Gadget Racers (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

While it's almost unheard of in Europe, Gadget Racers (released in the U.S. as Penny Racers) brings with it a wealth of racing heritage that has inspired a cult following in Japan for over two decades. The Japanese Choro Q series is best described as a 'super-deformed automobile game' and developers Takara clearly feel that the rest of the world is ready to race these miniature marvels around all manner of courses over land, sea and air. While the GBA market has more than enough racers coving all game designs (top-down, mode-7, 3D, etc) most of these have a Western bias, but with all things Japanese being fully embraced by the gaming community there may just be a space in every serious handheld racing fan?s collection for ZOO's latest release.

Gameplay

While there are over 60 courses in Gadget Racers they can actually be boiled down to three basic gaming modes: racing, mission and battle. These aren't all available initially and you're encouraged to enter a variety of cups and competitions in order to unlock them. Racing is probably the most self-explanatory and can either be played as a league (with points given after each race) or a series of races. Battle mode is similar, only the rules are put to one side as you try to gain pole position using a handful of dirty tricks including missiles, bombs and short cuts. Probably the most interesting of the three though is the Mission section where you?ll encounter some weird and wonderful scenarios. Examples include powering your car by 'boost pads' alone and the wonderful 'darts' game which challenges you to land as close to the bulls eye as possible after launching your car into the air.

One rather surprising aspect of customizing your vehicle is that it actually makes a difference which, while it may seem obvious to the average gamer, is not always true of racing titles. For example tracks that are water logged or snow covered are almost impossible to navigate without the correct tires. Some essentials are available from the beginning including the ability to drive, fly or power through water whilst other enhancements have to be purchased. This is achieved by wining races with better placing equaling greater prize money. Not all of the parts are available initially; indeed they appear to arrive in a very random manner although you'll generally find something you can use for any given scenario. Multiplayer fans (or gamers with friends) are also accommodated with a handful of modes. Unfortunately we didn't have the extra copy of the game required to sample these as each gamer requires their own cart. To be fair it's one of the only true drawbacks in this title but if Nintendo can do it with Mario Kart, surely everyone else can.

Controls

Actually driving your chosen mode of transport is as you might expect although there's no way to reverse which is very frustrating on the coin collecting missions when you accidentally drive past one. Nor is there any ability to power slide and while you have to remember that these are radio-controlled cars, the omission of features that we have become used to in GBA racers becomes a little infuriating. The menu systems in Gadget Racers are plentiful to say the least and selecting one of the many gaming modes is very intuitive. I can't really stress just how important this is but spend any time at all with this game and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Graphics

While there's no obvious sense of scale throughout the game you always get the feeling that you are in a miniature world. This is thanks in part to the wonderful vehicle models, which are chunky and bright while utilizing the kind of physics and design principles that could only exist in a game of this nature. The tracks are also well designed and conceived with the developers using a multitude of visual tricks to avoid the environment appearing like every other 'mode-7' racer. Just as impressive are the various menu systems, which are both informative and visually pleasing. There are a great many of these, which means the selection stage is user-friendly rather than confusing and frustrating. This is important given that in some cups you must change your vehicle?s complete geometry from one race to another and the whole process is relatively painless.

Sound

To be honest I actually had to turn my GBA back on to remind me of the game?s audio which is not something I can ever recall having to do before. What this means is one of two things either the music and sound effects are so bland I can't actually remember them or they're subtle, well crafted and, most importantly, enhance the gameplay. Fortunately the latter is true. Best described as gentle Japanese pop the various soundtracks play throughout the game although they appear to be somewhat random with no obvious connection to your current track. The sound effects are 'cartoon'-like with engines noises, tires and explosions suiting the on screen visuals perfectly.

Final comments

While Gadget Racers is highly entertaining with a generous number of tracks and features, it's simply not Mario Kart and as the GBA passes its latest birthday it's clear that the Nintendo classic is very unlikely to ever be improved upon. This comparison may not be entirely fair though as Gadget Racers does feature a number of mission sections with customizable vehicles which goes someway to separating it from the racing classic. In the end though it's all down to personal preference with Gadget Racers joining a genre on the GBA that has been serviced by almost every franchise available. Its other problem is that not many people are aware of the Japanese Choro Q series in the West. Overall though what we have here is an enjoyable racer so if you happen to be one of the few GBA owners who don't own Mario Kart you can't go far wrong with this game.

Pro: Loads of Races
Con: It's Not Mario Kart (Obviously)
Final score: 8.5

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