Chocobo Racing

"Chickens in karts! Meals on wheels!"

Chocobo Racing is a solid addition from Square to the competitive genre of kart racing games. It isn't up to the lofty standards which have been set by Crash Team Racing and Mario Kart, but it still offers a lot of original ideas (some good, some otherwise) and a decent race.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay offered is some of the most original to date in a kart racer. There are a lot of new modes offered, many of them truly ingenious. It just makes you wonder why noone has thought of them before. Here's some of the modes.
Story Mode - You start off with the main character Chocobo, who's been given some rocket powered roller skates. During the story you meet various characters who you must race against and beat to progress in the game. The story turns out to be about making the world a better place and all that other righteous stuff. The whole layout is in the style of a pop-up book and looks remarkably cool.
Grand Prix - This is the bog standard mode. One or two players race around 4 tracks with various other opponents. At the end the racer with most points is victorious.
Relay Mode - This is my personal favourite. You choose three different racers and give them between one and three laps each. This mode is the most fun from all of them.
Memory Card - Players bring in the racers they've created and saved to a memory card to see whose frankenstein karter is the best.
At the completion of the story mode you'll be awarded one of ten secret players, all of which are well known characters from various Square games. These include Squall, Cloud, Aya from Parasite Eve, Cactrot and even the Highwind from FF6.
The tracks have been designed well, with a good range of difficulty. There's a good amount of twisting turns and high jumps to keep the player entertained for the whole race.
The power-ups in the game have a new feature borrowed from their RPGs. There are magic stones scattered around the track containing fire, ice etc. If you have one stone it may shoot Fire, two stones will release Fira, and three stones will unleash the powerful Firaga. This adds a certain element of strategy to the game and can mean the difference between first and last place.
The controls can be difficult to get used to, the square button is a strange place to put the accelerate and the steering will take a little while to get the hang of. Understeering around corners is common-place and the tougher tracks tend to be very frustrating.
Overall, the gameplay is some of the most original to be found in this genre. However, there are a few flaws stopping it from being up to the standards of rival kart racers.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are definitely up to standards, they're bright, vibrant and pleasing to look at. There is a decent frame rate and slow-down just doesn't come into the picture, pop-up is sparse and there is a great disappearing point.
The surroundings are well done. Softer colours like pink and light blues and greens are more often utilised and the overall look comes across as extremely non-threatening, the graphics would probably appeal more to a younger audience. There is a decent amount of detail to be found throughout the whole game, some of the backgrounds are truly beautiful and visually captivating.
The characters look look very nice, they're not exactly the most complicated bunch of racers you've ever seen, but they've been done well nonetheless. All of the spells look fantastic, in true Square style, they're always flashy and full of great special effects. They look so potent one couldn't be blamed for flinching whenever poor little Chocobo gets fried by a huge fireball.
The graphics as an overall package are almost top-notch. They're good enough to rival and perhaps outdo the top kart racers out at the moment. Their only real problem is the semi-childish look they contain which may lose a few supporters.

SOUND
The sound just couldn't maintain the high standard set by the visuals, the audio really lets the rest of the game down. All of the background tunes are the cheerful, boppy creations that everyone has come to expect. Unfortunately they can become very irritating in a hurry and you may find yourself just turning them off in a big hurry.
Sound effects aren't common enough, even though when they do decide to make a noise they sound pretty darned good. All of the attacks have accompanying effects and they sound just as good as they look, the karts make a quiet pleasant noise that doesn't hurt the ears, but there's just too little to warrant a higher score.
Overall, the sound just does too little. It doesn't add any character to the game which is sorely missed in the total package. Turning the sound off and putting on a CD of your choice is certain to improve your enjoyment of this game.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay offered is some of the most original to date in a kart racer. There are a lot of new modes offered, many of them truly ingenious. It just makes you wonder why noone has thought of them before. Here's some of the modes.
Story Mode - You start off with the main character Chocobo, who's been given some rocket powered roller skates. During the story you meet various characters who you must race against and beat to progress in the game. The story turns out to be about making the world a better place and all that other righteous stuff. The whole layout is in the style of a pop-up book and looks remarkably cool.
Grand Prix - This is the bog standard mode. One or two players race around 4 tracks with various other opponents. At the end the racer with most points is victorious.
Relay Mode - This is my personal favourite. You choose three different racers and give them between one and three laps each. This mode is the most fun from all of them.
Memory Card - Players bring in the racers they've created and saved to a memory card to see who's frankenstein karter is the best.
At the completion of the story mode you'll be awarded one of ten secret players, all of which are well known characters from various Square games. These include Squall, Cloud, Aya from Parasite Eve, Cactrot and even the Highwind from FF6.
The tracks have been designed well, with a good range of difficulty. There's a good amount of twisting turns and high jumps to keep the player entertained for the whole race.
The power-ups in the game have a new feature borrowed from their RPGs. There are magic stones scattered around the track containing fire, ice etc. If you have one stone it may shoot Fire, two stones will release Fira, and three stones will unleash the powerful Firaga. This adds a certain element of strategy to the game and can mean the difference between first and last place.
The controls can be difficult to get used to, the square button is a strange place to put the accelerate and the steering will take a little while to get the hang of. Understeering around corners is common-place and the tougher tracks tend to be very frustrating.
Overall, the gameplay is some of the most original to be found in this genre. However, there are a few flaws stopping it from being up to the standards of rival kart racers.

LIFESPAN
The lifespan of Chocobo Racing is a not a great one, despite the variety offered in the game. If you want all of the secret characters then Story Mode will have to completed ten times. That in itself is a great test of patience and time. All of the other modes may keep you playing for a while, but there's no outstanding feature to keep you hooked for a lengthy period of time. It'll just get to the stage where playing the game is more of a routine than an enjoyable experience. Eventually there'll simply be other games that'll hold your attention much better than this one will.

FUN FACTOR
The fun factor offered is dependant on your age. The older you are then the more ridiculous and pathetic you're likely to find Chocobo Racing. This is the type of game that the younger players go nuts about and spend every waking moment either playing or dreaming of playing. If you're wondering how much you'll enjoy the game go by this
8 Year Old - Can't get enough of this game. Loves it to bits and cant think of anything except for Chocobo Racing.
13 Year Old - Can't get over how much he can thrash his friends by. Plays moderately but only to keep in top form.
18 Year Old - Can't get why anyone ever bothered making this game. Has a cool drink coaster.

CHALLENGE
The challenge in this game is good, but only for the first two or three days. After this period of time most people will find the game ridiculously easy to win and just breeze through it. It's obvious this game was designed for the younger player, and they'll get a much bigger challenge from the game than anyone else.

OVERALL
Overall, while the originality can't be beat. The competition is just too heavy and too classy for this game to have much of an impact on the market. Crash Team Racing is just too good all round for this lightweight competitor.
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GOOD POINTS
- The perfect game for all of the young 'uns out there
- Some great new modes to try out
- It looks veeeeery pretty

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- The lifespan and difficulty aren't the best around
- The competition is just too good in comparism to this game
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GRAPHICS - 9/10
SOUND - 6/10
GAMEPLAY - 8/10
LIFESPAN - 7/10
FUN FACTOR - 8/10
CHALLENGE - 5/10
OVERALL - 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/20/00, Updated 09/10/01