'Freaky Flyers' gives air racing a new look

There are realistic racing games and there are cartoon racing games.

Then, there's "Freaky Flyers."

There are versions of this wild new title from Midway for PS2, Xbox and GameCube. I played the PS2 version, and had a fine time doing it.

"Freaky Flyers," as you may have figured from the available clues, is a hilarious air racing game. It features a collection of rickety planes that appear to have been stolen from a moth-eaten crop-dusting operation.

Available to fly the crates are a tasteful selection of 14 looney pilots, including Andre LaToilette, Cactus Rose, Myrna Bookbottom and Traci Torpedoes. There are others you can unlock as the game goes on, to add to the mayhem.

There is a multiplayer option, but in "Freaky Flyers" the single player "Adventure" option rules.

Pick a pilot and get ready for a wild trip. You face off with an intrepid group of console-controlled opponents in three-lap races that take you around a series of theme courses, including my personal favorite, a run through the Wild West.

Each of the dozen tracks provides a ton of things to do -- power-ups to collect, targets to shoot, multiple routes to the finish line. There's also some minigames to keep you busy.

The interesting thing, I thought, is that almost everything except finishing is optional. You don't have to shoot the targets, you don't have to collect whatever is out there for collecting; just flying as fast as you can will work fine.

Usually, finishing in the top three will unlock the next track in the series, although you can go back and race any track you've completed to see if you can better your scores.

If you insist on finishing the goals inside each race, the odds are you won't be able to win -- or even finish high enough to move on.

For a racing game, the racing is decidedly lethargic. There's very little feeling of speed, and your opponents are generally just little dots scattered all over the heavens. You do get to shoot at the other pilots, and they're shooting back, which raises the entertainment value.

To add to the fun, you can fly wherever you want within the boundaries of the course. There are always alternative paths in each course, and some of those lead to other branches, with suitable obstacles and rewards along the way.

Graphics get a B. The cartoony, colorfully exaggerated characters and courses make you smile. The backgrounds are loaded with things that are fun to watch, such as people and animals doing strange things.

Sound gets a B. I love the smart-aleck cracks from the pilots; the voice acting is excellent. The music is equally loony and sidesplitting; listen closely to the lyrics of some of the songs for an idea of the creativity that went into this title.

Control gets another B. The planes are easy to handle, and the controls are logically laid out and a snap to learn.

"Freaky Flyers" has some flaws, but it gets a B for being a ton of fun to play, with enough hidden stuff, mini-games and alternative routes to provide hours of replay value.