Drome Racers
Encyclopedia
Drome Racers is a LEGO
racing
video game released in 2002 by Attention To Detail
. Set in the year 2015, Drome Racers is a combination of racing gameplay with the LEGO license, offering vehicles based upon the 2002 LEGO construction toys. Career mode puts the player in the role of Max Axel, who is tasked with winning the coveted Drome Championship. To do so, he must work his way through the ranks by completing a number of Multi-Challenge Races; a series of races in which the completion time in one round is carried over to the next. For example, if Max finished three seconds behind in the last race, the leader is awarded a three-second head start
in the next. The overall winner is the first to cross the finish line in the final race of the series. Preceding each Multi-Challenge series is a qualifying drag race, where victory is determined by a good start and proper gear-shifting.
Max Axel is aided by other such Team Nitro members as Shicane who handles car upgrades, and Rocket, who gives advice. The winnings can be put toward building a new car or upgrading the existing one. The former allows players to select the wheels, chassis, and body type of the new vehicle, each of which is suited to specific conditions and environments. The latter offers five level upgrades in categories, such as engine, aerodynamics, turbo, armor, and tires. Weapons also play a vital role. The arcade mode presents players with Normal or Time Attack racing through a variety of courses, weather conditions, and routes. The Quick Race option allows for instant action by randomly selecting any pertinent variables, including cars and tracks, for either one or two players.
The GameCube version features several enhancements, including an extra power-up that was not in the other versions and a 2-Player Battle Mode, where the goal is to destroy the other player's car with power-ups (Though there are variants such as keeping a flag the longest without getting hit). The Battle Mode uses a unique car that cannot be used in normal races (A slightly modified version LEGO set 4585 Nitro Pulverizer) and takes place in several special arenas loosely based on the game's tracks (Such as the City Arena which is based on the Foundry track).
The GBA
version did receive more positive reviews though, with an average score from Metacritc of 73% based on 9 reviews. Gamespot rated it 8.1/10, and said, "Drome Racers is the most technically impressive racing game to hit the GBA in a long, long time". IGN rated it 7.0/10, saying, "It's a fun racer, but the controls are just a bit on the loose side". Gaming Age said it was "a very solid title with small flaws that keep it from taking the crown from the current king of portable racing", giving it a rating of B+ "Great".
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
racing
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
video game released in 2002 by Attention To Detail
Attention To Detail
Attention To Detail was a Warwickshire-based British software house that endured nearly 15 years, from its foundation by five University of Birmingham graduates in September 1988 to their liquidation in mid-2003...
. Set in the year 2015, Drome Racers is a combination of racing gameplay with the LEGO license, offering vehicles based upon the 2002 LEGO construction toys. Career mode puts the player in the role of Max Axel, who is tasked with winning the coveted Drome Championship. To do so, he must work his way through the ranks by completing a number of Multi-Challenge Races; a series of races in which the completion time in one round is carried over to the next. For example, if Max finished three seconds behind in the last race, the leader is awarded a three-second head start
Head start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
in the next. The overall winner is the first to cross the finish line in the final race of the series. Preceding each Multi-Challenge series is a qualifying drag race, where victory is determined by a good start and proper gear-shifting.
Max Axel is aided by other such Team Nitro members as Shicane who handles car upgrades, and Rocket, who gives advice. The winnings can be put toward building a new car or upgrading the existing one. The former allows players to select the wheels, chassis, and body type of the new vehicle, each of which is suited to specific conditions and environments. The latter offers five level upgrades in categories, such as engine, aerodynamics, turbo, armor, and tires. Weapons also play a vital role. The arcade mode presents players with Normal or Time Attack racing through a variety of courses, weather conditions, and routes. The Quick Race option allows for instant action by randomly selecting any pertinent variables, including cars and tracks, for either one or two players.
The GameCube version features several enhancements, including an extra power-up that was not in the other versions and a 2-Player Battle Mode, where the goal is to destroy the other player's car with power-ups (Though there are variants such as keeping a flag the longest without getting hit). The Battle Mode uses a unique car that cannot be used in normal races (A slightly modified version LEGO set 4585 Nitro Pulverizer) and takes place in several special arenas loosely based on the game's tracks (Such as the City Arena which is based on the Foundry track).
Reception
Drome Racers was overall received poorly by critics. The main point of criticism was that the gameplay was mediocre; Gamespot said, "What little originality it has, like the qualifying drag races, is seriously underplayed, and most of the experience comes off as generic." and rated the PC version 5.2/10. Although GameZone said it was a "Great concept for a racing game", it was one of the few reviews that was positive. Metacritic rated the PC version 65% with 6 reviews, the PS2 version 57% with 10 reviews and the GameCube version 54% with 5 reviews.The GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
version did receive more positive reviews though, with an average score from Metacritc of 73% based on 9 reviews. Gamespot rated it 8.1/10, and said, "Drome Racers is the most technically impressive racing game to hit the GBA in a long, long time". IGN rated it 7.0/10, saying, "It's a fun racer, but the controls are just a bit on the loose side". Gaming Age said it was "a very solid title with small flaws that keep it from taking the crown from the current king of portable racing", giving it a rating of B+ "Great".