Whatever you think of the new Speed Racer movie, one thing is for sure. It makes a lot of noise and has many bright flashes that are reminiscent of a video game which made the transition to the video-game medium a smooth one. And, for all the pandering and goings-on of how movie tie-in video games are always stinkers, we have a rare title here that manages to capture the frenetic pacing of an otherwise silly movie (with cool visuals) and the flashy excitement of racing a car in physics-defying situations.

Like other racing games for the Wii, Speed Racer has you looking from a fixed third-person perspective that has you rocketing around a series of really, really (really!) fast moving and incredibly dangerous tracks. Loops, corkscrews, ramps and speed boosts are par for the course as you race one of the many vehicles featured in the movie through a series of tournaments and part of a larger points system. Racing through these courses takes more than skill behind the wheel; the game has incorporated an ally system where you can assist and be assisted by other drivers for the greater good. Allies will run interference and engage in the aptly titled “car-fu” a series of attacks and jumps designed to attack and defend other cars.

What the game does here is sucessfully removes any of the silliness and otherwise “stupid” aspects of and focuses solely on the action. I don’t think there is any question that the game has flash and style, the graphics do a fine job of capturing the look and feel of the movie. Bright colors, 300+ mph racing, lighting effects and some serious course design all surprised me when I first started playing because, quite frankly, I did not have high hopes for this title. As you move up through the racing standings and the courses become larger and more treacherous, you understand that the game has come to play for real. Additionally once four speed boosts (you collect them on the tracks) are activated simultaneously, the screen becomes lit up in a mixture of lights and hyperspace graphics straight out of Star Wars.

The soundtrack has a certain beat to it that fits the game nicely but could be ramped up a tad. Sound effects and character voices complement the in-game noises of cars smashing and engines humming. The only thing missing is the high octane “Speed Racer” theme that I can’t recall ever hearing. Regardless, the game sounds pretty darn good and I couldn’t help but think that the Wii needs to figure out a way to get a digital-out cable so we can start hearing these games in 5.1 surround sound. Up until now, I was Ok with it on all other Wii games (except Zelda) and now I really think the game system needs to be outfitted with surround capabilities.

Interestingly enough, the game seems to find itself in a different place with all the high-octane action racing, I think that the game handles the A.I. issues both well and not so well. Sadly, there is an auto catch-up function that makes all races closer then they should be. Often times, you may smack the first place racer and put him into the wall in a spin and then hit several boosts concurrently only to finish the game .092 seconds faster than that same racer. In that sense, you wish real-world physics would occur and you whup all racers massively, but as soon as you think that the game is suffering, you find yourself in a neck-and-neck situation where you take the lead in the last 20 feet of the race and only doing so by cunning driving and some luck. The game is funny that way.

Thanks to some clever level design, and the way you hold the Wii-mote (with or without the steering-wheel attachment) you find yourself leaning with the turns and banks, the race courses are clearly designed to handle the 349 mph you sometimes find yourself racing at. I was reminded of the racing game XG III where the motorcycles break the sound barrier; you never quite reach that speed, but the thought is the same because the courses are designed for extreme speeds and they provide a certain feel to racing games that sometimes are lacking in spirit and feel.