PlayStation 2

Freaky Flyers

Ultimately, Freaky Flyers succeeds where many kart racers fail in delivering a fun game that provides plenty of replay value. While it may not be the first game that pops into your mind when thinking about the genre, the true 3D courses and sheer amount of stuff to do make it a leader in the field.

Midway has given us a gem in the world of video games. An entertaining and fun game is much appreciated these days, something slightly different from the rest gets points in my book. Freaky Flyers is by no means completely original, however it has proven to provide hours of fun and gives the player quite a few laughs.

With Freaky Flyers, the latest kart-style racing game from Midway Interactive, I’m pleased to report that your hard earned button mashing time will be among the most pleasant you’ve experienced in quite a while. Freaky Flyers takes a cartoonish, light-hearted approach to the racing genre by introducing a slew of high quality Saturday morning cartoon production values, outrageously funny characters and scenario after scenario of Disney-esque flying fun.

Few games are as polished as Freaky Flyers. It's packed with over 30 unique aviators animated in amusing cartoon cut-scenes, a handful of mini-games, a sarcastic newsreel announcer, and subgoals similar to those in Tony Hawk within each unbelievably detailed level. Freaky Flyers went for over-the-top aerial racing mayhem and nailed it dead on. Unfortunately, all this hard work seems undercut by thin multiplayer options.

Originally conceived as a Dreamcast title over four years ago, Midway's Freaky Flyers has been given more than enough time for tweaking. PS2-owning kart racing fans will likely be pleased with the results, as their console houses what seems to be the superior version; unfortunately, the game's cartoonish nature and over-the-top attempts at humor may ward off prospective players before the game is able to redeem itself.

Sometimes the game can be downright hard. Depending on the character you pick, the game can feel like a constant game of catch-up or you end up sailing to victory fairly easily. The replay value is solely in trying to beat the game with progressively more difficult characters, as the multiplayer component isn't going to keep anyone captivated for long. If you like challenging kart racers and Tex Avery cartoons, Freaky Flyers is for you.

But our dwindling summer schedule must first welcome another, less heralded member of the Midway family: the lighthearted airplane racer named Freaky Flyers. Developed in-house over the past two seasons, Freaky Flyers is a bouncy, cartooned approach to the oft-emulated cart racing genre. Boasting incredibly high production values, a solid visual engine, and the funniest damn characters we've seen in eons, Midways appreciated attempt at joke-based software has managed to win us over on a spectrum of different levels. But not without running into its share of problems.

While the mascot-driven kart-racing genre has been done with lots of different land- and water-based vehicles, the genre hasn't been taken to the air all that often. Nintendo's Diddy Kong Racing had its share of airplane levels, but its developers certainly didn't devote all their energies to airplane racing. Midway's Freaky Flyers takes the concept to its logical conclusion, combining planes with a cast of classically modeled cartoon characters, a number of racing environments, and a collection of power-ups to keep the racing varied. The game does have its moments, but the racing simply isn't very exciting.

Freaky Flyers aurait pu être un jeu très sympa, il en avait la réalisation tout au moins. Malheureusement il cumule les erreurs fatales : trop lent, trop confus, peu maniable, il s'avère au final dépourvu d'aspect ludique malgré une forte personnalité. Un vrai gâchis tout ça.

But the folks at Midway seemed to know this when they first announced Freaky Flyers a few years back, and proceeded to market it as the world’s first kart racer that takes place above the track. And they certainly got that right. However, they forgot to get a bunch of other things right, leading to a pretty standard game that never quite reaches its lofty expectations.