Hang on!
Star Wars Episode One might have been a pretty ropy movie which spawned an equally ropy tie-in in the form of The Phantom Menace, but one its most hyped sequences actually gave rise to this surprisingly enjoyable racer. It's a futuristic racing game, like WipeOut or Extreme G2, which does a great job of recreating the thrills and spills of the movie's podracing sequence and actually proves to be a very exciting game. You take the role of the young Anakin Skywalker or one of the many strange alien drivers on offer and must take part in a series of high octane races which take you through a variety of environments behind the controls of one of several impressively fast podracers. Each character has a unique racer which can be upgraded by winning races, while victory also unlocks new tracks upon which to test your skills. There's little else to the game to be honest, with no storyline to speak of, but as far as these things go, this one stands up pretty well today. The game does a good job of recreating the atmosphere of the movie, even using the actor who performed the role of the commentator, along with Jake Lloyd himself, while the visuals also nail the look and feel of the film. The courses are varied and exciting to race on, with several different environments to experience and plenty of mad jumps and hair raising moments along the way. The sound is equally as authentic and adds much to the overall feel of things, while the controls are simple and responsive. Overall, this is a surprisingly fun game which no one really expected.
