LGR - Star Wars Episode I Racer - PC Game Review
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Taking a look back at the 1999 LucasArts game for Windows PCs! Racing through Star Wars environments at nearly 1,000MPH still stands out as one of the more satisfying sci-fi racing experiences of the late 90s.
● Social links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● Music used in order of appearance:
Not That Serious 2, Pandora Watto Remix
www.epidemicsou...
archive.org/de...
Looking for my mix of Watto's "Cantina hum" from the end of the video? Here ya go! www.archive.org/details/LGRWattosCantina
CLARIFICATION: to those pointing out how you can play the game in 16:9 resolutions, yep it's technically true. You _can_ play at resolutions such as 1080p, but what you get is a horizontally stretched experience that's still rendering all sorts of stuff at a 4:3 aspect ratio. This results in everything from the HUD, to the text/UI, to the skyboxes on each track looking skewed. But yes, it's technically correct that you can enable widescreen resolutions, it's just not fully optimized to do so and I really should've clarified what I meant. Check out this page for more: www.wsgf.org/dr/star-wars-episode-i-racer
perfect
LGR me and my little brother still to this day quote Watto's odd and humorous sayings from this game.
And we can't sing the Cantina band theme without singing it the way Watto did.
So this remix is amazing :)
Hey @LGR, you didn't leave your affiliate link below. I saw this come up in my emails this morning and really want to buy it, so I will wait to use your link.
It's in the description. www.gog.com/game/star_wars_episode_i_racer?pp=fa33988727d7f572be002b845e65858e68bb92e9
This is fantastic :D :D
"They come, they look around, but they no buy. Why nobody buy!?"
*UUUUUUUUUUHHHH*
Aeeeeeeeee!!!!!
Ayyeeeeee
they come here they mess up my store eeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh
@@timothyalton3821 can't help it, I can not read that without hearing his voice, lol
You know, this brings back memories, I was one of the lucky souls to work on Phantom Menace, we were on the film set with those pod racers, it was thrilling to see them, they made a pod racer that worked, it was a very fast car that was raised up a meter high and "gimballed" when turning or taking a corner, like a drivable simulator...unfortunately it wasn't used, other than "Anakin" sitting in it stationary. I played this game a lot, the time trials are really addictive. Great video as always.
Amazing ;)
Oh wow! Cool story bro! Can you tell it again!?
@@genesisfan029 Here I got it covered. *clears thoat* AHEM…
You know, this brings back memories, I was one of the lucky souls to work on Phantom Menace, we were on the film set with those pod racer, it was thrilling to see them, they made a pod racer that worked, it was a very fast car that was raised up a meter high and “gimballed” when turning or taking a corner like a drivable simulator…unfortunately it wasn’t used, other than “Flannagin” sitting in it stationary. I played this game a lot, the time trials are really addictive. Great video as always.
There you go, I may have misremembered some details but that’s the story to the best of my knowledge
That's awsum, you were very lucky. Did you do any work for other Film's?.
@@adamking4246 no just flims and flams
“Just polygonal enough to be believable...”
You just described my favorite era of graphics, the late 90s through early 2000s, back when part of the fun was staring at the little details in th game environment to see if the developers really pulled off what they were aiming for. Remember how exciting it was when games started to let you shoot little things in the level, like a glass bottle XD
Anyway, thanks for covering this game. It’s one of my all time favorites
> favorite era of graphics
> Operation_Flashpoint.jpg
@@ursa_margo Most definitely. I love Operation Flashpoint
@@cloud_line4595 but face models there are utterly horrible
haha yeah, and we're talking windows 98, graphics were the best there was then :)
Interesting. I always considered early 3D to be one of the "worst" eras of graphics, just a little ahead of the early Atari games. When beautiful pre-rendered images and pixel art of the 90s gave way to a blocky, low-res mess. For example compare Baldur's Gate 2 to the original Neverwinter Nights - I played both when they came out and always cringed, even back then, at how bad NWN looked compared to BG2. So visually unappealing. BUT IT'S 3D!!!
Although, given how many "PS1-style graphics" horror games are coming out today, I guess people's tastes are truly defined by their first childhood impressions.
This game needs a complete and faithful remake with NO loot boxes
Hello. in May, for the Switch.
@@gab_v250 Rip remake. Just a port
Why remake? This game is perfectly playable. Graphics are are dated, but it doesn't make the game any worse than modern ones.
