Lego Racers 2
After the success of the first installment, the bricks got moving again, and this time much farther from home. Lego Racers 2 sends players across planets and exotic environments in arcade races, where everything is made of plastic Lego bricks, from the cars through the tracks to the landscape itself.
Compared to the original game, the second installment added a significant element of free movement. Outside the races themselves, you move around the worlds in open zones, complete tasks, collect parts and unlock new routes. The racing core remains arcade and family-friendly, with an emphasis on fun rather than simulation, so even a less experienced player can take the wheel. Building and modifying your own vehicle from bricks is among the most enticing things the series offers.
The game is part of the wave of licensed Lego titles that were created under the banner of Lego Media and related studios at the turn of the millennium, that is, long before the era of the famous action-adventure games by TT Games. It was released for the PlayStation and PC and clearly targeted a younger audience and families, who were drawn by the combination of racing and creative building.
Culturally, this generation of Lego games shows the path the brand was taking before it found its golden format of parodic action-adventures based on movie licenses. Lego Racers 2 stands in an interesting interim period, when Lego was experimenting with all sorts of genres, from racing through strategy to adventure, searching for what worked best with plastic bricks in digital form.
On the PlayStation the game holds up its fresh, colorful graphics and accessible controls. It is not a title that would break records in difficulty or realism, but that was precisely the intention. It was about the joy of building, discovering colorful worlds and carefree racing that entertains the whole family in front of one screen.
Why play it: For players who want a nostalgic family arcade race with a touch of exploration and the magic of building from Lego bricks.
Game 80 of 215 for Sony PlayStation
The same title elsewhere (1)
On the PlayStation this is a full 3D arcade racer across planets with a wide choice of tracks, vehicles and LEGO-brick builds, where the console's hardware allowed for larger environments and smoother graphics. The Game Boy Advance version had to simplify the racing into less demanding graphics with shorter, less elaborate tracks to cope with the handheld's limited power, though the core idea of building and upgrading cars from bricks survived intact. Anyone wanting the full experience should go for the PlayStation version; the GBA release is more of a lightweight pocket variation for travel.
