Lego Racers 2

Lego Racers 2
Developer(s)	ATD
Publisher(s)	Lego Software Taito (Japanese version)
Platform(s)	Windows, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance
Release date(s)	September 27, 2001 PlayStation 2 JP August 8, 2002 NA September 27, 2001 EU October 19, 2001 PC NA October 4, 2001 EU October 4, 2001 Game Boy Advance NA November 27, 2001 EU December 7, 2001
Genre(s)	Racing game
Mode(s)	Single Player, two player simultaneously
Distribution	CD-ROM, DVD, Game Boy Advance Cartridge

Lego Racers 2 is a LEGO racing video game developed by ATD and published by Lego Software. It was first released in September 2001 for Windows (PC), PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance.

It is the sequel of the 1999 game, Lego Racers. This sequel was first revealed by Lego on August 21, 2001.^[1]

Worlds

There are five large worlds, starting with the hometown, Sandy Bay. The player wins 4 races in Sandy Bay, then collects gold bricks to move on to Dino Island, Mars, Arctic, and finally Xalax. In Xalax, the player will face Rocket Racer, who when beaten, will hand over the title as the greatest racer in the galaxy.

Each world is based on a particular theme. In addition to racing cars in the Racers product line, each theme is based on an actual series Lego sets, and includes parts of those sets.

• Sandy Bay: Based on Lego Town sets. It is an island that has a town, construction site, and several beaches as well as a mountain in the center. This world also has portals to the other Lego worlds in it; if you are in the Arctic world and are going to the Mars World, you must go back to Sandy Bay and into the Mars portal. Sandy Bay has four bosses that you have to race before going to any of the other Lego worlds. They are Workman Fred, Mike the Postman, Fireman Gavin, and P. C. Bobby (in that order). The races are: Dig-A-Brick, Special Delivery, Hot Stuff and Bobby's Beat. Golden bricks can be found at the beach, near the top of the mountain, and on a ledge by the west beach.

• Dino Island: The next Lego world you visit is based on the Lego Adventurers sets. It is also an island featuring two rivers, a plateau with a volcano, a jungle, a tribal village, ancient ruins, and a few beaches. It constantly rains here. There are Lego dinosaurs running about, which can't hurt you (although they can push you, a setback during races) and always run the same path. The boss for this world is Sam Sanister, who has a fast car. He has an engine super upgrade in the form of a turbo boosted engine. The races are: Tribal Trouble, Dino Dodgems, Cretaceous Canyon, The Lost Race World and Sam Sanisters Slammer. Golden bricks can be found by the plateau over the serpent's mouth, on the beach, and above the volcano entrance in the jungle.

• Mars: The third Lego world is based on the Lego Life on Mars sets. It is a series of valleys in between tall cliff-like mountains. It features a martian mine, martian base, abandoned martian base, crashed space shuttle (which you arrive in according to the mini-movie), and two caves as well as two lava rivers. If you get enough speed in free roam mode, you can get on top of the mountains, but you will respawn if you get too close to the edge of the platform. The boss is Rigel, a martian who races in a mech (a bi-ped robot large enough to sit in) and is not affected by weapons of any kind, although he cannot ramp up speed by running down hills. He has a shield super upgrade in the form of a shield generator. Golden bricks can be found in the maze, the waterfall (also a shortcut), and the Martian base.

• Arctic: Based on the Arctic sets. It is again an island, with a mountain that you may go inside of, a beached tanker, an ice maze, an iced over lake with several large holes in it, and several bases. The boss is the Berg, an ice monster that runs instead of drives. The Berg can turn on a dime and makes icicles sprout from wherever he walks. He has a grip super upgrade in the form of tires. Golden bricks can be found in the crashed plane, the medical base, and the trapped boat.

• Xalax: The characters could be purchased from the "Lego Racers" line, but the world does not resemble any particular sets. The world is a dome full of cheering fans and features a volcano in the middle of a lava lake, a jump, a loop, and/or a tunnel that you may drive upside-down in. Xalax is unique in that for each race the landscape changes. The boss of this world is Rocket Racer, who has a very fast car and all of the upgrades given to the racer. Other racers are the Ramas. Golden bricks can be found near the tunnel, near the mountain, by the loop, and by a rampage, but only in the "Wheeled Warriors" track.

Upgrades

Upgrades for your car may be obtained by winning mini games. Each mini game is accessible by driving through a vortex while exploring the Lego worlds. There are two mini games per world, one on an easy level and one on a difficult level. The first vortex you go to will be the easy level.

There are three categories of upgrades available: Grip, which improves how well your car turns and how much your car slides; Power, which controls how fast your car goes and how much climbing power your car has; and Shield, which controls how much damage your car can take before being destroyed.

