Freaky Flyers
Midway’s aerial kart racer zooms into our hearts despite the shallow multiplayer
Tags: Freaky Flyers Categories: Game Cube Reviews, PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 26th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Freaky Flyers (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| No | |||
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Midway’s entry into the 3D kart racer genre has players taking control of a tricked out plane and going through a bunch of zany courses. This in itself is notable, as most racing games only require players to steer left or right in order to navigate a course.
Freaky Flyers is a game that may not initially appeal to many people, looking like it has an identiy crisis. (Is it a kart racer with kid appeal? Does the amount of double entendres mean it’s for adults?)
What Midway has done is taken fun, easy to pick up and play kart racing and peppered it with enough humor that will both appeal to older kids and adults alike – definitely earning its “T” rating.
Ok, fine – kart racer, not kiddie oriented, but kid friendly. Sure, but how does it play?
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That’s just it, Midway didn’t skimp on the gameplay (with the notable exception of online play). There are several characters to choose from, each with their own storyline and set of movies to unlock as play progresses. There are a bunch of other characters to unlock as well (each with their own stories and movies to unlock).
The heart of the game is in the Adventure Mode, where the standard “win a race, unlock the next” type gameplay happens. There are, however, other items to unlock and simply coming in first won’t always do the task. That’s where the sub-goals and power-ups come in.
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The power-ups are what one would expect in a game of this type (nitro boost, shields, missiles, etc.) with each plane having a machine gun, all of which to take out the opposing racers. That’s all well and good in aiding to make first place, but the game, thankfully has more depth with the sub-goals.
In the various races there are various shortcuts (some not so short) as well as other environmental objects. Before each race, the player will see a display of what the different sub-goals are for that race, sometimes take a particular shortcut, move one item from one place to another, take out a specific target or so many opponents or other vehicles in the area, etc.
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This provides a new level of gameplay, as well as replay value, since accomplishing certain goals will not only take several attempts, it’s damn near impossible to accomplish each of them in a single race. Accomplishing the sub-goals will award players with various items, such as new characters or weapons.
There are some mini-games as well, that are uncovered as play progresses. Many of these are fairly fun, but some are a massive challenge (to put it nicely) to accomplish. These provide a welcome break from the racing action, but still keep the player immersed in the Freaky Flyers world.
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Multiplayer is where the real fun is at though, with a simple Race Mode acting as the Adventure mode, complete with sub-goals. Dogfight has two players headed into special arenas trying to take each other out a set number of times, or how long the match will take.
With the PS2 and Xbox having been online for as long as they have (heck, even the GameCube) there really isn’t any excuse not to have Freaky Flyers online.
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The graphics are good, but not great. They don’t stray too far away from what is expected. The PS2 version is naturally the worst of the bunch. Having the vibrant colors of a kart style racer works very well here, as the various pick-ups and objectives would be hard to spot, there is a lot of visual information going on here.
The audio is pretty good – a bit cartoony, over the top, but that lies in form with the rest of the game’s theme. However, the Xbox version should have had custom soundtracks as an option. The in game music isn’t bad, but it’s always nice to be able to throw in your own songs when you want.
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Which version to get? Really it boils down to which controller configuration you prefer. If you absolutely like the PS2 controller, be aware of some visual issues – it just won’t look quite as good at the GC or Xbox versions. The game comes on two discs on the ‘Cube, which some people may find annoying. With a good controller (there are plenty of third party options out there if you don’t like the one that shipped with the console) the Xbox version would be the way to go.
Ultimately, Freaky Flyers succeeds where many kart racers fail – in delivering a fun game that provides plenty of replay value. While it may not be the first game that pops into your mind when thinking about the genre, the true 3D courses and sheer amount of stuff to do make it a leader in the field.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| Who would have thought a kart racer with planes would be so much fun? The course designs and characters are all well done, and the game is a sheer joy to play through with every character. | 8.7 |
| What Doesn't | |
| A lack of multiplayer options, both online and off hinders the game the most. The difficulty level will put some gamers off as well. | |
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Buy the Xbox version, despite the lack of online play and 4 player support. | |
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Tags: Freaky Flyers
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 26th, 2003 and is filed under Game Cube Reviews, PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