@@HelghastStalker The port was released on every platform simultaneously, you mouth-breather. And it's literally a perfect port of the PC version.
Fuck remakes I hope this game doesn’t ever get a shitty remaster
Played the shit out of this game as a kid, imagine my surprise a few years ago at the age of 28 when i find out it wasnt actually called "podracer" lmao
I was similarly shocked. I googled to see if maybe that was just PC version and the N64 I had as a kid was still called Pod Racer, but nope.
mandela effect...
@@josephhill702....no. I played this when it released and have always known it to be Star Wars Episode 1: Racer....... 😐
@@josephhill702Or as we called it in previous generations, "misremembering ."
Duuude that Watto remix at the end was baller. Also this was one of my favorite games back in the day. Scooped it off GOG recently, still fun.
is one of those rare games that are fun, because they are made to be fun, instead of todays aaa crap
have you seen my *C H A N C E C U B E ?*
Blue, the boy...
Red...
HEES MOOOOOTHAAAAAA!
Played the hell out of the N64 version of this back in the day.
Robert Breeden you’re my man. God i loved that game.
saaame
me too man - nostalgic as hell
I don't know why, but this game bored me as a kid, even though I loved F-Zero X, and this game is very much in the same vein. maybe I'd like it more now. I mean, my brother and I were psyched for this game when it first came out, but that feeling didn't last long
I used to play this so much when my mom worked at a computer shop in the early 2000s. Also where I was introduced to Civ and Morrowind. Man, games were good when I was kid. Damn you, nostalgia!
It’s been 20+ years, and I haven’t found a game that captures the sense of speed that this game does
dude, youre right! the only thing i can think of is flying 4 feet off the ground at mach speeds in warthhunder.
my god this was a great game
"No money no parts, no deal" i loved the game
I hardly ever comment on anything, but Ive been watching for years and im so glad you finally reviewed this one.
"ITS A NEW LAP RECORD"
That somehow reminded me of the game Screamer.
Easily the best thing to come from Episode 1 besides "Duel of Fates"
Let's not get into the details of the state of that corn...
Without Episode One, we also wouldn't have the webcomic Darths and Droids, which actually managed to make Jar Jar not suck, by making him an RPG character created by a 6 year old girl.
And the Prequel Memes.
The way you tie in your advertising endorsements is very tasteful and 100% non-annoying. Well done! :)
Apart from that, your videos just rock. Thank you!
Man that map at 5:30 was rough as a kid
EDIT: glad to see you say it was bullshit as well clint :P
Indeimaus Star Souls: Prepare to Race edition
I was unable to figure out how to finish that race until literally two nights ago after watching a guide.
PROTIP: USE A GAMEPAD WITH ANALOG SUPPORT!
My advice would be to use a larger pod like Mars Guo or Sebulba
Basically the moment that you get to that first curve, hard brake and then turn towards the direction of the curve. Keep the pod as close to the center of the track as possible and any dip-downs you see, immediately pull up to avoid smacking into them.
I remember beating it on keyboard, just going "slow" .. boasting
I also remember that my fingers hurt from the jungle track. That 2 store track features gap you need to go with the pod on the side IIRC. Fun. Still remember this game as having fastest feeling of any game ever
I actually just got an N64 with this game and was playing with my friend last week
We decided to try this track...
I was celebrating because I got tenth place
Remember when there was more Star Wars games than one mediocre multiplayer game every 3 years?
And most of them were damn good.
Good old lucasarts time
The last Lucasarts game I bought was Force Unleashed II, which had a major bug on PC that they wouldn't fix. Lucasarts was the only consistent movie franchise with good games that added to the story, but now it's over. It has been for some time now. I forgot about that part of being a kid.
*sigh*
Shadows of the Empire blew my mind as a kid. Then we got Rouge Squadron and I absolutely fell in love with Star Wars. I think the lack of quality games (not to mention movies) is a big reason why kids today are not really into Star Wars.
@@JohnSmith-wx9wj Are you talking about that bug that renders you unable to beat force unleashed II?
Perfect timing! I was just browsing GOG when it suddenly popped up... I've never bought a game so fast let me tell you. I own the Skywalker limited boxed version as well... but getting it to run on W10 is... well... horrid to say the least. Anywho... thanks for revving up the nostalgia once again Clint :)
I think this game was just added to GOG recently, today being May the Fourth and all.
