Wacky Races

Wacky Races came out in 2000 from developer Sheffield House and publisher Infogrames. Its a kart racing game based of course on the popular Wacky Races cartoon of the late 1960s by Hanna~Barbera. And boy is this a decent racer!
All of the cartoons wonderful oddball and zany characters are playable although Dick Dastardly and Muttley, Red Max and Professor Pat Pending must be unlocked by completing challenges before they become available. (Full character list below.)
There are three areas (Snowfall Peaks, Wild Frontier and Redwood Valley) which have five circuits each to compete against the computer or three friends in different track challenges. Time Trial, Wacky Cup, Golden Muttley Cup and battle arena make up these challenges.


The Slag Brothers worry about Dick Dastardly's ego

Now having never been a 'serious' kart racing fan I was of the opinion that they were pretty easy and getting number one places and quick times were a cinch. How wrong I was! Wacky Races is anything but a walkover and provided me with plenty of hours must~have practice and time to learn the tracks. And with some racing games this can prove frustrating but such is the brilliance of this title, I never once thought of launching my controller through a window.
It looks absolutely lush with hints of cel shading to make it as close to the cartoon as possible with bold black lines and trippy bright colours the show was famous for. Its almost like driving in your very own cartoon. Okay I found the desert tracks to be a little too orangey but hey its the desert!
There are types of controls ~ Race and Kart, with Kart being the easiest (although in some races you would never think it easy.) You can select at first three power ups (three more become available as you progress) which are unique to your character and assign them to the X, Y and B buttons.
Power ups/weapons can be had by collecting tokens that are strewn all over the place. You can also nick them from opponents by ramming their vehicle to kingdom come. In a cool twist of gameplay these tokens are recycled and as you use your power ups/weapons the tokens will plop out of your kart and back onto the circuit for other racers to nab them. In all of the admittedly small amount of kart racers ive played, this way of getting tokens was a new one on me.
The ony gripe I have at Wacky Races is the difficulty. Even at the earlier stages and challenges its very unforgiving and to get top positions and quickest lap times you best be at the top of your game. And choosing the right character and kart is important because on certain tracks some vehicles are not up to the task. For instance I almost totalled the Slag Brothers' Boulder Mobile during a race on the Tombstone Pass in the Wild Frontier. Sorry guys!
But as I said earlier, it never gets beyond the point of tutting before restarting the race. It never makes you feel like boiling the disc in hot oil. This is an impressive kart racer and can be picked up for just a few shekels. I paid £4 for mine which would give anyone that Muttley laugh. Brilliant!

Full List of Characters and Vehicles ~

Penelope Pitstop (Compact Pussycat)
Peter Perfect (Turbo Terrific)
Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (Buzz Wagon)
Luke & Blubber Bear (Arkansas Chugga~Bug)
The Ant Hill Mob (Bullet Proof Bomb)
Sergeant Blast & Private Meeks (Army Surplus Special)
The Gruesome Twosome (Creepy Coupe)
The Slag Brothers (Boulder Mobile)

Unlockable ~

Dastardly and Muttley
Red Max
Professor Pat Pending

** Check out video **