This game was not only one of my favorites for the N64 (along with Rogue Squadron), but my favorite racing game of all time. Besides being a Star Wars game, it was incredibly fast, required quick reflexes, had a great variety of track environments and pod types, and plenty of secrets to be discovered.
Like I said above, the game was incredibly fast compared to other racing games at the time, and demanded lightning quick course adjustments, especially in the later races, if you didn't want to crash into walls or fall off the course completely. At the time, my brother and I weren't the best at video games when we'd play with friends, but we could beat anyone at this one; most people we played against couldn't go more than 30 seconds without crashing. In fact, many racing games I'll play today almost seem a bit easy in comparison.
And what would a racing game be without courses to race on? Tracks spanned the whole Star Wars galaxy; from the flat deserts of Tatooine to the frigid mountains of Aldo Prime, and from the volcanic hazards of Baroonda to the 0 gravity tracks of Oovo IV. Some tracks were fairly straightforward and kept the playing field level (like the Mon Gazza Speedway's simple loop), while others like the invitational circuit's insanely difficult Abyss course on Ord Ibanna had multiple paths to the checkered flag. And most tracks had plenty of secret shortcuts for those who ventured of the beaten path.
The game also featured a wide range of pilots to play as. Some (like Sebulba) were unlocked by completing a set of races, and while there were some pods with poor stat distributions (like Boles Roor, all speed and nothing else), there was nothing wrong with the starting list; each had their own strengths and weaknesses (which could be mitigated with new parts from Watto bought with your winnings).
My personal preference, however was "Bullseye" Navior, whose pod had a great cooling stat (which allowed you stay in turbo for longer), great cornering ability and acceleration, and slimmer engines so you could see more of the track in front of you.
The game didn't have a plethora of cheat codes, but my favorite was one that allows you to control your pod with two controllers, using each of the joysticks to control one of the engines (similarly to how Anakin's is controlled in the movie and the arcade game).
Well enough from me! What did you guys think of the game?