Car Battler Joe

"Speed Racer meets Pokémon!"

Car Battler Joe! is one of those games that is getting overlooked by almost everyone. It's quite a shame, too. See, this is one of the more interesting games around...on any platform.

In Japan, the game is called Car Battler Go!. The name change wasn't nessicary but it's still there. When you first start the game, you find out that this game features a very Speed Racer-esque story line. Your father is the best Car Battler in the world but soon after winning the Nationals, he mysteriously dissapeared...On your 16th birthday, your mother gives you a gift and informs you that your go-kart is, in fact, a Gun Car. Yay for you! She also tells you a bunch of unnessicary crap. You get the idea - it's an RPG.

Well, the battle system is like a cross between that of Mario Kart's Battle Mode and Twisted Metal. Very interesting indeed.

Graphics: 7
The artwork is very chibi and adds to the game's flavor. The story mode graphics are crisp and pretty detailed. The battle graphics are sort of like a higher-angled camera in Mario Kart with a little lower quality in the arenas. Overall, it's pretty good.

Sound: 7
The music reminds me of a cross between that found in the old Speed Racer shows and chase scene music from bad 70's car movies. It's definatly a welcome addition to the game. The sound effects are somewhat bland but they fit for this cheesy sort of anime-styled game.

Gameplay: 10
As described above, the gameplay is quite unique. It really has to be played in order to fully understand what's going on but, I'll try to explain it. Take Pokémon's RPG and collection aspects and mix it with the battle system of Mario Kart Battle Mode and add super moves like that of a fighting game. If you can picture that, you've just pictured Car Battler Joe! After the initial novelty of the game, there's even more as you have an ongoing rivalry with some punk and you continue to pick up new jobs from town to town. In addition to doing the optional jobs, you can level up your character, your garage, and even a small, upstart city just North of your village. Of course, leveling up your garage and city isn't an easy task as you'll need to scour the wastelands for parts and other nessecities to complete an upgrade.

Replayability/Rent or Buy: 9
As I said above, this game has it all. It's $19.99 price tag makes it well worth the money spent. The overall originality at least to us Americans and the easy to live with price tag make this game a definate buy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/02, Updated 11/07/02