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LEGO Racers consists of games with, as the title suggests, LEGO people in LEGO cars racing each other.

A Mascot Racer similar to the Mario Kart series, you can use weapons to help you. In this case you collect colored blocks for different types of power-ups, and collect white blocks to upgrade power-ups. Red are projectiles-like weapons, yellow are traps, blue blocks are defensive shields, and green blocks are speed boosts.

LEGO Racers also contains a build mode, for which you can build your own characters and cars. As you defeat more racers, you gain more pieces to use to make more characters and vehicles.

Along with introducing some old LEGO Set characters like Johnny Thunder, this is where Rocket Racer comes from - he claims to be the best racer and you must work your way up to beat him.

It received a sequel, in which Rocket Racer, after his defeat in the first game, has once again worked his way to the top and you have to defeat him again. On the planet Xalax.


These games provide examples of the following tropes:

  • Accordion to Most Sailors: Captain Redbeard's intro theme has an accordion melody, while the Port Town level Imperial Grand Prix music features an accordion in the harmony.
  • Aliens Speaking English: Gypsy Moth, Martians, and Ramas speak perfect English.
  • All There in the Script: The only way you would know the names of Baron Rosso and Frankie Solido is by looking in the game files of LEGO Racers 2.
  • Anachronism Stew: Kings, pirates, adventurers, space racers, and pharaohs all racing together. It's a world of toys, after all.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes:
    • In the first game, you get to use the entire Cool Car set of the newest champion, assuming that you achieve first place.
    • This is dropped in the Lego Racers 2; beating champions means extra upgrades for your car.
  • Author Appeal: In at least one interview, a developer expressed the team's liking towards the grapple power-up (red plus one white) above all the rest. Although they didn't make it an integral part of the game, this would explain why there's a cheat to enable only grapple power-ups (all the other power-up cheats simply enable only one brick color).
  • Bragging Rights Reward: What do you get after spending tons of time looking for all the golden bricks scattered throughout the maps in the second game? Fireworks.
  • Breakable Power-Up: Getting hit by a projectile causes a car to drop a collected power-up upgrade.
  • Built with LEGO: The setpieces (often based upon actual LEGO sets) and fully-customizable cars are built with LEGO bricks.
  • Cave Behind the Falls:
    • The Amazon Adventure Alley shortcut is a tunnel located behind the waterfall.
    • Dino Island in the second game has one. One of the golden bricks is in it.
  • Classic Cheat Code:
    • The first game has a whole slew of cheat codes that are solely meant for messing around, such as turning all the power-ups to one type, having them always maxed out, making parts of the cars invisible (such as the wheels, chassis, or driver), and a fast-forward mode. They only work in Single Races and are not activated if you play Time Trial or Circuit Mode.
    • Lego Racers 2 also has a few, though not to the same degree as the first, as the only ones that exist are playing as Martians and a wide-angle view.
  • Composite Character: "Governor Broadside" in the first LEGO Racers is actually combining the name of Governor Broadside (the Imperial Soldiers' leader) and the physical appearance of Admiral Woodhouse (the Imperial Guards' leader).
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard:
    • The second has the same mechanic from Mario Kart in which whenever there's an AI opponent behind you, it starts gaining an enormous amount of speed to catch up. Except that it can be turned off. Then there's Reigel and the Berg mentioned on the YMMV tab.
    • Inverted in the first game, as AI racers won't take any of the shortcuts, even if the player already opened them up... except Veronica Voltage in Time Trial mode, who can and will take shortcuts without first opening them up.
    • Gypsy Moth is just plain-out faster than you note . You can't keep up with her without turbo powerups, or using other powerups to slow her down. Other bosses may have this, but with them, skilful driving can keep up. Against Gypsy, even that's not enough.
  • Convection, Schmonvection:
