ChoroQ

"A simple, cute adventure for the casual racer."

I'm a hardcore gamer, but I'm not much into racing games. I've played the Kart games and Cruisin' USA, etc, but after awhile it just seemed to be more and more of the same. Why buy a new racing game when you've already got a game with all the same features?

Then I saw ChoroQ for $9. It had a cutesy cartoon look to it, and I thought that it was worth the risk to see if this game was anything different. Boy am I glad I did.

In ChoroQ, you are a car, and you live in a town with other cars. Cars have names and personalities, get in arguments, go to school, and of course, dream of becoming racers in the grand prix. You start of as a simple car with terrible parts, but as you earn money you can earn money to purchase new parts like engines, wheels, bumpers, and more. Different pieces will affect your performance in different ways, and from what I have seen, there isn't really an "optimum" setup.

There are also around 250 bodies for you to collect and use, which are the primary factors in determining how you look. You can choose to be a truck, a van, a bug, a bus...I don't know much about cars, but I'm sure that if it exists, you can drive it. You can then fully customize the color of your body and your wheels; if you pay enough, each vehicle also has a special paint job that is unique to it. The best part about the bodies is that they don't affect your performance at all, so even if you want to drive a fire truck you can still race like a champ.

There are plenty of tracks to race on, and lots of different levels of races, too. Some races are always open, while some are more seasonal; as time passes (there is a calendar system that loops forever) certain specialty races will open and close. Some will require you to only use certain parts, like an engine of a specific quality or less, in order to participate. Additionally, depending on the track and the weather, you will want to adjust your parts; usually this will just mean changing from normal tires to off-road tires, which will make you look like a monster truck, but there are items like pop-out skis and propellers to help your performance when you're going to be driving in snow or water as well.

You get money no matter what place you get in a race, but you get more for being in the top 3. In addition, every specific race has a unique car body that you can win the first time you get first place! Some of them are very cool and some are very wacky.

However, you'll be doing a lot more than just racing and building your car(or, I guess, building yourself, since you ARE the car). You'll also be driving through towns and advancing the plot(!) of the game. Sometimes cars will want to offer you part-time jobs which you will be rewarded for, like delivering papers or rescuing cars that are trapped somewhere. Sometimes cars will just give you items, which eventually you will be able to combine with other items to make some pretty neat parts for your car. There are lots of mini-games, too; fishing comes to mind, and there's a miniature car racing game (imagine that, cars playing with small cars!). My favorite so far has been being in a haunted house while you run away from zombie cars. Of course, some of these cars will also want to race you as well!

Little by little, you will advance the plot, usually by going somewhere after getting an email telling you to go there. You'll see cut scenes, which can actually be very interesting. Each car, believe it or not, has its own personality. You'll make friends and enemies as you go. Eventually you'll be able to join a team and enter the coveted Grand Prix!

I haven't beat the game yet, but things change a bit in the Grand Prix, and that's probably worth mentioning. In the Grand Prix, not only are you doing more laps, but you will have to worry about the condition of your chassis and your wheels, which will gradually wear down depending on how you drive. When they are damaged to certain points there performance will drop, and it will be up to you to decide whether you want to take the extra time to get repairs at the finish line between laps. Additionally, you will be racing with a team over a series of tracks (as opposed to a normal race which just involves one track). Your team accumulates points determined by how well they perform, and then the team with the most points wins. I can't tell you what happens when you win yet, though, since I haven't myself.

The only obnoxious part about the Grand Prix is that EVERY time you pass or get passed by a car, they will make a comment. These comments block part of your screen, so until you know the tracks pretty well it can be kind of hard to tell where you're going. Over time, though, I think you'll get used to it.

So, that's pretty much the gameplay. The controls are nice and responsive, as you would expect them to be. Of course, the way you control your car depends on the parts you give it; for example, there are parts that make steering tighter or looser. I haven't had any trouble with the controls, though. You can also choose between two different camera views from behind your car and a single view from the front of your car.

The sound is good. It's a lot of car noises, of course, and that's to be expected. The music is upbeat and playful most of the time, and you can even earn CD's to play in your CD player so that you can listen to any song you want when you race. Nothing amazing, but nothing to complain about either.

The graphics will probably turn some people off. I personally love them; they're very simple. Every car is deformed in a cute way, so that most of them can almost fit in a cube. It's not realistic in the least, and quite a few of the race tracks are a bit goofy too, which gives the game a sort of carefree atmosphere. I think that the graphics lend themselves well to those who aren't obsessed with cars, giving them an easy transition into a car-filled world. However, a real car fanatic may want a game that looks more realistic. No idea. :)

The only real problem that I've seen with the game is that in a very few parts the dialogue between you and another car will cut off early, leaving you unable to see the rest of their message. However, this is always during unimportant small talk, and you can almost always guess how they would have ended their sentences. I didn't find this to be a problem.

Also, the dialogue is a bit quirky. Cars don't have much of a problem jumping from one topic to the next. I can't tell if that's because these cars are supposed to be kind of cute and crazy, or if it's because the translation from Japanese is a bit weird. Probably a bit of both. Anyway, I wasn't bothered by this, and actually just feel like it made the game feel more goofy and fun.

Overall, I give this game a big thumbs up. Besides the messages that pop up in the Grand Prix I can't think of a single thing wrong with it. I found it new for less than 10 bucks, so the price is definitely right, too. If you don't usually play racing games and are looking for a new experience, or if you like racing games and want something that breaks the mold a bit, I would definitely recommend that you try this game. If you can find it new, you may as well buy it, since it doesn't cost much more than a rental. Trust me, give ChoroQ a chance! You won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/06