Description:
Games seem less susceptible to sophomore slump than movies or books. Quite often, when a game sequel comes out, it has everything you liked from the first game, and some more, too. Happily, LEGO Racers 2 is just such a sequel. When the game begins, you get a chance to build your own car, and even build and name your own racer from "people" pieces. Building cars is fun without even playing the game. If you're not happy with a car you've built, or just want to build more, the main menu lets you build all the cars you want with a huge variety of virtual bricks. Though at heart it's a racing game, LEGO Racers 2 offers more than just racing. A large solo adventure game lets you explore five worlds. The worlds represent some of LEGO's lines that you might already have bricks for, such as Life on Mars and Arctic Explorer. Each world has places to explore, with minigames to discover and power-ups that will improve your car's performance or smash the other cars in a race. And, of course, there's plenty of racing, even in the adventure game. Once a world has been unlocked in the adventure game, you can access the world from the race menu. From there, you can race for time, or against a friend in two-player mode. Two-player mode also allows you and a friend to battle each other, racing around the worlds looking for power-ups to smash your opponent's car. Adults and kids will have fun playing this game--together or separately, it doesn't matter. LEGO Racers 2 is varied enough to appeal to different kinds of game players, and fun enough to offer repeat-play value. This racing game definitely belongs in the winner's circle. (Ages 6 to 12) --Jeff Quick
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