    • Adventure Temple Trail features a large lava pit next to the track at the lowest point in the map, complete with minecarts with skeletons inside falling into the lava. Doesn't effect the drivers in the slightest.
    • Take a wild guess what Magma Moon Marathon has. There's even a section with several small lava pits and a fireball that jumps from one pit to another. So long as the racers doesn't touch the fireball, they're safe, and even if they do, it just spins them out of control for a second.
    • Some of the Adventurers Dino Island racetracks in LEGO Racers 2 pass through a volcano, and there's also a river of lava on Mars and Xalax. If you fall in, you are teleported to safety. If you get hit by a fireball, your car might lose a brick, but that's it.
  • Crossover:
  • Defeat Means Playable: In a sense. As stated in And Your Reward Is Clothes above, beating a racer in first place not only unlocks their car for the player's use, but also their minifigure parts for the Build mode, basically allowing you to play as them. This also applies to World Champion Rocket Racer and Time Trial host Veronica Voltage, though the latter works differently in that instead of beating her in a circuit, you have to beat all the time trial challenges to unlock her and her car.
  • Deflector Shields: The blue brick. The third and fourth levels have attack reflector bonuses against any racer who used a cannonball or a missile.
  • Demoted to Extra: Slyboots went from being an opponent racer in LEGO Racers to being an Explore Mode-only NPC in LEGO Racers 2.
  • Driving Game: Of the Mascot Racer variety.
  • Dub Name Change: When set to various languages, the first LEGO Racers gives certain characters different names instead of literal translations, with these being the most notable cases:
    • Captain Redbeard: Kaptajn Rogernote  (Danish), Kapitein Knoestnote  (Netherlands)
    • Governor Broadside: Governador Flinnnote  (Spanish), Kapitein Bakboordnote  (Dutch)
    • Ann Droid: Indradroid (Spanish), Robotina (Dutch)
    • Pharaoh's Mummy: Farao Hoteps Mumienote  (Danish)
    • King Kahuka: Rey Uka Shaka Ukanote  (Spanish), Kong Kanukanote  (Danish)
    • Islander: Uhu (Danish)
    • Royal King: Koning Leeuwenhartnote  (Dutch)
    • Commander Cold: CapitĂ¡n Hielonote  (Spanish), Capitano Ghiaccionote  (Italian), Ijskapiteinnote  (Dutch)
    • Achu: Tempelkoningnote  (Dutch)
    • Basil the Batlord: Grev Flagermusnote  (Danish), Floris de Vleermuisriddernote  (Dutch)
    • Willa the Witch: Heksen Hylianote  (Danish), Hella de Heksnote  (Dutch)
    • Sam Sinister: Slyboots (Danish), Sluwe Samnote  (Dutch)
    • Blackjack Hawkins: Barbanegranote  (Spanish), Jack il Falconote  (Italian)
    • Alpha Dragonis: Dragon Alfanote  (Italian), Chamon (Danish)
    • Baron von Barron: BarĂ³n von Tyssennote  (Spanish), Mr. Hates (Danish)
    • Gypsy Moth: Navigator Sharp (Danish)
    • Nova Hunter: Aramis la Cazadoranote  (Spanish)
    • Gail Storm: Tormentosanote  (Spanish)
  • Evolving Title Screen: In the first game, the main menu will show the champion of the next circuit pointing at the circuit option, seemingly trying to coax you into challenging them.
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a racing game based on LEGO.
  • Fake Longevity: The first game completely recycles all of the first three circuits for circuits 4 through 6, only with new bosses, the tracks in reverse order from their counterparts, and with all the courses mirrored.
  • Funetik Aksent: Baron Von Barron's text is spelled with V's instead of W's and Z's instead of S's.
  • Flying Saucer: Three are present on Alien Rally Asteroid. The first will likely drag you violently backwards, costing you significant distance, if you don't use a blue or green brick. The other two are scenery.
  • Hard Mode Filler: In the first game, after beating Circuits 1 through 3, the player has to do it all over again in Circuits 4 through 6. The courses are mirrored and in reverse order, and the circuit bosses (Johnny Thunder, Baron von Barron, Gypsy Moth) are more challenging than their predecessors (Captain Redbeard, King Kahuka, Basil the Bat Lord), but otherwise it's just a repeat of earlier levels padding out the game's length before the final Circuit 7.
  • The Generic Guy: Ann Droid, Islander, Willa the Witch and Gail Storm all use carbon copies of Black Knight's racing car, for some reason. Everyone else gets their personal custom car in the first LEGO Racers.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser:
