Chocobo Racing

"A cool kart racer but lacks difficulty"

Ever since Super Mario Kart, kart racing seems to be a quick way for companies to earn some quick cash. And now we have Squaresoft jump on the bandwagon with this offering featuring everyone's favorite mascot - chocobo! Chocobo's Racing consists of the usual kart game offering - Grand Prix mode, VS mode, Time Attack mode but offers also some unique options such as story mode and Relay race. Now, Crash Team Racing has shown that excellent quality kart racers CAN be made and can Squaresoft match the standard?

GAMEPLAY

The story of the game is fairly bog-standard. It's your collect your crystals to unlock the ultimate prize kind of stuff. However, the story is told in a somewhat unique story-book format (you see the page turn one by one with accompanying dialogue by the game's characters.

Of course every kart racer has power-ups you can use to gain advantage over the opposition and Chocobo Racing is no different. But what is cool is that Squaresoft has managed to relate the power-ups to RPG style. You are able to cast all varying magics each with different levels of strength - Think Fire/Fira/Firaga by collecting 1/2/3 fire items of the same type and then fire them!

Controls are surprisingly simple and easy to understand in a short while. This means that anyone can get into the game relatively quickly.

The difficulty is very disappointing in Story Mode. It is extremely easy to get through to the final boss. Select Chocobo each time with the dash ability and you've more or less won. ONLY the final area of the game provides any difficulty at all which simply isn't enough. However, there are loads of multiple characters you can unlock as well as 2 tracks not available at the start of the game.

GRAPHICS

These are actually very nice and fits in with the light-heartedness of the entire game well. However, you do occasionally see cracks in the race track itself but when you're enjoying an intense race, it can go by unnoticed. So don't worry about it.

MUSIC/SOUNDS

If you're familiar with Square's other games, you will be able to recognize some classic Squaresoft tunes in the game. Most definitely the chocobo theme! The mixes of these classic tunes are well executed and aren't spoiled in whatever way. The ending music and song are a must to listen to as well.

REPLAYABILITY

There are many secret characters in Chocbo Racing that this itself gives an incentive for you to play through the story mode again. And the fact that you can customize characters to meet your needs can mean you can have fun with character building too. This game is only for two players which is disappointing to say the least and the lack of a battle mode creates the same feeling too. But put that aside and you should have an enjoyable experience with a friend. The story mode is FAR TOO EASY (aside from the final stage) so playing against a friend is the ultimate way to go - after all secrets are unlocked of course.

RENT OR BUY

If you're after a challenge, this isn't the game. But this game is fun nevertheless and chocobo fans out there may enjoy playing their favorite mascot ever since the racing debut in the much acclaimed Final Fantasy VII. I suggest you rent the game first and find out whether it's for you or not.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/01, Updated 09/13/01