GameSpot editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 08/05/2003
- Released on: 08/05/2003
- Originally published on GameSpot: Freaky Flyers (Xbox) Review
While the mascot-driven kart-racing genre has been done with lots of different land- and water-based vehicles, the genre hasn't been taken to the air all that often. Nintendo's Diddy Kong Racing had its share of airplane levels, but its developers certainly didn't devote all their energies to airplane racing. Midway's Freaky Flyers takes the concept to its logical conclusion, combining planes with a cast of classically modeled cartoon characters, a number of racing environments, and a collection of power-ups to keep the racing varied. The game does have its moments, but the racing simply isn't very exciting.
Like most kart-racing games, Freaky Flyers has a collection of power-ups scattered throughout its courses.
Freaky Flyers plays up its set of characters quite a bit. The cast is an eclectic bunch, all individually voiced and all with their own storyline cutscenes, shown in between races in the game's main mode. The personalities are rooted in classic cartoon writing, so you'll find a dumb but well-meaning good guy in Johnny Turbine, a stereotypically ice-cold German pilot in Traci Torpedoes, and a wide array of others. The game is available on the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox, and each version has a slightly different roster of unlockable pilots. Aside from the game's story mode cutscenes, the personalities pop up during races, as each character has a few things to say when he or she is getting shot, when he or she is shooting another racer down, or at other specific moments. However, there aren't nearly enough voice clips to keep things fresh, and the voices become a little grating over time.
The game's races are three-lap affairs that take you through a variety of themed courses. You'll visit a gangland city course in Chicago, race through the Old West, and so on. The themes of each level are done pretty well, and while the course designs are pretty standard, each level does have multiple paths to the finish line.
In addition to the game's main story mode, you can simply race on any of the courses you've already unlocked or explore the game's small collection of minigames. One minigame shrinks you down and puts you in a human body, forcing you to avoid white blood cells and continually collect oxygen pick-ups as you search for a way out. Others have you defending a central target from waves of attackers. The game has split-screen support for two players, though it makes the PS2 version's already sketchy frame rate a little worse.
Each level also has a set of six secondary objectives to accomplish. Though these goals are almost entirely optional, they have the added benefit of opening up speed-boost hoops or additional slots for weapon power-ups. Some of the goals are common to all the levels--for example, every level has a series of items to collect and a series of targets to shoot--but other goals are more specific. In the game's Arabian-themed level, you'll put a giant genie back in his place by firing at his lamp. In its pirate level, shooting up a specific pirate ship opens up a collection of boost rings. It's difficult to nail all six goals in one run, and your accomplishments don't carry over into subsequent attempts to race each course, so you'll have to complete the goals every time, which is a bit annoying.
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Freaky Flyers (Xbox):
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