Wacky Races

Yes, that Wacky Races, the classic Hanna-Barbara cartoon that while taking a fairly revisionist stance on the laws of physics, did at least teach kids the important lesson that cheats never prosper - this rule obviously doesn't apply to lawyers, politicians and prime ministers, of course. Despite his devious scheming, evil Dick Dastardly and his canine sidekick Muttley never once troubled the scorers. Instead, victories would be meted out to the rest of the field, including Penelope Pitstop, Peter Perfect, Red Max, Sergeant Blast, The Slag Brothers and The Gruesome Twosome. That's the sum total of the characters available here, with Dastardly coming into play as a bonus. Whither then The Ant Hill Mob, The Arkansas Chugga-Bug, Rufus and Buzzsaw in the Buzzwagon and Professor Pat Pending in his Convert-A-Car? Not bleeding in here, that's where. This, despite the fact that they were all present and correct in the Dreamcast version. Confused? Don't worry, we are, too. It seems that while the Dreamcast version was developed in-house by Infogrames, the PC incarnation was farmed out to American outfit Appaloosa.

Glaring omissions aside, the rest of the game also suffers in comparison. Control seems a lot stiffer, graphical glitches regularly emerge and a number of crucial gameplay mechanics have been overlooked. That said, it's still recognisably Wacky Races, and even men with steel hearts can't fail to conjure up a flicker of nostalgia. But cut through the sentimentality and it's little more than a stylised Mario Kart.

The improbable power-ups are in keeping with the spirit of the cartoon, and while they can be fairly random affairs, it's still possible to have a tightly contested race. Something that isn't in keeping with the series though is the fact that Dick Dastardly regularly appears atop the podium, an aberration that will stick in the craw of every honest Englishman.