I hope it comes out on steam
I know I'm 11 months late on this one, but this is my absolute favorite childhood game. No game will ever be as fast or as mechanically perfect as this game. That said, this game's framerate and physics engine are linked for some reason, meaning it plays better at 30 fps than it does at 60. Learned that from the speedrunning community.
Oh, man! The nostalgia!!! AAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!........
Love this game ;) Awesome vid, Clint! Thanks for the memories!
"Two engines...one champion..."
Ben Quadrinairos - "Am I a joke to you?"
*remember a how his race went*
Yes, yes he is
his name has Quad in it, meaning 4 and he has 4 engines... just got that after 21 years.
Clint, you always thank us for watching, but we never thank you for making - so thank you!
Thank you for reviewing this game! It sounds like our memories of this game are very similar. I also had it on the PC and I clearly remember staring at the box art on the way home from the store. I'm glad to hear that they released it on GOG, as well. Definitely going to pick it up with your link. Great video!
Remember this game specifically because it was running on PC with 3D acceleration in the store and I was buying my first 3D card, Voodoo2. Sweet nostalgia.
Final Fantasy 7 PC was my intro to 3D cards it wasn't as good a card as a voodoo it was an ATI but it did the job for most of the games I played.
yup, bought an original voodoo card for this, pass through cable and everything, but suddenly my PC wiped the floor with console graphics (800x600 vs 520x768 yay!) and it just kept getting better. so ended my desire to ever own a console.
HOLYSHIT! I didn't know the game was on GOG! THANK YOU!!
1:02
"No Limits"
"Limited Edition"
Clint, you make the most enjoyable and in-depth reviews on this website. Thank you for all of your hard work and high quality content, it is truly great!
"This track can suck it" is now my favorite LGR moment :)
I haven't been a huge arcade player, but Racer holds a special place in my heart. Having my friend play alongside me as Sebulba was dope, with proper control and speakers right in your face, adding to the sense of speed
Now you have got to do a review of Star Wars Rogue Squadron.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron is a PC game, it came out for PC and N64.
I have Rogue Squadron on PC. From GoG
Yes. YES.
Agreed! Rogue Squadron is my favorite Star Wars game, period. Played the heck out of it back then on the PC.
ABORT MISSION! THE AT-PT'S HAVE BEEN DESTROYED! THE AT-PT'S HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!
Loved that little outro tune lmao. Great video as always, Clint!
Now *THIS* is Pod Racing!~
I have to say 1920x1440 makes the game look *pop* noice!
Would one not expect such a thing? #PCMasterRace
SOOO happy they finally got this game working. One of my favorite childhood racing games.
Hopefully Crimson Skies will get the same treatment and come back from the dead on GOG.
3:59 "The graaaaphics" lol love that inflection 😁
Marshal Arnold I wonder if it was a JonTron reference. "Holy shit dem graaaphics"
ua-cam.com/video/QF6a9NvCk5c/v-deo.html
Definitely my favourite racer of all time, because of its sense of speed. Sure as hell feels a lot faster than F-Zero.
May the 4th be with you brother
I had so much nostalgia watching this! I actually purchased the game from GOG about an hour before you uploaded this! So perfect timing.
I remember playing that damned Abyss level. It took me hours to finally get 1st on that track and it made me so proud. Haha. Thank you LGR!
RIP Lucasarts
F
And now it's on steam! Man, I had such the nostalgia trip when I played my first race and relearned the controls. The best game I ever got from Shaws!
Hey LGR. Big starwars nerd here. Pod racers use repulsor lifts which are effected by ice.
I like how relaxed yet entertained I am while watching your videos, keep up the great work!
Decades old game? Now I feel old.
Hahaha! I was already old when this game was new :)
i feel decades old too
I used to have a copy of the Dreamcast port of this game. It was quite enjoyable... until something really weird happened.
My disc had gotten pretty scratched up due to frequently playing, and at one point stopped playing altogether.
A little cleaning got it working again... kinda. For some reason, ALL the music was suddenly gone. All other sound effects worked, but the music was missing.
Let me tell you, playing those tracks with no music in the background is really creepy!
Woah I never had music since I had the game copied on a cd
I used to love playing this game on the N64
What a fantastic analysis! Simply wonderful! Thanks a lot Clint.