  • Gratuitous German: Baron von Barron uses the German conjunction "und" instead of "and" in the first game.
  • Homing Projectile: The fully-upgraded red brick Power-Up from the first game and the bloodhound homing missiles from the second game.
  • Humanoid Aliens: Gypsy Moth, Alpha Dragonis, and the Martians.
  • Interface Screw: When the yellow brick is fully charged up, it'll summon a "Mummy's Curse" that will cause this. To be specific, it reverses steering while it's active, while also severely lowering your top speed by pulsing your brakes (if you're stopped while the curse is active, the car will actually go in reverse).
  • Level in Reverse: Circuits 4 through 6 in the first game are left-to-right mirrored versions of Circuits 1 through 3.
  • Loads and Loads of Loading: The PS1 version has a ridiculous amount of loading, especially noticeable because the music pauses between every single menu.
  • Luck-Based Mission: Like Mario Kart, the races can sometimes become this. Unlike Mario Kart, however, the Power-Ups in the first game are not randomized, meaning there is some strategy required behind using them, making it not so luck-based as it may seem.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: Level the red brick in Racers to the fourth and you get to launch three devastating, high-speed, Roboteching missiles at once.
  • Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Well, both games do have multiplayer features, and each one is a Crossover of at least four unrelated LEGO Themes...
  • Missing Secret: The Knightmare-athon and Pirate Skull Pass shortcuts, both of which were invokedDummied Out.
  • My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Veronica Voltage is immune to track edge friction, letting her cut corners across dirt and sand where anyone else would be slowed if they tried.
  • Nintendo Hard: Good luck in Circuits 3, 6, and 7 of the first game. And it will take far more than just "luck" to beat the time trials.
  • No Name Given:
    • King Richard is only identified as the "Royal King" and Cannonball Cordoba/Don Diego de LEGO/Sergeant Speedy is only called "The Admiral" in LEGO Racers. The Islander and Black Knight are also left unnamed, though to be fair, they had no names in the original lines.
    • Two characters in the second game (Frankie Solido and Baron Rosso) aren't named in the game, as they only show up as racers and never in explore mode as someone you can talk to. The only way you'd be able to know is by hacking into the game files.
  • Palmtree Panic: Imperial Grand Prix, Tribal Island Trail, and Pirate Skull Pass.
  • Pirate: Captain Redbeard and Blackjack Hawkins.
  • Plot Coupon: The golden bricks in the second game.
  • Power-Up: Power bricks show up in both iterations, but work rather differently.
    • Racers has a four-color brick system and implements a fifth color, white, to essentially increase the effect of the other four colors.
    • Racers 2 has only one sort of brick which, like WipEout, randomly decides the power up a racer will gain depending on the position of the racer in the track. Losing racers usually get strong, offensive Area of Effect bricks which devastate other racers' cars if used in close proximity. Winning racers get weak, defensive bricks like invisibility cloaks to avoid missile lock ons and maintain the racers' current positions.
  • Power-Up Letdown: Yellow + one white in the first game is arguably worse than yellow with no white. Yellow with no white lays down an oil slick that causes the player who comes in contact with it to spin out; it stays for a fairly long period of time, so if you're a little ahead, there's still a chance that a player could run into it. A yellow and a white throws a keg of dynamite behind you that creates explosions, sending the victim flying upwards and slowing them down. The problem is that it works more like a backwards projectile rather than a trap, meaning that if there's nobody immediately behind you, it's a complete waste. The 3 explosions are potentially more dangerous, but it's much harder to hit someone with.
  • Purposefully Overpowered: The game's design suggests at least some self-awareness of Warp's status as the best power-up, as it's Rocket Racer's preferred powerup, and his track is set up to allow invokedboth of you to spam the heck out of it.
  • Rewarding Vandalism: This tends to open shortcuts and some even have enough white and green bricks to upgrade to warp turbo boost.
