Star Wars: Episode I - Racer

Overview

Star Wars: Episode I - Racer is a 3D sci-fi fantasy racing game developed and published by LucasArts for the PC (exclusively in North America on April 30, 1999), Nintendo 64 (worldwide on May-July 1999), and Mac (exclusively in North America on December 16, 1999). It was later ported to the Dreamcast in North America (on April 4, 2000) and Europe (on August 4, 2000).

A video game tie-in with the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Racer has players controlling pilots of "Podracers": unique anti-gravity racing vehicles consisting of a small cockpit connected to two massive motors. As one of over 20 different racers (each with their own unique Podracer), players participate in numerous tournaments throughout the galaxy in the Galactic Podracing Circuit.

It received two sequels: the arcade-based Star Wars: Racer Arcade and the console-based Star Wars: Racer Revenge. Podracing was also a mini-game in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. The game also received a handheld adaptation by Pax Softnica for the Game Boy Color on December 6, 1999.

Gameplay

Characters

Note: While the characters are given individual backstories which show some to be inexperienced or unmotivated to seek victory, the game treats them all as dedicated and talented racers.

Anakin Skywalker

A hero from the film which the game is based on. Anakin is a young human, notable for being the only of his race capable of participating in the dangerous game of podracing.

Sebulba

Sebulba, a Dug, is a popular and successful racer who worked his way to the top by cheating. He is the only racer in the game to have a weapon. When using Sebulba's taunt, a flamethrower spouts out sideways.

Bozzie Baranta

Once a mechanic for Gasgano, Bozzie chose to become a racer. He was fairly successful in this venture.

Aldar Beedo

While Aldar Beedo is a talented racer, his first priority is his work as a hitman, taking out racers to pave the way to victory for whoever pays for his services.

Toy Dampner

Dampner is a menacing pilot. While he is known to race elsewhere, he prefers the tracks of Oovo IV, where he is a crowd favorite.

Dud Bolt

A racer hired by Sebulba who is paid per race based on how many competing pods he is able to take out.

Gasgano

An experienced and talented racer who does not hesitate to take out racers who get in his way.

Mars Guo

A loudmouth braggart with a fondness for gambling and drinking. While he is a competent racer, his tendency to anger other racers often leads to his downfall.

Ebe Endocott

Once a daredevil delivery man, Endocott was encouraged by his boss to take up podracing, where his daredevil ways and piloting skills let him achieve some success.

Cy Yunga

A talented racer with an advanced pod. Yunga is only available in-game through a cheat code, causing him to replace "Bullseye" Navior.

Ratts Tyerell

Ratts Tyerell is a racer who gained success for his swift reflexes. He owns one of the largest podracers in the circuit.

Fud Sang

A somewhat mediocre and unknown racer, who nevertheless is paranoid of being sabotaged by his opponents.

Boles Roor

A podracer who also excels at singing, Roor pilots an outdated podracer that nevertheless boasts a high top speed.

Ark "Bumpy" Roose

Roose is a particularly dim-witted pilot who is known for indiscriminately ramming into opposing racers.

Wan Sandage

Sandage is a podracer who gained a great deal of fame on his homeworld of Ord Radama. However, he is less successful on other planets, where he suffers from disorientation.

Jinn Reeso

Little is known about Jinn Reeso. He is only available for use through a cheat code, causing him to replace Mars Guo.

Ben Quadinaros

Quadinaros is an inexperienced racer, racing out of his league with an experimental four-engine pod.

Slide Paramita

Paramita is an elitist racer who uses a small pod. He disapproves of racers who use bulky podracers.

Mawhonic

A very talented racer who sells parts in his spare time.

"Bullseye" Navior

Navior is a talented pilot who gained the nickname "Bullseye" for his unique looking eyes.

Teemto Pagalies

Despite being a drunkard, Pagalies is one of the least corrupt racers in the sport. He is a crowd pleaser, known for performing daring stunts during races.

Ody Mandrell

Mandrell is a racer who participates not for money, but for an adrenaline rush. His tough skin lets him survive otherwise deadly crashes.

Neva Kee

Neva Kee stands out among the other racers for his unique podracer. Its engines are attached directly to the cockpit and jut out behind it. This makes the cockpit the frontmost part of the pod, greatly increasing the risk of death in a crash.

Elan Mak

Elan Mak is actually a bounty hunter named Kam Nale. He joined the podracing circuit in order to hunt down Aldar Beedo. When he discovered his talent for the sport, he became involved with it beyond his initial intention to only use it as a front to catch Beedo.

Clegg Holdfast A reporter for Podracing Quarterly, Holdfast participates in races primarily in order to get an inside scoop. Despite his ulterior motives, he showed himself to be a talented racer.

Planets

Tatooine

Only two of the game's courses are found in Tatooine. The first is the Boonta Training Course, an easy map that acquaints players with the game. The second is the Boonta Classic, which is a relatively faithful recreation of the racetrack from the movie.

Mon Gazza

Mon Gazza is a Mars-like world with vast red deserts, crowded but small cities, and lava pits. Tracks here often involve large open spaces that quickly turn to narrow corridors.

Ando Prime

Ando Prime is an ice world. Tracks here take players through numerous caves, and often take them across slick, icy surfaces. Many tracks in this world feature a shortcut that opens up in laps 2 and on, in which the racer may turn left immediately past the finish line and enter a tent that hides a tunnel.

Aquilaris

Aquilaris is composed largely of water, and its tracks take place largely in the infrastructure built on the water. Players are taken through underwater tunnels through which massive fish may be seen.

