Star Wars: Racer Revenge For the Playstation 2 FAQ by James “SiN $tealer” Kersey ------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ covers the North American release of Star Wars: Racer Revenge for the Playstation 2 (tm) from Lucasarts and Rainbow Studios. Star Wars, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, etc. are all registered trademarks of Lucasarts Ltd. Playstation 2 is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. This document Copyright 2002 James Kersey. This document is only for www.gamefaqs.com, any other distribution or reproduction of this document without my permission will be prosecuted. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: 1. History 2. Controls 3. Game Modes 4. Gameplay/Tips 5. Racers 6. Tracks 7. Secrets 8. Contact ------------------------------------------------------------------- History ------------------------------------------------------------------- 02/20/02 – Creation of my first FAQ ever. Lots of work left to do. 02/21/02 – Finished it. Every section complete. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Controls ------------------------------------------------------------------- Normal – Normal controls differ from the advanced controls in that they play more like the original Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer for the N64 and Dreamcast, minus a few features, like turning sideways. Directional Buttons – Steering. Left or right turns the Pod. Up and Down control your Pod slightly while in the air. Left Stick – Steering. Same as above. X – Gas. Makes you go. Square – Air Brake. Normal brake. Slows you down, which in this game isn’t that helpful. Triangle – Camera Cycle. There’s 4 different views: in the engine, in the Pod, and 2 from behind the Pod. Circle – Rear View. Camera changes to the front of the Pod looking behind the player. Useful when seeing which side an opponent is coming from so you can ram them without losing speed. L1 – Combat Camera. Changes the camera to the fourth view if you’re using any of the other views as long as you hold down the button. L2 – Repair. Fixes the damage done to your pod, as shown on the little vertical bars on the bottom left of the screen. Green means you’re good, yellow is pushing it, and red means you’re about to blow. R1 – Power Slide – Good for tight turns. Must be tight turns, otherwise you’ll lose a lot of speed. Keep in mind only the engines turn at this angle, not the Pod. R2 – Boost. Your best friend. Gives a boost of speed until your meter on the bottom right fills up. If you continue to boost after it fills you’ll start to take damage. Nice blur effect when you first boost. Select – Reset. If you get stuck, this button puts you back on the track, albeit a little behind where you were and at a dead stop. Start – Pause. Stops the action. I wouldn’t recommend doing this often, since the game moves so fast its hard to keep track of where you need to turn when you unpause. Advanced – Advanced controls are a unique way of controlling your Pod, and resemble Sega’s arcade version of the Pod Race. In this setup the left stick controls the left engine and the right stick controls the right engine. Pushing up on both causes the Pod to go straight while pulling down causes the Pod to stop. To turn, simply push one up while pulling the stick in the direction you want to turn down. The boost, camera, repair, and Power Slide buttons are still the same. This method of controlling your Pod is called advanced for a reason though. It’s a lot of fun but takes a lot of time to master. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Game Modes ------------------------------------------------------------------- The game consists of several different modes of play, Single Play, Vs Race, and Tournament. Single Play – This option lets you play in one of three ways, Single Event, Practice, or Time Trial. Single Event lets you race on any unlocked track. You can choose between 1 and 25 laps. Practice lets you determine how many Pods you go up against (from 1-8), and Time Trial is just you against the clock for the best lap time. Vs Race – Race against your friends on any of the unlocked tracks. Tournament - The real game. In this mode you race your Pod across 13 tracks, trying to get first while destroying as many rival Pods as possible. Each race has a total prize for getting first, as well as Watto’s Bribes, which multiplies your winnings by a percent, depending on how many Pods you destroyed. Each race has a Par number of kills, usually 2 or 3, which must be completed in order to completely max out your Pod’s stats. You cannot go back to a race and complete it again for more money after you finish first. If you finish second or third, you can try it again to get the difference in cash between what you got and what you would have gotten for first. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gameplay/Tips ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ramming – It’s very important to get the Par number of kills if you hope to max your Pod. The best advice I can give is to ram often and early. Your best bet is to focus on one Pod until it’s destroyed. This means waiting for it to catch up if it starts to lag. You want to aim for the Pod itself and not the engines, and sideswipe it, boosting at the last possible moment. Your goal should be to knock out 2 Pods on the first lap and the third Pod before the second half of the second lap. By then you should be about 20-30 seconds behind the first place Pod, but the lap and a half should give you enough time to catch back up and cross the finish line in first. The only tracks that you should be worried about are the ones on Gamorr. The trick to these tracks is to not get separated from the Pods you’re trying to demolish when you come to a fork. Slow down before the fork and watch which one the opposing Pod is taking, then quickly boost to follow. Repairing – If your status turns red, you should repair as quickly as possible. The best way of doing this without losing speed is to quickly boost before you press the repair button, and keep holding both buttons down until you’re back in the yellow or green. You might still lose a few mph, but not nearly as much with normal repairing. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Racers ------------------------------------------------------------------- The racers stats are ranked from 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest possible value. The scores below are the maximum each character can obtain if you race them in Tournament, getting first in each race while matching the par number of KO’s. Keep in mind the five secret characters start with these stats, and they can’t be increased by playing through the Tournament with them. -Anakin Skywalker – Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 19 Handling – 18 Defense – 18 Repair – 18 Cooling – 17 -Occo Ninebar- Acceleration – 20 Top Speed – 17 Handling – 17 Defense – 16 Repair – 20 Cooling – 18 -Shrivel Braittrand- Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 18 Handling – 18 Defense – 18 Repair – 17 Cooling - 18 -Aldar Beedo- Acceleration – 17 Top Speed – 17 Handling – 20 Defense – 19 Repair – 18 Cooling - 17 -Ben Quadinaros- Acceleration – 20 Top Speed – 16 Handling – 18 Defense – 16 Repair – 19 Cooling – 19 -Dud Bolt- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 19 Handling – 16 Defense – 18 Repair – 17 Cooling – 18 -Ody Mandrell- Acceleration – 16 Top Speed – 19 Handling – 19 Defense – 18 Repair – 16 Cooling - 20 -Teemto Pagalies- Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 17 Handling – 19 Defense – 17 Repair – 19 Cooling – 18 -Clegg Holdfast- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 16 Handling – 19 Defense – 17 Repair – 20 Cooling - 17 -Gasgano- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 18 Handling – 17 Defense – 17 Repair – 18 Cooling – 19 -Mawhonic- Acceleration – 17 Top Speed – 19 Handling – 17 Defense – 18 Repair – 16 Cooling – 19 -Knire Dark- Acceleration – 16 Top Speed – 18 Handling – 20 Defense – 17 Repair – 17 Cooling – 20 -Kraid Nemmeso- Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 19 Handling – 17 Defense – 18 Repair – 18 Cooling – 16 -Wan Sandage- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 18 Handling – 18 Defense – 19 Repair – 17 Cooling – 17 -Mars Guo- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 15 Defense – 18 Repair – 16 Cooling – 19 -Scorch Zanales- Acceleration – 17 Top Speed – 18 Handling – 19 Defense – 19 Repair – 16 Cooling – 19 -Tzidik Wrantojo- Acceleration – 19 Top Speed – 17 Handling – 18 Defense – 18 Repair – 17 Cooling – 19 -Sebulba- Acceleration – 17 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 19 Defense – 19 Repair – 17 Cooling – 17 -Young Anakin- Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 20 Defense – 16 Repair – 20 Cooling – 18 -Sebulba (Episode 1)- Acceleration – 20 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 16 Defense – 18 Repair – 18 Cooling – 20 -Watto- Acceleration – 18 Top Speed – 16 Handling – 17 Defense – 18 Repair – 20 Cooling – 20 -Darth Maul- Acceleration – 20 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 20 Defense – 20 Repair – 20 Cooling – 20 -Darth Vader- Acceleration – 20 Top Speed – 20 Handling – 20 Defense – 20 Repair – 20 Cooling - 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tracks ------------------------------------------------------------------- For these tracks, remember to boost as much as possible. Once the boost limit is reached, let it cool for a bit and boost again. Never let the boost meter cool completely down. For the best lap times on Nightlands and Boonta Eve, keep in mind you won’t get it on your first run through. You need to start the race at 600 mph, which means you need to be on your second attempt. If you’re running Time Trial, boost as you cross the finish on your first run so you’ll be around 650-700 and continue boosting until it beeps. And remember, practice makes perfect. Best lap is not something you’ll get on your first few tries. -The Mos Espa Open- At the first branch take a right. As soon as you exit the tunnel, stay on the right of the first large mushroom rock and go into the narrow tunnel. From here simply follow the track until the next fork. Take the right path lined with bones. From here it’s smooth sailing, just be careful of the sand dunes while turning. It can be tough to figure out where the track ends and the dunes begin. My best lap: 