  • Rollercoaster Mine: While you can't ride on it yourself, you can see the end of one in Adventure Temple Trail.
  • Rubber-Band A.I.: Interesting in that only the Boss Racers seems to have it in the original.
  • Second Place Is for Losers: Aside from not winning the host's vehicle, reaching the second place podium has your character clearly angered although he or she raised the cup triumphantly at the end.
  • Sequence Breaking: On many tracks in the first game, it is possible to fool the game by driving only a short distance from the start/finish line, then turning around and driving a short distance back past the start/finish line, then turning around again to complete an entire lap.
  • She's a Man in Japan: Nova Hunter's Dub Name Change in Spanish is "Aramis la Cazadora", which translates to "Aramis the Huntress".
  • Shifting Sand Land: Desert Adventure Dragway.
  • Shout-Out: Adventure Temple Trail is a pretty obvious Indiana Jones knockoff, since the golden idol and a lightning-shooting chest a la the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark are present.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World:
    • Ice Planet Pathway in the first game.
    • Arctic in the second.
  • Speaking Simlish: In LEGO Racers 2.
  • Spell My Name With An S:
    • On the results screen and in his intro cutscene, Basil the Bat Lord's name is written as "Basil the Batlord" (though, oddly enough, it is written "Bat Lord" on the main menu). Similarly, Black Jack Hawkins has his name written as "Blackjack Hawkins". Alpha Draconis has his name spelled "Alpha Dragonis", although it is spelled correctly in the Dutch version. In some languages like Dutch, Baron von Barron's name is spelled "Baron von Baron".
    • In LEGO Racers 2, Sam and Alexia Sinister's last name is spelled "Sanister". The Martian leader's name goes with the "Riegel" spelling.
  • Unstable Equilibrium: If you get ahead of the pack, you get the first pick of all the powerups and upgrade bricks... but you're vulnerable to getting hit with red attacks, which make you drop your upgrade bricks (and knock you back). When you're behind, everyone else grabs all the good stuff first. But if you can get far enough ahead that the former isn't a threat, such as through a Turbo Start followed by an early Warp... GG.
  • Vocal Dissonance: The first game mixed up the voices of dang near every opponent (the PC version, for example, gets exactly one of the twenty-three opponents). While Rob-N-Hood speaking with the voice of Captain Redbeard isn't much of a deal, hearing Willa the Witch Talk Like a Pirate in the grumpy voice of Blackjack Hawkins is all kinds of wrong.
  • The Von Trope Family: Baron von Barron, at least in the non-Danish versions of the first game.
  • Wacky Racing: Powerups, turbo boosts, and the freedom to build your vehicle makes for silly shenanigans. The sequel even makes your car lose bricks as it takes damage, and if you've taken too many beatings it breaks and you're forced to run to the nearest pit lane on foot to get your vehicle back.
  • Weapon-Based Characterization : In the first game, each boss racer favors a particular brick type. It's very noticeable in-game.
    • Captain Redbeard prefers red bricks, especially the cannonball.
    • King Kahuna prefers blue bricks, usually first level shields and sometimes second level shields.
    • Basil the Bat Lord uses them all dangerously well, but appears to ever so slightly prefer green bricks and the occasional magic wand
    • Johnny Thunder prefers red bricks, particularly the grappling hook.
    • Baron Von Barron prefers blue bricks. Especially the third level shield.
    • Gypsy Moth uses red bricks the most, usually devastating the racers with Rockets, but will often go with anything she can get.
    • Rocket Racer only picks up green bricks unless you prevent him from getting any, which is when he'll use rockets instead. He prefers the infamous warp turbo boost. Good luck, you'll need it.
  • A Winner Is You: The GBC version of the first game ends with nothing more than a text box of Rocket Racer saying the exact same thing as he does on the console/PC versions, just without mentioning you winning his car set (the GBC version lacks unlockable car sets). Basically, nothing more than "Congratulations, I knew you had it in you! You are the greatest LEGO racing champion of all time!"

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