Game Time!

For whatever reason I've spent the past few weeks yearning to play some of my old games. Perhaps thankfully, one of my younger brothers had borrowed my PS2 from me and I was therefore unable to play any Playstation related games. Last week he returned the device to me. Today I started playing 'Muppet RaceMania' again for the first time in ages.

I like racing games in general, and I love the Muppets so this is very win-win. I had forgotten how much is packed into this game. Each course has a normal race mode to it but then there's an 'Adventure' mode that allows you to explore the level and collect things. One of the main advantages to this is that it makes you very familiar with the level and shows you where the shortcuts might lie. On the first level, I was placing third of six to start. I played through Adventure mode, found the shortcut, and then had a chance of placing, finally winning the race. Collecting the items in Adventure mode unlocks a Reverse mode race for the level as well as a 'Battle' mode where you get to attack the other racers, trying to be the survivor of this demo derby. Mario Kart doesn't even do Battle mode anymore. Why not?

The levels are arranged by the Muppet Movies with four sub levels to each movie: two regular courses, a battle/boss level, and then a 'stunt' level that tends to have weird jumps in it. There are loads of Muppets to unlock and each Muppet has different vehicles to unlock. The different vehicles do have different 'effects': different top speeds, grip, etc.

It's a fun race game with lots to unlock and Muppets are involved. Once Disney turns the Muppets into 'stars' again, I'd really like a sequel. These PS1 graphics are okay in a polygonial sort of way but it could be so much better.