00:40:33 My best race: 02:08:26 -Soro Suub Facility- Be sure to take the right path at the first fork. It can be hard to see if you aren’t looking for it. Continue through the track until you come to the tunnel. Once in the tunnel you can race anywhere, even the ceiling. One of the best bashing maneuvers is to swing from the ceiling into a Pod below. Mucho damage. If you are on the ceiling, be sure to come back to the bottom before you exit the tunnel. For the best possible time, stick to the wall in the direction of the turn. For example, if the tunnel is turning to the right, stay on the right-hand wall. When the tunnel moves to the left, swing to the left. When you exit the tunnel, stay to the right hand side to avoid making a wide turn when the track suddenly veers right. The next obstacle will be a few turns away in the shape of a narrow and short tunnel. You can either take the ramp into the tunnel or stay to the left and avoid it completely. Best lap: 00.55.71 Best race: 02:49:29 -Orotoru G’Am- Stay to the right as you start the race, completely bypassing the first ramp. Go about halfway up the second ramp and then boost off to the right. Follow this path until you come to the indoors section. Here you will have to make one big clockwise circle, but support pillars are dead center of the track. The best thing to do is alternate between the inside and outside paths of each pillar. Take one between the left wall and the pillar, then take the next between the right edge and the pillar, etc. Soon you’ll come across a yellow sign with an arrow pointing right. Immediately turn right, but be careful of the incredibly cool statue of the Calamari killing a sea snake. Best lap: 00:50:25 Best race: 02:33:92 -Watchtower Run- This map is a pain to get KO’s on. But if you’re going for speed, here’s what to do. When you reach the first fork, it doesn’t really matter which path you take, but if you’re dying to shave off a millisecond you should take the left one. The next fork is just after the first one, so stay to the left. The third fork is just after the second, but this time you’ll want to swing right and take that path. So it’s left, left, right. The last fork makes about as much difference as the first, but for the extra millisecond, take the right path. Best lap: 00:38:08 Best race: 01:57:94 -The Brightlands- The sun glare on the dirt track in this level really impressed me. Don’t try Darth Vader on this course or his Pod will blind you. Anyway, as soon as you enter the outside section, be ready for a sharp left turn. When you come across the next fork, stay to the left and take the path lined with bones. From here the track stays pretty easy, just be careful when turning after you pass the trademark tusks. The wall of the building can snag you if you’re too close to the right side. Best lap: 00:51:22 Best race: 02:37:09 -The Badlands- Stay to the left as you make the first big turn. When you reach the arches, stay to the right until you reach the first fork, then take a left. Follow the fork, staying in the middle of the treads, until you reach the drop off. From here take a sharp left into the canyon below and hug the left wall through the big valley. There’s an alternate route through a mining tunnel in the big hole in the middle of the valley, but I find it doesn’t shave enough time off to risk hitting the narrow opening. From here follow the track to the next big fork, and take a left to avoid some sharp turns. In the following area with the big rock formations, stay to the left as you weave through them. In the next fork, stay on the left so you hit the top part, otherwise you’ll be rock dodging and losing seconds. Best lap: 01:04:96 Best race: 03:28:98 -The Ballast Complex- Stay to the right as you reach the indoors section of the track and hit the ramp that runs along the right-hand wall. Stay on the ramp until it ends, then immediately swing right into a small narrow tunnel. This not only shaves seconds off, but eliminates the threat of the support structures for the ramps, which can be a pain to navigate through. The next area can be tough. Stay to the left in the narrow canal until you reach the road block, then swing to the center until you pass it and quickly move back into the canal. From here follow the long ramp down, staying to the right so you don’t miss the narrow entrance to the underwater tunnel. You can drive on the ceiling of the tunnel if you want, but it does eat up some mph. Just be sure to be back on the ground before you exit. Once you leave the tunnel, quickly move to the left or right and onto either of the two ramps leading over the circular vents. If you don’t make it, get to the left or right wall, and make a diagonal cut once you reach the center of the vents. Don’t try to weave in and out in the center because you’ll lose too much speed. After you clear the vents, hug the left wall so you make it up the long ramp up. After that you’re clear to the finish. Best lap: 01:05:13 Best race: 03:19:36 -Ruins of Carnuss Gorgull- One of my favorite tracks, simply because of the Metal Gear style rain effect on the screen. Anyway, be sure to cut the first big right turn as close to the inside as possible. Since the track is so wide it’s easy to take the turn wide. In