Looney Tunes: Space Race is a 2000 kart-racing video game published by Infogrames for the Dreamcast and developed through Infogrames' own Melbourne House studio.[3] A version of Nintendo 64 was developed, but it was never released.[4][5] It was ported to PlayStation 2 in 2002 (under the name "Space Race") with a new tournament mode and different soundtrack.[6]
Gameplay
Looney Tunes: Space Race is a kart racing game where a player can play as and race against characters in the Looney Tunes series.[7] There are eight selectable characters, from Bugs Bunny to Wile E. Coyote,[8] with 12 race tracks being in the game.[7] Each track has Acme boxes with gags in them that act as power-ups that may be used as weapons against other racers.[7] Gags include things such as anvils, pianos, and black holes.[7] Along the tracks are green canisters, after collecting five of them, a player will be able to use a turbo boost.[7][8]
Modes featured are single or multiplayer (up to four players) races, Challenge and Acme Events.[9] The PlayStation 2 version got an exclusive Tournament mode.[10][9]
Development
Looney Tunes: Space Race was first announced in March 1998,[4] the game was being developed by New Wave USA.The game was shown at E3 1999 along with Infogrames other Looney Tunes game for the Nintendo 64, Taz Express.[11] In August 1999, they moved the project to the Dreamcast and development moved from New Wave USA to Infogrames Melbourne House.[3] It was then shown at E3 2000, where it was 70% complete.[12]
The Dreamcast version received "favorable" reviews, while the PlayStation 2 version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[15][16] Evan Shamoon of NextGen said of the former console version, "Despite one frustrating design decision, this is a beautifully presented and eminently likable game—and easily the best kart racer on Dreamcast."[32]
Notes
^In GameFan's viewpoint of the Dreamcast version, three critics gave it each a score of 81, 87, and 82.
^Smith, Steve (June 24, 2002). "Looney Tunes Space Race (PS2)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 3, 2002. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
^van Stone, Matt "Kodomo"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (December 2000). "Looney Tunes Space Race (DC)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 12. BPA International. p. 22. Retrieved July 24, 2023.