Here's something slightly unexpected — a new fan recreation of High Voltage Software and LEGO Media's cult classic '90s racing game, LEGO Racers, has just been released, giving players a chance to play through the game on PC (Windows, Linux, Mac), mobile (Android), and in-browser, with cut content from the original.

The recreation, titled Step On It: LEGO Racers, was released on itch.io a few days ago and sees the nostalgic racer being rebuilt in a brand-new engine with online multiplayer, 4-player split-screen, new tracks ("ported from an old Rocket Racers LEGO Arcade game from LEGOLAND Windsor"), and restored shortcuts previously left on the cutting room floor.

It was made possible by isledecomp’s decompilation work and is the work of LEGO fan Navigator Sharp, who emailed Time Extension yesterday to share a bit more about the project.

"I grew up playing LEGO Racers with my brothers," Navigator Sharp told me, discussing their reasons for taking on the project. "We all drove around Knightmare-A-Thon searching for shortcuts that we felt HAD to be there, and when I learned that there were actually pieces of code left behind on the cutting room floor, it became too tantalising a project not to take on."

Speaking about the obstacles they faced trying to recreate the 27-year-old game for modern platforms, they told me, "The biggest challenge was going from decompilation to a greenfield-style engine rebuild where you have to understand what all the variables do.

"I could give some specific code examples, but when you don’t have the original source code, the original comments and variable names are stripped and not recoverable (they have names like g_unk0x004b08c0, etc., before their usage/function is identified. Part of my process was unwinding the core driving/physics simulation and replicating it in more modern C++"

According to a tag on the itch.io page, "no generative AI was used" on the project, but speaking to the creator revealed a slightly more nuanced picture, with the developer stating it had been used "mainly in peripheral ways", though they would "not characterise this as a GenAI-driven project":

"I specifically did not want to upscale the core assets or make any changes to the core gameplay that would negatively impact the charm of it," they told me. "However, I know it was used in the fan decompilation, which was a crucial resource for me. (I myself was not involved in the original decompilation)."

Released in 1999 for Windows, N64, and Sony PlayStation (a separate Game Boy Color game was also produced that same year), LEGO Racers' reviews pretty much ran the gamut at launch, with two high-scoring reviews coming courtesy of the Ziff Davis-owned publication FamilyPC and ShinnoMedia's GameFan, which gave the PC version 91% and 88%, respectively.

At the time, GameFan described it as a "great kids' game, which will appeal to a lot of adults as well," highlighting the lack of "off-the-wall violence or bad language" to "spoil you or your kids' enjoyment of the game." After its release, the game was successful enough to warrant a sequel, LEGO Racers 2, which launched in 2001 on Windows and PS2, and in the years since, has gone on to develop a cult fanbase, with Alex Donaldson (now of Respec.Net) describing the game "a multiplatform delight" in a retrospective feature for VG247 about LEGO's early, experimental years in gaming.

Inevitably, given Navigator Sharp doesn't own the rights to LEGO Racers, there's a possibility that LEGO may move to take down the project. To this, they told me, "I am not too worried about it, but I, of course, would comply with any takedown notice from LEGO if it happened. LEGO has a very generous Fair Play policy, which has allowed similar projects like the Manic Miners game (A remake of the PC game LEGO Rock Raiders) to survive due to not using the LEGO name. I think there would be a much greater chance of a problem if this was a project based around some other IP, like Star Wars, for example. However, if it gets taken down, it was nice while it lasted!"