the first split, the left and center tracks are your best options. There is another split a few seconds later, so stay to the left and you’ll be ok. You can’t see the right path on the map, and in this case that’s a good thing. On the third split (just after the big circular light) you want to take the left path. From there just follow the track to the finish. Best lap: 01:07:93 Best race: 03:28:50 -Serres Sarrano- When taking the first big jump, it doesn’t really matter which level you land on, just be sure to line up with one of them. You’ll lose a ton of time if you hit the wall instead. When you get to the first split, the left side is faster, though only by a little. When the road joins again you’ll come across a small metal ramp, try to boost off the sides of it to gain the most air and speed. When you get to the second lava area, immediately turn right and head for the red arrow sign, cutting huge seconds off your time. Turn into the first ramp and continue up it. Try to stay on the very top of the pipe in the next section. If you fall, quickly steer back toward it since it’s possible to land on the pipe and race underneath the catwalk. Boost off it for maximum speed in the air. Next you’ll come to a big brown ramp. Again, boost off it for the best speed, but either let off the gas or boost harder as you approach the opening so you line up with the track. If you miss and land above or below, you’ll lose a lot of time. Best lap: 01:08:32 Best race: 03:28:29 -The Grand Reefs- Follow the track until you come across the narrow blue bridge over water. Boost before you reach the end of the first section to launch over most of the bridge at blazing speed. Continue racing until you reach the next pool of water, and immediately turn left to get a better angle on the next part of the track. In the third water area, you can try to cut some seconds off by racing in the water instead of the track, but be sure not to go past the bones, or else you’ll miss the narrow exit. In the fourth water area, it might be tempting to go under the red arrow sign pointing right, but instead turn right and go across the white bridge until you hit water again, then turn to the left and cut across the water, shaving off a lot of time. Best lap: 01:15:08 Best race: 03:50:14 -The Citadel – The beginning is pretty straight forward, just a few tight turns. Remember to take good racing lines. The exception is to take the turn before the stone bridge a little wide to avoid hitting the hill, which sticks out more than you’d think. At the first fork, you can pretty much take either path, since neither gives a distinct advantage over the other. The second fork can be hard to see. After taking the right turn just past the 3 overhead archs, keep to the right and you’ll notice a shortcut over the water. This can cut major seconds off your time. The next crucial part is just after the big statue. This area is filled with tough turns, a few requiring a Power Slide. The first turn is a good example. Turn normally through the next left, and then Power Slide through the next right. Be sure to boost through the wide open spaces that follow. Soon you’ll come across a similar right turn requiring yet another Power Slide. From there, turn normally and follow the path until you get to the large stone head. Stay to the right and you’ll notice a small path to the right just after the head. Take this into the valley, and boost till you get to the cave. Stay in the middle while taking the turns in the cave to avoiding crashing. From here it’s clear sailing to the finish. Best lap: 01:22:38 Best race: 04:14:42 -Nightlands – This one is tricky, especially when trying for the best lap. The times needed skyrocket in difficulty once you get here, requiring perfect runs. If you want to get the top scores, you’re going to need Darth Maul. None of the other racers can compare, with the exception of Sebulba (Ep. 1), but Maul’s increased handling make the narrow paths of Nightlands easier to navigate. I’m going to describe how I beat it. There might be better ways, but this worked for me. To start, keep good racing lines in mind. Don’t take turns too wide. This is especially important during the first turn. A wide turn here will kill you. Keep it tight. Next, ignore the small cave at the first little fork and stick to the main road. At the next big fork, stay to the right. The left fork has a large bump at the end that will cause you to lose too much speed. The right path has a bump too, but as long as you boost over it, you wont lost more than 30 mph. Keep going on the main path, ignoring the lighted cave on the right. Eventually you’ll come across a small ramp; make sure to boost before hitting it so you gain lots of speed while in the air. Stay to the left after you land and continue on until you get to the next fork. Here, take the left, narrow path and remember to take the following turn while hugging (but not coming into contact with) the wall. The next big problem is the two left turns. Maul’s exception handling make these easier, but remember to keep tight racing lines. Next you’ll come across an area where you can’t see the sky anymore. Don’t freak out, just keep going straight. The next right turn can be make or break. Try to take