Indianapolis 500 Legends

here isn't much to say about this shallow attempt to capitalize on the glory days of the Indianapolis 500. The best part about this racer is the historical content and even that is best enjoyed through videos and pictures in the bonus menu. If this were the last racing game on earth there still wouldn't be much reason to play it. Any diehard Indy fan is better off just buying a book on the history of Indy.

Indianapolis 500 Legends puts the player behind the wheel of the world's fastest cars during the glory days of the 60's and early 70's. The historic context does not come through in the gameplay. The feeling of speeding at 140+ miles per hour also fails to be conveyed. I might as well have been playing a kart racing game on a track with minimal turns and minimal challenge.

There are three main gameplay features. The first is hold the 2 button to accelerate. The second is tilt the controller to steer. The third is drive behind the car ahead of you to draft; once a jet stream effect occurs and your screen blurs around the edges press B to slingshot for a mild speed boost. Throw in a few brakes with 1 and it's only a matter of time before you beat the game.

There really aren't any advanced techniques so the gameplay has no depth whatsoever. On the other hand it's a really simple game and is pretty easy to pick-up and play. It might be a great title for the avid indy fan who has no taste in video games and somehow managed to procure a Wii. But, even then it's a stretch.

Indianapolis 500 Legends has 3 game modes: Classic Mode, Mission Mode, and Museum Mode. Classic mode, as far as I can tell, is just a race; you saddle up, complete a number of laps, and then get dumped back to the main menu. Mission mode adds a small amount of depth to the game. It's divided into ten years and each year features a number of missions like, "Dodge" or "Race". Dodge is frustrating beyond belief; you must complete a lap while avoiding other cars as well as a number of flaming piles of wreckage. This may sound nice , except the AI driven cars tend to jerk and crash into you for no reason. Adversely, the remaining missions are unreasonably easy. In all, the game does not make me feel like I'm progressing but rather completing a series of side-missions with no reward.

Museum Mode is probably the most appealing part of the entire game. It's the mode where you can view pictures and videos that you've unlocked. The sad part is that there is a total of 12 images and 5 videos. Acquiring all of them probably takes only a couple hours. Add this to the set of uninspired tracks and total 3 different Indy cars and you've got the entirety of Indianapolis 500 Legend's unlockable content.

Unfortunately for Indianapolis fans this game does no justice to the legendary 500 mile race. It's hard for me to recommend it to anyone, really. This game might be worth a rent for a diehard Indy fan who is not an experienced gamer. Anyone with even the slightest taste in video games will most likely find Indianapolis 500 Legends somewhat insulting and not worth their time.

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