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Wai Wai Racing Advance aka Konami Krazy Racers - 2001 - Nintendo Gameboy Advance (World)

I've only had a quick play of the rom of this - the game won't be released in America until the 12th, and in Europe until the 22nd of June - from what I've seen, Konami Krazy Racers will be a must-have launch title, at least for anyone remotely interested in Konami games. Basically, this is a Mario Kart derived comic racer, except filled with characters from Konami's classic franchises including, of course, Twinbee - for the record there's also stuff taken from Castlevania, Metal Gear, Pop'n Music, Parodius, Gradius and Goemon...as well as (in all likelihood) hidden stuff that I haven't seen yet.

 

Twinbee-wise, Pastel is one of the standard playable drivers. There's also a couple of Twinbee themed courses to race around, though i've only seen the first one. You can see bits of it from the shots I've taken, but the track is set against a backdrop of floating islands and waterfalls, with those familiar, smiley clouds floating around and shooting lightning bolts. And there's a little picture of Twinbee (looking rather like Winbee, if you ask me) that you can drive over. In Grand Prix mode, on every track, there are bells to collect which give a range of powerups - and we know where they come from, of course. There may well be a Twinbee themed special weapon to collect, it's just that I haven't seen one yet. I haven't had a chance to hear the music either, but the GBA has good music capabilities, and I'd have thought there's every reason to expect a nice sounding Twinbee tune. I should also add the the game looks a lot better in motion than these pictures might suggest.

 

Until I get the genuine game in a fortnight's time, there's not really much I can add. By all accounts, the English language releases will be left completely intact - despite fears that Wai Wai Racing would be considered too 'Japanese' for a world audience. If this is true, then it's great news. It's also nice to see Konami are still prepared to celebrate their comical franchises - perhaps we can still hope for further games like Twinbee and Parodius - you never know, this game might just help revive interest in the series.

 

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