Malastare

Malastare is a dark world with many sharp turns and visual obstructions such as gas and rocky pillars. Tracks here are narrow and unforgiving.

Baroonda

Baroonda is a jungle world. Players race through a variety of environments here, including thick rain forests, beaches, and a volcano.

Ord Ibanna

Racetracks on Ord Ibanna are all located on infrastructure floating in a cloudy sky. These tracks often feature elevated shortcuts that are difficult to stay on because they are narrow.

Oovo IV

Oovo IV is a large, asteroid-like world. Players race through open expanses along with urban areas. The highest speeds achievable in the game are found here in anti-gravity tunnels.

Track Overview

There are several tracks on each of the available planets, and every racer has at least one signature track. There are 25 tracks in total, divided into four categories: Amatuer, Semi-Pro, Galactic, and Invitational.

Tracks in order of appearance:

Boonta Training Course

Planet - Tatooine

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Sebulba

Mon Gazza Speedway

Planet - Mon Gazza

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Teemto Pagalies

Beedo's Wild Ride

Planet - Ando Prime

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Aldar Beedo

Aquilaris Classic

Planet - Aquilaris

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Clegg Holdfast

Malastare 100

Planet - Malastare

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Dud Bolt

Vengeance

Planet - Oovo IV

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Fud Sang

Spice Mine Run

Planet - Mon Gazza

Circuit - Amateur

Advantage - Mars Guo / Jinn Reeso

Sunken City

Planet - Aquilaris

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - "Bullseye" Navior / Cy Yunga

Howler Gorge

Planet - Ando Prime

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Ratts Tyerell

Dug Derby

Planet - Malastare

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Elan Mak

Scrapper's Run

Planet - Ord Ibanna

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Wan Sandage

Zugga Challenge

Planet - Mon Gazza

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Boles Roor

Baroo Coast

Planet - Baroonda

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Neva Kee

Bumpy's Breakers

Planet - Aquilaris

Circuit - Semi-Pro

Advantage - Ark "Bumpy" Roose

Executioner

Planet - Oovo IV

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Toy Dampner

Sebulba's Legacy

Planet - Malastare

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Sebulba

Grabvine Gateway

Planet - Baroonda

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Anakin Skywalker

Andobi Mountain Run

Planet - Ando Prime

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Mawhonic

Dethro's Revenge

Planet - Ord Ibanna

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Ody Mandrell

Fire Mountain Rally

Planet - Baroonda

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Ebe Endocott

Boonta Classic

Planet - Tatooine

Circuit - Galactic

Advantage - Sebulba

Ando Prime Centrum

Planet - Ando Prime

Circuit - Invitational

Advantage - Slide Paramita

Abyss

Planet - Ord Ibanna

Circuit - Invitational

Advantage - Bozzie Baranta

The Gauntlet

Planet - Oovo IV

Circuit - Invitational

Advantage - Gasgano

Inferno

Planet - Baroonda

Circuit - Invitational

Advantage - Ben Quadinaros

Even though the planets host multiple races, it does not mean that those races are at all similar.

Attribute Overview

Each pod has 15 total attributes that determine its racing performance. You can buy parts for them, but you can only affect 7 total attributes by doing so. The others are set in stone for each unique pod.

Upgradeable Attributes:

Repair Rate - Affects the speed at which the pod repairs its damage.

How to Upgrade - Buy some REPAIR parts.

Best Part: Cluster 2 Power Plug 7,000

Cool Rate - Affects the speed at which the pod cools down just after using your boost.

How to Upgrade - Buy some COOLING parts.

Best Part: Turbo Coolant Pump 5,400

Airbrake Inverse - Affects the speed at which a pod can slow itself

How to Upgrade - Buy some BRAKING parts.

Best Part: Quadrijet Air Brake 14,000

Maximum Speed - Affects your top speed.

How to Upgrade - Buy some MAX SPEED upgrades.

Best Part: Block 6 Thrust Coil 20,000

Acceleration - Affects the rate at which a pod can achieve its top speed

How to Upgrade - Buy some ACCELERATION upgrades.

Best Part: Mag 6 Injector 14,000

Turn Response - Affects the speed at which a pod reacts to steering commands.

How to Upgrade - Buy some TURNING upgrades.

Best Part: Control Stabilizer 7,500

Anti-Skid - Affects the ability of the pod to stay on course during a hazardous race or through a sharp turn.

How to Upgrade - Buy some TRACTION upgrades.

Best Part: R-600 Repulsorgirp 6,000

Non-Upgradeable Attributes:

Maximum Turn Rate - How good a pod can turn.

Deceleration Inverse - The rate at which a pod will slow down without applying brakes.

Boost Thrust - Dictates how fast a pod can go during a boost.

Heat Rate - How fast a pod overheats.

Hover Height - How high a pod sits in the air whilst idling.

Bump Mass - Dictates how much damage your pod deals during a collision.

Damage Immunity - Your pod's ability to resist damage during collisions.

Intersect Radius - The size of your pod. The larger it is, the more hard it will be to navigate tight spaces.

Podracer Overview

Speeds are in miles per hour (mph).

Sebulba's Pod is the fastest pod before upgrades, capable of reaching speeds up to 600 mph without using boost.

Ben Quadinaros has the fastest unmodified pod with boost, reaching speeds of over 1000 mph.

The highest speed without cheats is in the neighborhood of 1400 mph, during the zero gravity portions of Oovo IV.

The highest speed with cheats is reportedly roughly of 3000 mph.

The only character with a weapon onboard their Pod is Sebulba, who has hidden flamethrowers on each side that can be activated to damage other racers.