"The Mach-5 is the most complex and ingenious car ever built, a tribute to my father's imagination, genius, and technical skill!" -- Speed RacerJapan's Mach GoGoGo [retitled Speed Racer outside Japan] anime gained cultish popularity in the 1960s. We recall nostalgically Speed Racer's fight against a bizarre rogues' gallery of villains--villains with creepy names like Ace Deucey, Mr. Fixer, and Tongue Blaggard. Each episode brought complex family dynamics; Dadaist, oneiric race tracks; comedy and tragedy; and virtuousness. Speed Racer's courage was as important as his Mach-5 in attaining victory. Given the anime's popularity, an official Speed Racer computer game seems bound for success.
Unfortunately, Accolade botched the blockbuster license so badly with The Challenge of Racer X that it is not surprising the game quickly disappeared from store shelves. For starters, Speed Racer's car is ridiculously easy to drive-- there is no friction, no inertia that will convince you that you're driving a car and not a feather. The tracks are boring, and there is little variation to spice up the races.
The only thing that saves the game from a Real Dog award is the inclusion of Mach-5's capabilities that anime fans will be familiar with: there's "autojack," for jumping; "belt tires," for traction; "chopper," for cutting [when selected, you see twin rotary saws extend from the Mach-5's front], and more. These are fun to try out, but after a while you will discover that they add little to the game except as a diversion to gameplay.
Overall, a lackluster racing game that only die-hard fans of the anime will likely enjoy. Strip away the license, and there is little content underneath the silver chrome.
Review By HOTUD
English 
Comments and reviews
Hi everyone!
I recently reverse engineered the OBJECTS.BIN* resource files used by Speed Racer: The Challenge of Racer X and created a modern editor for them.
The editor allows you to:
View every sprite stored in OBJECTS1.BIN, OBJECTS2.BIN and OBJECTS3.BIN
Automatically detect sprite boundaries
Edit sprites with a built-in pixel editor
Import and export PNG images
Work with the original 256-color palette
Zoom, grid and eyedropper tools
Automatically create backups before saving
English and Portuguese interface
Windows executable available
The project is completely open source, and the first public release is already available on GitHub.
Repository:
https://github.com/fqsguitar/speed-racer-resource-editor
If anyone is interested in creating mods, improving graphics, documenting the game's file formats, or preserving this classic, I hope this tool is useful.
If you find bugs or have ideas for new features, feel free to open an issue or contribute.
Enjoy!
Manual and Mach V specification booklet:
archive.org/details/@mazterxp
If you need any password, just search for "Speed Racer in The Challenge of Racer X manual" on DuckDuckGo. I found a spanish one or so.
Well I liked it as a kid. :P
thank you
go speed racer, GOOOO!!!!
I like this game is change my mide
i love this game pleases on this game
U can play ... just enter any character into where it asks using a manual ... anything works ...
i do a capital C
how to install it
guys you can run it with dos box but way of need the manual for the full vercion if someone get it please tell
I wanted bad
so could play
can't play
hahahaha
is saw a video it was great
i like it
It's a strange game...
Nice, colorful graphics...but no perspective at all. Cars don't fit on the road!
Played for hours!
3 out of 5!
Obvious F-Zero knockoff.
there is a manual??
oh god yes, i though this disappeared
This game is the best.
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.