First of all, Wacky Races is a classic cartoon license put to very good use. The cartoon, which ran from 1968-1970 was about a group of 11 wacky racers (or teams of) and their wacky vehicles. The episodes basically pit the teams against each other in races all over the world, across all manner of terrain. The show didn't run very long, but it has apparently gained a cult following.

When playing Wacky Races, the first thing you will notice is the visuals. I am about 99% positive that Wacky Races is one of those rare games that is making good use of the Dreamcast's Full-scene anti-aliasing ability. Every edge and curve on both the cartoony environments and character/vehicle models are smoother than smooth, no matter how close or far from the camera. Practically no shimmering of polygon edges or moiré effect could be found, anywhere. I assume that in order to pull off the cel-shading technique to it's fullest, Infogrames decided to employ the technique, and the results are a super clean looking, perfectly represented, Wacky Races cartoon world. Very impressive.

Now onto the bad news. The graphics, while amazing looking when not in motion, do suffer from some framerate issues. By design, the framerate ranges from 25 - 60fps, depending on the situation. This isn't a Sega Rally 2-style inconsistent framerate issue, because from what I can tell, it is a feature of the engine. As soon as the action becomes heavy, like when all the vehicles are on screen at once (a good 75% of the time), the game begins to drop frames to allow the game to maintain a consistent speed. The transition from 30 to 60 fps, and vice versa, doesn't just suddenly occur. The engine smoothly handles the switch, and doesn't quite bug the eyes out in the same way Sega Rally 2 suddenly slammed from 30 to 60fps. It would have been nice if Infogrames spent a few more weeks tweaking the engine, but it is still very playable in it's current form. Usually framerate issues immediately turn me off to a game, but for some reason, I still found myself putting plenty of time into Wacky Races.

Wacky Races features a large amount of voice and sound samples taken directly from the cartoon, as well as that generic 70's cartoon BGM. On top of that, however, is another layer of running commentary also similar to what you would hear in the original series. Despite being somewhat busy, the audio was accurate, and well done.

While Wacky Races doesn't exactly break the mold of the typical kart racing game, it does at least feature solid control. When choosing a racer, you are given a choice of the more simple "kart" style of control, or a slightly more advanced model. I just usually stuck with the kart style control, and found it to be just fine. As far as the obligatory weapon pickups are concerned, Wacky Races handles that feature a bit differently. Each racer is equipped with 3 vehicle specific special moves, each which can be assigned to a different button on the controller. The special move can be anything from an offensive style weapon (machine gun, heat seeking tire) to a defensive move (pumpkin mines, bubble shield), to a turbo boost or jumping ability of some kind. Each of these specials cost a certain number of 'W' coins to utilize, usually from 1 - 3. When you activate a special (or are rammed from behind) you lose coins, which are then returned onto the track where other racers can pick them up. Despite the fact that the race leader does have a greater opportunity to pick up coins, the system seems to work fairly well.

Besides looking amazing, the courses are both designed and layed out, quite nicely. There are 15+ courses to be raced on and/or unlocked, each fitting into a theme (winter, western, valley, etc). The designs aren't as perfect as Mario Kart's but they are both fun to play on, and not insanely difficult to learn.

Other than the framerate issue, as mentioned earlier, the only real complaint I have about Wacky Races, is the enemy AI. Anyone who has played kart racing games in the past should be familiar with the problem; The CPU characters cheat like hell. They have a nasty habit of conveniently pulling weapons out of thin air, and hitting you with them at best possible times. For one reason or another, all of the enemy vehicles love to stay together in one pack. Having 8 detailed characters on screen at the same time with all sorts of weapons flying here and there, most definitely causes the framerate problems, as once the pack breaks up the it works its way up to 60fps.

Wacky Races is probably the best (along with one of the only) kart racing games on the Dreamcast. The graphics are great, it plays well, has a decent multiplayer mode, is chock full of hidden goodies to unlocked and is most importantly, fun. If it weren't for the framerate issue, and sometimes annoying AI, I would consider WR to be a great addition to the genre and a game worth checking out. If you can look past the problems, however, there is plenty of enjoyment to be found.