know what to expect from this one. Nothing earth shatteringly different has been added to this new title, but it has been sufficiently enhanced from the original to still stand alone as a worthy sequel. If you haven't played the original, then I would recommend picking up a copy and having a go. Even though the lastability in single player mode may not be anything great, its a fun game if you have a couple of friends over to play some multiplayer. So far I've had more fun multiplayer than single player. Definately worth a go.