CHANCE KYOOB
"It's a new lap record!" Good rendition and throwback.
I loved playing this game at my arcade growing up, never got to play the Pc/Console version.. Now I must get it!!
What a great review, i remember having a lot of fun with this game. The speed , sound and gameplay were superb.
Now, *This* is Pod Racing!!!
Er... I mean, Star Wars Racers.
Bryce Mckenzie What about POD, the antigrav racer for PC?
Looks more like F-Zero, if it was on computers. (Damn, F-Zero hasn't had a new game in ages!)
TheBreakingBenny neither had pod racing
@cosimoRah Different vehicles, same manner of racing.
I love the way this guy talks about games. really adds to the nostalgia
"Itz uh new lahp rekurrd!" Still quote this to this day.
Still pumping out great content even after all these years. I love it!
still one of the reasons i still pull out my n64. 2 player is amazing
what a detailed and thorough review. i still have the original cd and my old gamesave from 2003 and 1st in every level except for that one level. - 3rd. didnt encounter those bugs, but staying on the top deck was impossible! such a fun game. i love the keyboard controls where you hold like 3 buttons - thrust and 2 boosts whilst controlling tilt yaw and turning with both hands, such a great feeling of control. and there havent been any games like that for the pc with such a feeling of speed. wipeout for pc? rollcage? still holds up well today, amazing.
Stay for the ending, folks
Oh man, I remember that Abyss track. I wanted to beat it so badly to unlock the final racer and I remember the time I finally did it was so intense I broke out in a nervous sweat as I was about to cross the finish line.
[Somewhat irritating alien exclamations]
Such an iconic game. Really the only console game I was heavily into as a kid (at friends' houses, didn't own any consoles myself), never realized it had a PC version. Glad I own the dreamcast version now, fun to bust out after a rough day at work.
Very VERY hyped for this gem coming to Switch
Oh my god the nostalgia! I put so many hours into this game. It was one of my PC favourites when I was little, along with Hot Wheels Micro Racers, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Star Wars Battle for Naboo, F1 championship 2000, Sega Rally 2, and slightly later on Robot Wars Extreme Destruction, all played with a sidewinder joystick. Those right there are totally some games you need to cover by the way as they're all awesome.
Gods I remember this back in the day. It was the shit, still is. Best thing to come out of the prequels.
Well. I was gonna say exactly just that.
It honestly looks better than I remember, I'm not sure I knew all the depth it had back then.
Basically nearly everything outside of the prequels are far superior than the movies they where based on.
Sam Same here. I didn't appreciate that there was a mechanic on pit droids.
DivinityOfBLaze I honestly think it's better than ROTJ.
I was pretty bummed out that monday's video was a repost, but this makes up for it. LGR!
Now THIS is Podracing!
THIS Podracing! Now is
This has always been one of my favorite racing games as I still have my N64 cartridge as well as on my Switch. I was 13 when this game first came out & I couldn't win all the races back in the day as I crashed a lot, but I played it again on my Switch a few years ago & I was able to win all the races fairly easily this time & again on mirror mode. I'm turning 38 next week & am better at video games now than I was back then.
This and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron were my first ever videogames
Yes I am blessed
Gideon I really hated that one!Impossible to properly control the ship
This, the original Battlefront II, and Starwars Starfighter, even played Kotor & Kotor 2 on a Friend's Xbox.
To me these are all still the best star wars games ever made
You missed on on DOSera Xwing? Shame.
Hey LGR! ive been a fan of you ever since i discovered you're channel.
i would pay so much for an updated version of a game like this with updated modern graphics, and full pod racer customization
The game became available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One last year.
Oh man, the memories! The anti-grav map was my favorite.
Dude, the Switch version is so nice now with 16x9 and a clean UI. So awesome! And looool @ your Watto remix haha
I feel we missed a serious chance to bring PRACTICE MOOODE back. Oh well, great video nonetheless :)
Awesome that you covered this, I remember playing this on my N64. Didn't get to play nearly as much of it as I wished, though, someone broke into our house and stole our N64 and all the games. Good times.
And yeah, we always called it Star Wars Pod Racing as well.
May the 4th be with you Clint
After watching this review, I loaded up the game, started a race, got 1st place and then hear the "It's a new lap record!" sound bite. My day is now complete.
