Every 510 years a contest is held between rival nations of the
interstellar planets. The reason behind the contest is for every
civilization to test out their latest planetary defense systems in
an effort to secure their dominance over the rest of the Galaxy.
Since it would be considered an act of war if any one planet
was to challenge another planets defenses, it was decided that
an independent company called IDS (Interstellar Defense
Systems) would have the "privilege" of fighting against the
planets. You have been chosen to man the fastest equipped
flying machine that IDS have created to weave and shoot your
way through the hazardous planets. Your objective is to collect
a certain amount of diamonds per level without being
destroyed to successfully claim that planet as being conquered.
The name of this game is a little misleading. Race to Galamax
is really a shoot em up with a time limit and enemies that don't
move much. The idea is simple, find and shoot the droids and
collect the diamonds, but there are obstacles to avoid too. You
start out on a planet called Augerund and you are given an
objective to find and destroy all the droids. Once you collect
the allotted number of diamonds you move on to the next
level. There are 3 levels on each planet and 7 planets to
complete the race. Each level is harder and each planet is a bit
different and in most cases harder then the last one.
My first impression of this game was that it was going to be
cool because it seemed to be a new idea, but upon playing for
a few hours I was very disappointed. The first thing that started
to get to me was the annoying background music. At first it
seemed kind of cool, it is upbeat and catchy, but it never
changes and starts to drone on after the first 2 levels. The
sound effects don't help much as they too are simple and
repetitive. The voice effects when you start and finish each
level are well done and serve the purpose. The controls of the
game are simple and snappy. I had no trouble using the
keyboard to move around and other then the occasional
clipping problem I have no complaints about the controls.
The graphics in the game are bright and colorful, but clunky and
chunky. Each planet has a few different objects thrown into the
landscape, most of which look like a modern sculpture you
might find in a park somewhere, but add to the color and make
up the primary difference of each planet. The clunky part is a
problem with the engine, when you get too close to certain objects
there is a clipping problem that causes you to get stuck. The
chunky part refers to the size of the polygons used to create the
objects in this game. Most noticeable in the cut-scene where the
planet is shown and looks more like an octagon then a sphere.
The one advantage of the chunky graphics is high frame rates.
Even when large amounts of objects were displayed the frame
rate stayed high enough to provide smooth viewing. The high
points of the graphics in this game are the explosions and light
tracing of your weapon's projectile.
Good frame rate and snappy controls don't help a bit if the game is boring though. I
got bored with this game after the second planet and trudged
through all 7 planets only to find them all boring. This game
might be worth checking out if you have nothing better to do,
but its good bargain bin filler otherwise. Even with the
somewhat unique idea it just doesn't deliver.
Highs:
Unique idea
Some graphic effects are nicely done
Lows:
Repetitive gameplay
Annoying music