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GAME REVIEWED: Running Wild

RELEASED BY: SCEE

PRICE: £34.99

REVIEWED BY: A.K.

REVIEW: -

"Running Wild" is a character racing game, it is more of a character than a racing game with cool characters, extensively animated which really brings something new to the racing. Although this is a racing game, you don't get to drive any neat or interesting vehicles; you have to race your characters on foot, which is definitely not as appealing as racing very fast automobiles around tasty tarmac tracks.

The graphics are exceptionally clean as a result of the 60fps (frames per second) frame-rate in one-player mode and 30fps for two-player racing. Three and four player racing is also available via a multi-tap, but these modes run at a slower frame-rate of 20fps. Several features that make multiplayer racing fun, the "rubberband" player boost, which gives losing players a boost in speed, the power-up system makes multiplayer gaming interesting and the statistics screen, post race, shows data like how long a certain player led the race, lead changes and much more interesting information which is also available.

As you run around one of the six tracks on offer with your chosen character of twelve, a variety of obstacles come into play, such as cacti, mine carts, lava, etc. To avoid these obstacles you can jump them. The jump in Running Wild can be huge, exciting and dangerous or the player can choose to stay closer to the ground. Avoiding obstacles (or in some cases, using the opportunities they present) is a technique to be mastered. Jumping is also a technique to be mastered, whether you're jumping over pits of mud, lava or water or tying to "bonk" your opponents on the head.

As in most arcade racers, there are race power-ups in "Running Wild". Race power-ups such as ghost, fly and turbo play a significant role in how the player chooses to navigate a track. The power-ups are cleverly placed to offer the player a choice. Deciding on which power-up depends on your chosen character and their strengths and weaknesses. there is also the possibility of using attack power-ups. Attack power-ups offer the players the ability to 'attack' opponents through features like the "ice bomb" (which turns opponents' playfield to ice) or "small-bomb" (which turns opponents smaller and makes them harder to control). In two-player play, these power-ups have a huge impact.

there is a total of twelve characters in Running Wild: six characters which are playable to start with, plus six bosses. Each of them brings a unique personality and set of abilities to the game. Each boss is considered to be the 'king' of one of the six tracks, and in one-player mode, is always the fastest racer on the track. To beat the track, the player must beat the boss. Once the player completes the entire game with one of the six original characters, that player can now select that character's corresponding boss and play the game using the boss.

Although Running Wild had greatly detailed characters and tracks, with a smooth frame-rate of 60fps and an awesome Gran Turismo style replay mode, it lacks the appeal of any of the vehicle-based racers available at the moment and the only gamers that may be attracted to this game are the kiddies who would like the cartoony characters. If you did go out and buy it, it wouldn't take you too long to complete it, with four (pretty easy) difficulty levels and only six tracks to race on. An all round good game although it could have done with a little more in the appeal and gameplay departments of the game.

SCORE:

67%

LINKS: www.scee.com


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Last updated: April 05, 1999.