Total Game Boy
28th December 2000
Publisher: Activision
Machine: Game Boy Color
Published in Total Game Boy Issue 15
When you wish upon a star... not a lot happens, really!
Walt Disney's Magical Racing Tour
Pigeons pecking at cold french fries, soaked Dads being driven crazy by screaming kids, patches of sick by the exit of every ride... don't you just love theme parks? Now you can race around the most famous theme park in the world from the safety of your own home with Walt Disney World: Magical Racing Tour!
No Queues!
This new racing game from Activision is a very strange one. It seems that those ever-annoying furry little chaps Chip and Dale have ruined the Disney World fireworks machine by chucking a load of acorns inside it! So now Jimmy Cricket has decided that it's up to you to travel around the park collecting the pieces of the machine in a series of themed racing tracks.
The side-scrolling racing action is odd to say the least - how the track manages to meet up is beyond us, but never mind. Hidden around the Mario Kart-style tracks are many pick-ups allowing you to get the better of your fellow racers, and save the day. One of the strangest things is the obscure choice of characters you're given. Apart from Chip, Dale, and Jiminy there're tons of never-before-heard-of characters like Baron Karlott, Polly Roger and Amanda Sparkle?!
Kill The Chipmunks!
You can throw acorns at enemies, turn them into frogs, get fire-boosts and become invisible to complete the courses - all of which are a help, even though the challenges are not really that hard.
There's plenty to do, with more tricky tests such as coin and trophy collecting later on, as you whip around Disney studios, Space Mountain and so on in your buggies or boats. Unfortunately, half a day's idle playing will open up every challenge and every character, leaving not even a link-up option.
Nevertheless, this is basically a perky, quirky little racer that, despite its failings (awful graphics!) will delight Disney fans and pass an idle moment or two.
Second Opinion
There's nothing majorly wrong with this game. It's all just a bit dull! The graphics are on the ropey side though - you can hardly make out your favourite characters in all of this pixellated rabble.
The racing is a straightforward side-scrolling affair with a few power-ups to pick up, but simply nothing we haven't seen before. We need some originality here... please!
Verdict
Graphics 40%
Designed by a stick two-year-old.
Sound 100%
Tunes galore!
Playability 60%
Gets a little annoying.
Lastability 80%
Plenty to keep you racing.
Overall 79%
Not up to the Disney standard!