"Its not Perfect, but its far from Dastardly"

Wacky Races is a classic cartoon, whose whole premise appears to be perfect for a videogame. Racers race from one point to another, while trying to out-do each other using racing skills, and more often than not, a bit of foul play. It was all part of the humour, watching racers, and Dick Dastardly in particular, attempt to sabotage other contenders. As such, the Wacky Races cartoon is perfect for a Wacky Races kart racer. And sure enough, here it is now, stepping up to the starting line. Is it gonna win? The odds look pretty good from where I'm sitting.

The graphics are brilliant - nice cel shading which, with thick lack outlines to capture the look and feel of the cartoon perfectly. All effects are how they would be in the cartoon and this all adds to the great cartoon atmosphere. The car models are pretty good, with the Compact Pussycat looking as vivacious as ever, and the legendary Mean Machine is just as mean as in the '60s. There are no frame rate issues, with everything running quite smoothly even during a heated bout of sabotage. There really isn't much to fault with the graphics.

Gameplay follows that of virtually every kart racer - you drive round a circuit several times and aim to come first, usually with the assistance of weapons or power-ups. For Wacky Races, each vehicle has its own unique weapons and abilities, which are activated by collecting coins. You gain coins by driving over them, or by stealing them off an opponent. If you get hit by an ability, you use coins, and therefor the ability to use your weapons. This makes it even more important that you avoid getting attacked by an opponent. The career mode is a set of races and challenges set over different themed "worlds", in a similar fashion to Crash Team Racing and other kart racers. The only real problem is the difficulty. Somehow racers always seem to be faster than you, and you struggle to gain any decent position, and when you do, you will have all the racers behind you with weapons ready to go. This isn't so bad, once you get used to it, but the difficulty is ramped up enough that some will end up throwing the console out of the nearest window. In addition to this, the track design is often confusing, with sharp and unseen corners, resulting in many cases where you will inexplicably fly headlong into a wall. Again, once you have gotten used to the game and the tracks, its a lot easier to handle, but it does represent some unnecesary bugbears.

The sound work is of a high quality. The background music is reminiscent of the music from the series and is tailored to the type of track (i.e. bluesgrass music in the desert courses). The sound effects are suitably Wacky as well, with exaggerated revs, crazy crashes screeching powerslides. The voice work is also impressive, with all the original actors lending their voices (except for those who have shuffled off this mortal coil, so the "official" voice actors are used instead), and as such the game has captured the feeling and atmosphere of the cartoon perfectly.

Overall, the game is a fantastic and endearing kart racer, based on a fantastic license. For fans of all thing Wacky, who want to look through those rose-tinted spectacles and drift through the world of nostalgia, this game is perfect. For those who like kart racers, this is a highly accomplished effort with some funny moments that, while not perfect, does provide some quality racing and laughs, in what is one of the best games of its kind on PS2. All you need to do is hop into the Bulletproof Bomb and ride off into impending glory.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/07