There are many building blocks of life.  There's the physical building block, which allows humans, animals and other living organisms to continue living as a species.  There's the mental building block, which enables humans and animals to learn to do new things and grow as a species.  Then there are the LEGO building blocks, which give our kids a reason to be creative, have lots of fun and learn something without even knowing it.

Like an Eggo waffle fresh from the toaster, a new video game based on the world's greatest building block is just too good to lego.  That's why the LEGO corporation has branched out into the gaming industry.  Although many adults are closet LEGO collectors (some even still "play" with them!), the primary audience is kids.  For that reason it seems logical that the LEGO video games would be geared at children.

The latest in their series of releases is a racing game titled Drome Racers.  Drome Racers is based on the new LEGO Racers construction toy range.  They're high-tech, have a more realistic design, and, after being built, some of them can be driven using a radio controlled remote!  I may not be a kid anymore, but those Drome cars sure are tempting...

Drome Racers starts things off with some cool (but somewhat choppy) CG movie clips.  Then it's off to the car and racer selection screen, where you'll be forced to endure several stories explaining why you should fear the competition.  You can skip most of them, and most players – especially kids, who sometimes have less patience than adults – will do so without thinking twice.  It's up to the in-game racers to strike fear in you on the track.  Threats and counter-pep talks do no such thing.

The load times are a tad too long, but within a minute or two you'll be on the track and ready to race.  Three, two, one...GO!  Uhh, wait a minute.  Where did all of my opponents go?  (Checks rear-view mirror.)  Oh, they're behind me.  That makes sense though, because I can't think of a racing game that could defeat my hardcore skills in the first race.  Certainly the second race will be more challenging.

Or maybe the sixth race will be.  Yes, definitely the sixth!

The tenth?  The twentieth?

What you inevitably discover in Drome Racers is that the challenge never takes off.  The computer constantly tells you why you should always be on your toes, and why you should fear the competition, which will crush you like a bug.  But do you ever lose?  Maybe you will – maybe someone who has never played a video game before in their life will.  But I didn't.

With the game's difficulty clarified, that leaves one important aspect: the gameplay.  It's easy, but as we all know, a lack of challenge does not have to equal a lack of fun.  The opposite is true as well.  The thing is, Drome Racers would have come up short regardless of the difficulty.  The developers could've made it tougher, but that would have made the experience last longer, and as much as I hate to say this, that's not something that anyone would want to do.

Every course has a rather generic layout.  There is one cool tunnel with some spinning lights, but my appreciation for it is only because it reminded me of Delta Dream Flight, a classic (but no longer running) ride at Walt Disney World.  There are canyons and cities and a few other familiar settings that do nothing to excite the player.

Giving the developers the benefit of the doubt, it is true that a game doesn't have to be fresh to be fun.  But it's not just the basic courses that hinder the game.  You also have to consider the controls, which, depending on how you look at it, may come across as being sluggish.  At the very least you won't be able to remove the thought from your mind that there is definitely something wrong with the controls.  It's hard to put a finger on exactly what the problem is; personally I wouldn't call them sluggish, but smooth, precise, and accurate – words used to describe the controls of other racing games – cannot be used here.

Drome Racers is geared at kids, but as any hardcore gamer will tell you, everyone wants the same thing: quality.  Age has no bearing on that.  Drome Racers fails to live up to LEGO’s high-quality standards.  The wonderful blocks still hold a special place in my heart, so I can understand if you want everything you own to bear the LEGO brand name.  But get your racing game fix elsewhere.  This is a bearable rental for the most extreme LEGO fanatics, but it is not at all worth buying.

Gameplay: 5.8
Drome Racers isn't exactly a "dud" racer, but it fails to live up to expectations.  It's overflowing with familiar racing game elements, and none of them are executed in a way that gives the game long-lasting appeal.  The controls aren't right, the tracks lack excitement, and the difficulty is nearly nonexistent.

Graphics: 6
Drome Racers' graphics will make you think of someone who eats at an old diner and always orders "the usual."  Dated fire effects, bland colors and washed out backgrounds, etc., are the only thing you're going to get.

Sound: 6

Difficulty: Easy
Computer advice: "You're gonna lose!  You'll never win!"  That's not an actual quote, but should give you an idea of what to expect.  Then the race begins and you go and kick the computer's butt.  Is there are a part of that that makes sense?

Kids are better at games than developers give them credit for.  Game developers should always remember that a game does not have to be childish or geared at a younger audience to entertain children.  But if a game is geared at children it is less likely to entertain adults.

Concept: 3.9
A collection of typical racing game-isms: city courses, force field power-ups, and computer opponents who think they're the greatest racers in the world.  Oh, and the cars are made of LEGO.

Multiplayer: 5
If a game isn't much fun to play by yourself, that doesn't give the multiplayer a good outlook.  Upon further inspection (an actual play test) you'll see that the outlook was correct.

Overall: 5.5
LEGO has had some cool games over the years.  This isn't one of them.  Drome Racers does little to encourage the player to return.  It's not a total failure or anything along those lines, but if that's the only compliment the game can get, that should give you an idea of what you're in for if you choose to buy it.  However, I can recommend a lot of different kinds of games to a lot of different kinds of people.  Drome Racers is fairly cheap at some retailers, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.  If you rarely play them or have never played a game before in your life, then it's worth looking into.  But believe me, there are much better ways to start your video game collection.