Is the race announcer Greg Proops? Cause it sure sounds like him.
thescaredshadow yes that’s Greg. He reprised his role from the film
O...My...God! It literally feels like you are pulling the memories fom my brain when i watched this.
I played this pc version back in day, it really was a blast. Next best version is on Dreamcast.
Seeing this on pc makes me jealous, as I always played on the n64. Either way it is not only a great racing game, but also one of the best star wars games ever in my opinion
I know a lot of people hated the Pod-Racing scene in episode 1, personally i always thought it was the most thrilling and most awesome part of the movie, god i would have loved playing this game as a kid!
I liked it because it's an action scene that isn't a lightsaber fight, space battle, or ground battle. It added some good variety to the movie.
The podracing scene is great and easily the best scene in the prequel trilogy. However it has no bearing on the rest of the plot despite the time taken to set it up in the context of the Naboo blockade and 'people dying'. But nonetheless an amazing sequence.
+Eclipezz - Taken on its own, the pod racing scene was fine, but the way it was shoe-horned into the story and the way it made the annoying little brat the star, was what turned off most fans. I get that it was meant to show that he had exceptional abilities right from an early age, foreshadowing his later rise to power, but the way the role was played was damn annoying. "I'm the only human that can do it!" Someone please smack that kid!
I remember even as a kid thinking "how long has this gone on?"
Felt like forever and a day. That scene and the preceding 'fuck all about nothing' set on Tattooine caused enough movie fatigue to last the entirety of the prequels... What on earth was George Lucas thinking with that pacing?
I still remembering seeing the demo of this game as a kid on a n64 at Toys R Us, I absolutely was crazy about star wars back then and I had to have it! Sadly I never did.. glad I can finally see what I missed. Thanks Clint!
I remember playing this with MS Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro Joystick
Good times.
Saw one of those in a second hand store recently, was so tempted but doubted it was in functional condition
Your little song at the end is amazing.
Hi, great throwback! I've also recently watched your decently older video on the cult game Re-Volt, and it immediately came to my mind... How come you didn't cover the "hail the lord" game Rollcage? Maybe it's just my subjective feeling, but I find it to be one of the best "non-realistic" racers of all time. Coming out in 1999, it had and amazing concept of those two-sided cars, with great driving mechanics, weapon system of course, superb tracks (which took a huge advantage of the game concept possibilities), destructible environment to cause trouble to your opponents, good sound design... I would really love to see your take on that, anywhere in the future, if you're fond of the game. Anyway, keep up the great work!
I'd completely forgotten this gem. I've misplaced the game somewhere as a kid...
So you actually got me to buy this game on Steam.Thanks for the trip down memory lane :D
I remember walking into a friend's house one Saturday morning and seeing him and his dad play this exact game on a brand spanking new Pentium 3 computer they got the night before. I WAS SO EXCITED! AND ENVIOUS!
I remember playing that arcade machine in a mall on an Air Force base in Japan. As a little kid, I was so hyped.
Oh man, I had the ps2 version of this and it was one of my favourite childhood games :D
(Looking at it the later ps2 version had more stylistic ui and was graphically a bit crisper and nicer than this version, but the ps2 version doesn't seem to have been that popular)
Your satisfied sigh at the beginning of your videos is so satisfying
HAVE YOU SEEN MY CHANCE CUBE?
Ok Clint, now we need a full length version of that watto humming outtro
Is that Watto rapping at the end of the vid? LOL
I had a good friend who had this game on PC. It had that classic PC feel where you had that very subtle fuzz in the speakers. I didn’t play it but once but it’s still really nostalgic for me.
I just noticed one of the announcers is Greg Proops from Whose Line is it Anyway and Madworld.
Gotta say this game seems to have so much atmosphere I even feel the clunky UI in the shop adds up to the feeling of you being trift hunting in a flea market for that key engine piece you been looking for.
Is on GOG.com now! Buy it!
You buy it?
I always called it episode 1 racer.
Had this on the n64, was one of my fav racers along with F-Zero X and Extreme G.
Always liked how Anakin would shout "It's working, it's working!" when you repair his racer
Killing Anakin was always pretty fun. And buying out droids, that was cool too.
I worked at LucasArts back in 2008- and in a virtually unused gaming/break room there was an Episode 1 racer arcade machine. Since we were game testers of course we would take our lunches down there and play it. It was a fun excursion from the torture of game testing. Which is saying something.