Lego Racers Series

Lego Racers
Lego Racers is a racing video game developed by High Voltage Software and published by Lego Media, released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and PlayStation. The player races various characters made of Lego in custom-built go-karts based on the Lego Racers product line in an attempt to become "the greatest Lego racing champion of all-time". A sequel to the game, Lego Racers 2, was released in 2001.

Plot
Rocket Racer has become bored with the opponents he has, and decides to hold a challenge. He and his friend, Veronica Voltage, travel through time and space to collect the best racers in the galaxy. A determined racer (the player character, which is created by the player) takes on other racers and occasional bosses in an attempt to become the champion. The bosses are Captain Redbeard, King Kahuka, Basil the Batlord, Johnny Thunder, Baron Von Barron, Gypsy Moth, and the final boss being the champion and most challenging competitor, Rocket Racer. At the end of the game, the player wins his/her championship.

[edit] Gameplay
In  Lego Racers<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">, the player assumes the role of either one of several pre-built Lego characters or a custom-built driver. The camera is positioned behind the car, as in most racing games, and the player may make use of a variety of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> power-ups<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">such as weapons and speed-boosters to increase their chances of winning.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The PC version supports keyboard and gamepad control, both of which can be fully customized in the game settings.

[edit] Customization
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">A feature in the game allows the player to build cars and drivers of their own design. Both the driver's Lego minifigure and the car are built from scratch using a wide selection of Lego bricks and parts. This selection is limited when the player starts the game, but expands each time the player completes a circuit. The player may also use the Quick Build feature to play with a pre-made car. Customization is purely aesthetic and has no effect on the performance of the car.

[edit] Single Player
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">In the circuit mode of Lego Racers, the player can race on one of seven "circuits", in which the player must gain the most points from among five competitors including one champion over the course of four races, each of which award the player points based on the order in which they finish in.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The circuits are not themed, though the individual tracks are. For instance, the third circuit features a horror-themed track complete with witches and bats, a pirate-themed track, a jungle-themed track with magical temple and an alien planet. Each circuit has a special driver, a "circuit champion", who performs better than the other NPC racers and may have a small gameplay gimmick; for instance, the first champion encountered has a tendency to use the cannonball powerup (because he's pirate captain).

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The first six circuits consist of four tracks each, and the last three circuits are simply mirror-images of the first three, a practice also used in the Mario Kart franchise. The seventh circuit comprises one track, where the circuit champion is Rocket Racer, the primary antagonist. Virtually every track in the game also features one or more hidden short-cuts which can give the player a significant advantage of the NPC racers.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The second single-player mode is the time race. The player races a single opponent, Veronica Voltage, who is the granddaughter of Professor Voltage, a character in the game Legoland. Veronica drives a ghost car that cannot crash into the player's car in any way. If the player wins races in every track of the first three circuits, they are awarded Veronica Voltage's car set.

[edit] Multiplayer
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">This game also supports a two-player multiplayer mode. If a second input device, such as a joystick or gamepad, is plugged in, two players can race against each other in split screen display.

Lego Racers 2
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">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.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">It is the sequel of the 1999 game, Lego Racers. This sequel was first revealed by Lego on August 21, 2001.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0" style="line-height:1em;">[1]

Worlds
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">There are five large worlds, starting with the hometown, Sandy Bay. The player then moves along to Dino Island, Mars, Arctic, and finally Xalax. The player moves on by winning 4 races in Sandy Bay, and then collecting gold bricks to advance to the other realms to win their 5 races. In Xalax, the player will face Rocket Racer, who when beaten, will hand over the title as the greatest racer in the galaxy.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">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, at 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 Sinister, 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 platue, the mountain, and the serpents mouth.
 * 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. It constantly snows here. 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 plane, the doctor's office, 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 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.

[edit] Upgrades
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">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.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">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.

[edit] Powerups
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">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 walk to the nearest pit stop to get your car back.
 * 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 Explosion powerup creates a bubble of expanding energy around your car. When the energy expands to a certain point, it explodes, harming every racer in the vicinity of the bubble except for 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

[edit] Improvements from the prequel

 * 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).

Credits
Lego Racers Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Racers_(video_game)

Lego Racers 2 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Racers_2

Brickipedia: http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/LEGO_Wiki

All information, citation, and reference can be found on these Wiki's.