Release Date ; October 18, 2005
Publisher ; Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer ; Naughty Dog Software
Number of Players ; 1-2 (offline), up to 6 online
MSRP ; : $19.99
I don't even know if there was any appreciation for this game, but I think it deserves some. Usually, I do not like spin-off titles of a good series, but Jak X Racer is a pretty decent racer, in fact it is now one of my favorites on the Playstation 2. What I like most is the constant way you are awarded orbs even if you are just in an exhibition race - then you spend them on car accessories, characters and tune up the performance (turbo, armor, etc.) It kind of reminds me RollCage on the PSX ; there are power-ups, the most important being turbo. It's not blazing fast like Burnout, but still fast enough so you kinda feel the difference between the various car classes.
Then, you have the weapons power-ups ; guided missles, mines, chainguns, mini-nuke, a blue electricity ball which is like the blue spiked turtle shell in Mario Kart and kills the first position racer, grenades and I think that wraps it up for weapons. Also, there are defensive power-ups (blue and red shields), mines, gas cloud (which is fired from behind and blocks the view, can be deadly), a defense robot (a flying robot that follows your car and shoot if someone is close), and a turret which is placed on the map and can kill other players.
Another good point for the game is that the adventure mode is interesting, mostly because of the characters and their humor, mostly Daxter. The cinematics are well done the voices are great in my opinion. It manages to throw unexpected things at you, like the first lap it is sunny and the second it's the night. There are many game modes, but the best are probably circuit racing (your usual racing mode) and deathmatch, where you must destroy your opponents in some cool arenas. The other are a nice variation but can also be frustrating, mostly artefact run where you have to collect artefacts on a map before other players do. Rush Hour has you trying to hit as many upcoming cars (which are facing you!) as possible, but said cars are not well done and it gets old fast. Same with freeze rally and the other modes.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that when you get cool kills, there is a slow-mo animation (which you can skip with X) and you get purple energy. Once your meter is full, the car is enveloped in a purple kind of shield and you get power-up variations ; the missles (two of them are launched at a time) double (so now 4 at a time), the gas gets mixed up with electricity so it's actually deadly, etc.
The track number is impressive ; 24, and none of them are particularly boring. There are 12 cars. It's not a perfect game though ; what I don't like is the randomness in it, because of the items. You can be first position all the way until the last few seconds and then get hit my missles or a blue energy ball (which can't be dodged, while other attacks can if you use a red power-up when you are targeted). Fortunately, you can go into the race options and don't allow power-ups. Another thing that is frustrating is the cheating AI, a thing that is so frequent in racing game ; if you slowdown, the CPU will slowdown. If you are speeding like a devil, they will always be near behind you. That means you virtually can't build up some distance between you and the other CPU. In adventure mode, this get on my nerves.
All in all, a pretty good game and I'm wondering who played it on GAF and what is your opinion about it. CYA!