Chocobo gp ps1 full#
Chocobo gp ps1 series#

The fact that Chocobo GP has voice-acting veterans like Christina Vee, Crispin Freeman, and Steve Blum, is the cherry on top. It brings me back to an era where racers owned their silliness in an unapologetic fashion. There are a few clone abilities, and no, it’s not all balanced but the sheer amount of variance and personality shoved into these is impressive, not to mention the ability to alter your vehicle for balance, speed, or grip.

Chocobo gp ps1 full#

We’ve already talked about the starter racer kits, but as you progress you’ll unlock more nuanced powers like a per-button-press boost (which allows full control), a fire wall that can be strategically placed (Ifrit), or a spell that can be changed each time you use it via button combinations (Vivi). Throughout each race you have an MP meter of sorts, which lets you trigger a special ability when it fills up. Where the game really shines - and where development should have drilled more into - is the racers themselves. While a few of these ideas are exciting, you are going to be spending a lot of time going through the motions that were created decades ago by its forefathers of racing. In other words, you can potentially stack boost items if you’re ahead, which is an interesting way to handle an otherwise rote and rubber-bandy/RNG item system.Ĭhocobo GP follows the mantra of one step forward, one step back. The latter has a slight strategic tint, as different item boxes (eggs) can either provide you with a random type of magic, or the same type you already have queued up. You have the starting countdown boost, drift with multiple levels of color-coded spark boosts, and items (magicite). The core racing engine is going to be very familiar. Seeing nostalgic designs and characters pop in is a treat that Final Fantasy fanatics will get more out of than anyone else. Races are bookended by cutscenes, which can sometimes stretch their justification for existing (including some really static, very basic setups), or provide welcome comic relief between challenges. A custom mode further lets you alter kart speed, toggle abilities, swap bot difficulty settings or turn them off, toggle a random course option, or queue up the number of races for a flexible cup.Īfter a quick tutorial, you’ll kick off the story and the very light conceit of “racing to win a magic wish” which is like a cute take on Twisted Metal.

Overall I wish the tracks took bigger risks (no racer has topped Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing on this front), but the power to do “short” variations of courses is a nice touch. Some of the early ones are a bit uninspired, but as you progress and unlock more, it opens up from a design perspective. The visuals are hard to convey through stills, but in motion, a lot of the starker elements come to life. I’ll get to the character abilities soon, as they’re the heart and soul of the game. The titular Chocobo is on skates and can boost, Shirma the white mage puts up a defensive barrier, which is crucial in some races, and Ben the Behemoth (ha) rushes towards opponents and knocks them around. You’ll start with a roster of three, then work your way up from there. Chocobo GP‘s story provides the old school rush of unlocking more content, from tracks to racers, through normal progression.

So many kart racers lack a proper story mode, and ones that do historically include them are rare: especially today. Online wasn’t available to us, so we couldn’t try out GPs, but backing up a bit, the latter mode is the most important part for a lot of people, myself included.

Chocobo gp ps1 series#

Chocobo GP (online 64-person staggered races), seasonal unlocks, multiplayer, time attack, an in-game shop (more on that later), time attack, series races (rank number one across four races), a custom mode, and a story campaign (crucial), with most modes support two-player split-screen. Chocobo GP is almost there in terms of making a similar splash, but it falls into some very familiar classic traps, and one modern one. I mean, it was always relevant to me! I was that guy playing CTR in between Mario Kart runs looking for something different, and I maintain that Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is still the actual king of karts. Man it’s been a long time since Chocobo Racing was relevant to the world at large.