Great controls
are the foundation for which every hit racing game is built. They set the course
for how players interact with the game, and how they’ll react when world hazards
turn a potential victory into a violent crash. The track design is the glue that
holds the game together – if too loose, the whole thing falls apart. Spectacular
graphics, the element that first catches our eye and helps to hold our
attention, is necessary in creating that real-world,
I-can’t-believe-it’s-just-fantasy experience.
The racing
games that excel in these areas are able to do so because of the technology at
hand. We did not have great racing games in the 80s. Aside from Mario Kart,
there weren’t any to speak of in the early 90s until the Saturn and PlayStation
consoles arrived. Two-dimensional gaming is great for many things, but it was
not kind to this genre.
Having passed
the PSone’s tenth birthday three years ago, we are long past the era of bad
racing games. On Xbox 360, racers have led the way as some of the most
realistic-looking titles. PlayStation 3 will be equally mind-blowing (perhaps
even more so) when Gran Turismo 5 is released. Nintendo Wii hasn’t had a great
racer outside of Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, but its above-GameCube-level graphics
processor is more than capable of producing greatness.
Which brings us
to Indianapolis 500 Legends. Built with the Wii in mind (this version, at
least), Indy 500 pushes the console’s essence – motion controls – into the
forefront. They’re precise, easy to learn, and feel very natural. When gamers
pick up the controller for the first time, they will not be disappointed in what
the developers have achieved. As far as the steering mechanics are concerned,
Indy 500 got everything right.
Normally this
is the part of the review where I tell you about the race competitions, the mode
offerings, and any other interesting features. If there were any to list, you’d
see them right here. But just as the controls defy the average racer, so do the
course designs, and not in a good way.
First of all,
the entire game is played on what appears to be the same lengthy oval. It’s not
a pretty or interesting oval, but one that appears to have been designed with
software that was made for the Game Boy Advance. The backgrounds are bland,
excessively washed out, and contain less detail than the cardboard cutouts
featured in South Park. While driving along, the track just kind of hangs there.
With nothing exciting to see, and very few objects to pass by, the game is
unable to produce the sensation of speed. Not even a slow speed is introduced.
It’s as if you’re sitting there, staring at a wall painting that’s being pulled
toward the screen at a tiring pace.
This screenshot is more exciting than the actual game.
A game doesn’t
fail on bad graphics alone. Hence the qualifying requirements, which force
players to drive a specific way (in between the faint line) and at a certain
speed before they can participate in an actual race. This is almost as bad as a
movie theater that asks its customers to run around in circles – and maintain an
average speed – before sitting down to watch the movie. To my knowledge, there
aren’t any theaters currently doing that. But Indy 500 is not the first game to
make this requirement.
Driver
interactions aren’t too thrilling since the graphics and frame rate stink. If
you’re playing on a widescreen television, make sure it’s not one that’s
susceptible to burn-in. Indy 500’s widescreen view is limited to the initial
GameCube settings, which prohibited the picture from stretching past a certain
point. That’s why early GameCube releases (such as Pikmin) have black bars that
appear on the left and right sides of newer HDTVs. Though most Wii games look
good in progressive scan mode, there are a few that aren’t equipped for the next
generation – Indy 500 being one of them.
With a word
like “Legends” tacked onto the box, you know the game must be banking on some
kind of nostalgic theme. The story here revolves around the epic moments that
occurred in Indy 500 history. Old videos are shown, coming straight from the
racetrack during Indy’s glory days. In a good game, these would be a fun bonus.
In a bad game, they’re not much more than a smidgeon of what you’d get in a DVD
box set or History Channel special.
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Gameplay: 3.5
I admire (and was
pleasantly surprised by) the controls. The work that went into getting them just
right – to make every turn smooth and seamless, to play as if you were holding
an actual racing wheel – could not have been easy. But the rest of the game is a
disaster.
Graphics:
1.0
Ugly.
Sound: 1.0
You got an engine?
Let’s rev it! Rev it like you just don’t care, until the end of time!
Difficulty: Easy
Frustration 500.
Concept: 1.0
This isn’t the first
Indy 500 racing game. It also isn’t the first racer to play like it was made 20
years ago.
Multiplayer: 1.0
Friends don’t let
friends drink and drive. They also don’t let them play Indianapolis 500 Legends.
Overall: 3.0
I’ve played better
Flash games. I’ve played better racers on the Game Boy Advance. Those are both
very sad statements that I hope I never have to make again.
