Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley | |
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Developer(s) | Infogrames Sheffield House |
Publisher(s) | Infogrames |
Platform(s) | Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 |
Release | Dreamcast PlayStation 2
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Genre(s) | Racing |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley is a 2000 racing video game developed by Infogrames Sheffield House and published by Infogrames for the Dreamcast (under the title Wacky Races) and later for PlayStation 2 in 2001. The game is based on the cartoon series Wacky Races , which features 11 vehicles all racing over various landscapes to win first place. The vehicles featured include the most infamous vehicle in the series, the Mean Machine, driven by Dick Dastardly and Muttley.
The game includes two modes: Arcade and Adventure. Arcade mode features normal racing across various tracks. In Adventure mode, the player races on tracks to win gold stars or Wacky Trial clocks to unlock more tracks, abilities, and challenges. Wacky Trial clocks are rewarded when a race is won in a certain amount of time. These are needed to unlock boss challenges as well. Gold stars are needed to unlock various things, such as tracks and areas. They are gained by winning various events. Once 10 gold stars have been rewarded, the Boss Area is unlocked, in which the player must compete against one of three "elite" cars: Professor Pat Pending's Convert-a-Car, the Red Max's Crimson Haybailer, and the Mean Machine. Dastardly and Muttley are the main bosses of the game, with many of their power-ups geared towards attack.
Gadgets include an explosive mine that can be placed along the road, turbo speed, a temporary flying ability, and temporary invincibility. Pink discs known as "Tokens" float along the track. When picked up they fuel gadgets and give the player the option to perform one. Once they are used, they are shot out the back and left for other drivers to pick up.
All the vehicles and drivers from the cartoon are featured in the game, but there is only an eight-car grid, preventing them all from racing at once. The vehicles are put into five groups based on their acceleration, speed, and handling. The game features four themed levels, including a desert with Wild West towns and coal mines, snow-covered mountain towns, a Wacky Races version of Mount Rushmore, and a large city with rooftop race tracks (not featured in the Dreamcast version).
The game is notable for allowing players to have Dick Dastardly finally win a race. If the player wins as him, the narrator is taken aback or disgusted and Dastardly is happy and surprised at winning a race. [1]
Both Janet Waldo and John Stephenson reprise their roles as Penelope Pitstop and Luke respectively.
The PlayStation 2 version of the game was only released in PAL regions.
Aggregator | Score | |
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Dreamcast | PS2 | |
GameRankings | 84% [2] | 70% [3] |
Publication | Score | |
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Dreamcast | PS2 | |
AllGame | [4] | N/A |
CNET Gamecenter | 8/10 [5] | N/A |
Consoles + | 87% [6] | 75% [7] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7/10 [8] [lower-alpha 1] | N/A |
Eurogamer | 8/10 [9] [10] | N/A |
Game Informer | 6/10 [11] | N/A |
GameFan | (J.W.) 71% [12] 70% [13] [lower-alpha 2] | N/A |
GamePro | [14] | N/A |
GameRevolution | B+ [15] | N/A |
GameSpot | 7.8/10 [16] | N/A |
GameSpy | 8/10 [17] | N/A |
IGN | 8.4/10 [18] | N/A |
Next Generation | [19] | N/A |
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | N/A | 6/10 [20] |
The Dreamcast version received favorable reviews, while the PlayStation 2 version received above-average reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. [2] [3] Greg Orlando of NextGen , reviewing the former console version, was generally positive to the game, but thought that the racing fans will likely forget this "crazy-fun" adaptation, and recommended the title to the fans of Hanna Barbera cartoon. [19]
Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS on Saturday mornings. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race.
Muttley is a fictional dog created in 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions; he was originally voiced by Don Messick. He is the foil to the cartoon villain Dick Dastardly, and appeared with him in the 1968 television series Wacky Races and its 1969 spinoff, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. The character is known best for his mischievous, rasping laughter.
Dick Dastardly is a fictional character who has appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1968 onward. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. He is partly based on the English actor Terry-Thomas.
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