Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 on May 12.
The new version of the 1999 original features remastered visuals and updated controls for both platforms. Developer Aspyr Media also uprezzed the pre-rendered cutscenes - though the teaser screenshots make it clear that we're definitely still looking at late '90s CGI here, it's nice and smooth for your modern display.
In an interview on StarWars.com, Aspyr producer James Vicari talked about the unique challenge of modernizing the original game's controls for modern consoles. He told the site: "Racer originally came out in an interesting time for controllers. We were really starting to see interesting things - rumble, multiple analog sticks. Even the shape of the N64 controller," Vicari said.
"So it’s sort of fitting that when you look at controls today, we’re seeing the same thing. Like the Switch Joy-Cons. You really want to make sure that the game plays well and embraces as much of the variations as possible for them. So we’ve done a lot of work to make sure that the game feels comfortable in all configurations, including playing with each individual Joy-Con."
This is great news. Remember that special mode where you could plug in two N64 controllers and use each analog stick to control your individual engines? I thought that was so cool, even though I could barely wrap my nine-year-old brain around it. Hopefully they do something similar with the modern control schemes.
The Switch and PS4 version will be the first official re-release for the game since the Dreamcast port in 2000. It was announced alongside the modern debut of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, which first arrived in 2003.
Racer and Jedi Academy felt worlds apart at the time, but they were all part of a golden age of Star Wars games developed by LucasArts from the late '90s through the mid '00s. Yes, I'm specifically referring to Star Wars: Republic Commando as the tail end there. Sev lives.
Find where your old favorites rank in our list of the best Star Wars games.