it as close to the inside as possible, otherwise you’ll hit a bump and slow down. From there it’s smooth sailing, just remember to make the last turn close to the inside and boost your heart out. Just don’t overdo it and explode before you hit the finish line. Best lap: 1:10:05. Best race: 3:39:12 -Boonta Eve Classic – Another hard one requiring a perfect run and Darth Maul if you’re going to get the top times. To start with, Power Slide on the first right turn while staying on the top section and follow it down into the canyon. From here, stay to the right until you come across the red arrows pointing left, then cut to the left and follow that path out, avoiding the rock that sticks out on the left as you’re flying through the air. Stay toward the middle of the next part so you don’t take a turn too sharp. A sharp turn will kill you when you get to the part with the three rocks sticking out from the walls. If you stay toward the middle you can weave between the them. If you’re still hitting the rocks, take the turn leading to them wide so you have time to line up first. If you find yourself too close to the outside wall, let off the gas for a moment, then boost and slam on the gas again. Next, make sure to take the small ramp on the right in Beggar’s Canyon to fly over them. Try to save a little boost for the last possible moment on the ramp so you can get maximum speed in the air. Then boost through the desert until you come to Arch Canyon, then stay on the right to avoid the arches completely. Be sure not to boost once entering the small cave with the stalactites until you’re in the straight way. Bouncing between them will lose you a lot of speed and precious seconds. Boost through the next cave while staying on the left, then boost through the circular track until you get to the most difficult section of the race, the sharp turns. The best strategy I can offer is to let go of the gas while turning and boosting hard out of each turn. The best thing you can do is not stop completely. As long as you stay over 300 mph through this section you should be alright. From there it’s home free, just be careful not to miss the small opening leading to the open field. Try to stay to the right to get the best time in this section. Best lap: 1:35:33. Best race: 5:05:12 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Secrets ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tracks: To unlock all the tracks in the game, simply race in the Tournament. As you race a track in this mode, it will open up in other modes. Shadowed Racers: To unlock the racers that appear at the character select screen as a silhouette, play through Tournament mode with any character. After you beat the first circuit (the first four races), you will unlock the track favorite as you beat the rest of the nine tracks. Art Gallery: Beat the first circuit (the first four races) in Tournament mode to unlock the Podracers section of the Art Gallery. Beat the second circuit (the next four races) to unlock the Pilots section. Beat the third circuit (the last five races) to unlock the Planets section. A quick note about the following secret characters: Each of the characters below start with maxed stats. In order to unlock them, you must finish a tournament race after completing the requirements. For example, if you get all of the best lap times by playing in the Time Trial, you must complete a race in the Tournament with any character before Anakin will be unlocked. Young Anakin: To unlock the Episode 1 version of Anakin Skywalker, you must beat the top lap time for each track. You don’t need to have all the spots in the Hall of Fame, just the top one. See the above section for information on each track. Sebulba (Episode 1): To unlock the Episode 1 version of Sebulba, simply get first place on all the tracks in Tournament mode with the normal Sebulba. Watto: To unlock Watto, you must beat the top Best Race (3 Laps) time for each track. You don’t need to have all 3 spots on the Hall of Fame, just the top one. See the above section for information on each track. Darth Maul: To unlock Darth Maul, you must beat the top KO score for each track. The easiest way to do this is with Sebulba (Episode 1). See the tips section above for more details. Darth Vader: To unlock Darth Vader, you must beat the Tournament with either Young Anakin, Watto, or Darth Maul. Note that you must have already unlocked ALL 3 before you can unlock Vader. If you beat the Tournament with any of these characters before unlocking them all, you won’t get Vader. You don’t need to beat the tournament with all of them though, just one. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact ------------------------------------------------------------------- I would love comments on this FAQ. My email is timbalandk@aol.com. If you don’t get a reply after a week, try sending it again. I get a lot of crap in my box and might have deleted in on accident. Try putting “Racer Revenge” in the subject line so I can spot it easier. Keep in mind the fact that if I know it, it’s probably here. Be sure to read carefully before asking a question. Special Thanks to Lucasarts (and Rainbow Studios) for another great game, and countless years of fun. Ahhh, X-Wing...good times.