Star Wars Episode 1: Racer Hits Modern Consoles Next Month
A modern port of the classic racing game Star Wars Episode 1: Racer launches on May 12th for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch, according to a Thursday announcement. The port is being developed by Aspyr, which is the same studio that ported Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast and its sequel Jedi Academy to PS4 and Switch.
Based on the famous podracing scene in The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer has 8 tracks and a roster of 21 characters from the movie such as young Anakin Skywalker.
On PlayStation Blog, Aspyr brand manager Chris Bashaar said that “just delivering a one-for-one port of this classic wasn’t enough” for the studio and gave some details about the port’s improvements:
- We uprezzed all of the FMV sequences in the game. Output resolutions have massively changed in the past 20 years, as have file size restrictions. This allowed us to natively re-export everything into greatly increased resolutions that will look better than ever on your 4K TV. Despite the age of the original models, these cutscenes look stunning and will take you back to seeing the track on Tatooine for the first time in 1999.
- We re-mapped all of the controls to feel right for DualShock 4. This might sound trivial, but to really feel like you’re piloting a Podracer takes a very special touch. The controls that captured the thrill of Podracing in 1999 simply don’t feel as natural on the modern controller, but our team was dedicated to creating the ultimate Podracing experience. You can expect controls that feel natural and modern.
- Trophy hunters will be happy to hear that we’ve added Trophies. You’ll even be able to prove you’re the ultimate Podracing champion with a Platinum trophy!
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