Powerups

Powerups are various types of weapons that can be used while racing. You obtain a powerup by driving over a white, spinning, glowing Lego brick. A counter appears that cycles through all of the powerups; the one it lands on is the one you get. You may press the "fire" button to stop the counter if you see one that you want. It takes a quick hand, however. Otherwise, the counter will automatically give you a bonus based on your position in the race. Persons in last place will receive the best powerups. Unlike Lego Racers 1, there are no power-enhancing bricks for your powerup.

• Weapons powerups make Lego bricks fly off the receiver's cars. Lose all the bricks and you will be forced to continue on foot, in Lego minifigure form. You have to run to the nearest pit stop to get your car back. If you chance to get hit by a racer while running you change colors but do not slow down. Minifigures without a car are indestructible, but extremely slow.

• The Stealth powerup makes your car invisible to other racers, and you may bump into other racers to obtain the powerup they have. Also, it prevents the Tracking Missile powerup from hitting you. It lasts for around six seconds. Symbol: The gray ninja

• The Drill powerup fires a drill missile in front of your car. The drill behaves like a torpedo, and goes through multiple cars, eliminating around 50% of the opponents bricks. You can also ride on the drill by holding down the fire button. However, if you ride on it for too long, it will detonate, causing damage to your car. Symbol: A drill

• The Disk powerup fires a flying disc in front of your car. The disc will bounce off any object it hits, except cars, in which case it explodes. You can get another powerup while this powerup is on. It is very powerful, like the drill it eliminates around half of the bricks on your opponents car, but is very hard to use. If you press the look back button you can fire the disc backwards; which can be useful if you are being chased by a Missile, as the Disk can destroy the Missile. Symbol: A disk with blades.

• The Missile powerup fires a heat-seeking missile that you may lock on to any racer. The same with the disc, you can pick up another powerup when this one is on. Occasionally it will explode (by hitting something) before it reaches target. You can also select the target using next target & previous target buttons. It easier to cause damage with than the drill or disc, but it does less damage—around a third of bricks. Symbol: A bloodhound

• The Thunderbolt powerup creates a bubble of expanding energy around the rear of your car. When the energy expands to a certain point, it explodes, harming every racer close behind you. You can charge the shot by holding down the fire button (note that if you keep charging and don't drop it as follows, it WILL damage your own vehicle.) If the fire button is held and then released, the bubble will fall behind the car and explode as described above. If a car runs into a dropped bubble, it will suffer more damage than normal. Damage is variable with this powerup, dependent on how deep you drive into the bubble. Symbol: A storm cloud

• The Whirlwind powerup creates a stationary whirlwind that causes cars to veer away from it. If you hold down the fire button the whirlwind stays attached to your car. If you keep it attached, you will suffer minor damage. You won't be able to pick up any powerups while this is on. It lasts for around six seconds. Symbol: A twister

• The Destructabrick powerup creates a force that first turns the screen yellow for half a second, and then takes 3 layers of bricks off every single car (except for yours) for six seconds. It is very rare, and is the most powerful powerup in the game. Symbol: Flying Lego bricks

Differences from LEGO Racers

• In Lego Racers 2, the player has more "freedom", because the player can race or drive freely, and there are other characters that the player can talk to.

• The original Lego Racers only has "cars" which are actually karts. However Lego Racers 2 has cars such as trucks, cars with tank-like treads, lorry cars, hover cars, and snow vehicles with skis, as well as a "sail" snow vehicle that you cannot build with the displayed pieces.

• Lego Racers 2 also has, like in the original, a car and characters designer. Lego Racers 2 has more bricks but fewer characters to make and edit. However, while in theory this means that more individual racer possibilities exist, the number of "widely used" parts is much lower, and only a few possibilities that exist are commonly used. This also follows over to cars. Additionally, you cannot change your player at any time during adventure (story) mode, further limiting options. You can change your car, however it can only be changed for each of the worlds once.

• In the original Lego Racers, there are 5 opponents for the player (6 racers). In Lego Racers 2, it can be chosen up to 11 opponents (12 racers).

• In the original Lego Racers, the bosses are a normal racer in a kart. In Lego Racers 2, it can be a non-human or fantasy creature.

• Lego Racers 2 also features a comeback from several racers featured in the original Lego Racers. They include Rocket Racer, Johnny Thunder, Baron Von Barron (as Sam Sinister), Sam Sinister (as Slyboots) and Gail Storm (as Pippin Reed).

Reception

Lego Racers 2 was rated average to positive. The PC version was given a score of 7.8 out of 10 by IGN; the reviewer praised its graphics and gameplay,^[2] but criticized the voice and talk which were derided as "cartoon gibberish". IGN rated the PS2 version only 6 out of 10, which corresponding graphics and gameplay were inferior to its PC counterpart. An additional note is that a copy cost $20 for PC, but $40 for PS2; the reviewer thought the latter to be poor value for money, while the PC version, at half the cost, was acceptable.^[3]

GameSpot rated the PC version 7.5 out of 10 and the PS2 version 6.5 out of 10.

References

See also

• Lego Racers
• Lego Racers (video game)