Chocobo Racing

Gameplay

In Chocobo Racing, the player controls Final Fantasy characters, most of whom race in go-karts. Other characters fly, drive scooters, ride magic carpets, or run. Players have five different racing modes to choose from: Story Mode, Versus Mode, Grand Prix, Relay Race, and Time Attack. In the Story Mode, players are guided through the story of Chocobo Racing, which is narrated by Cid, in the form of a pop-up book. Completing the Story Mode unlocks secret character racers and allows players to create a custom racer of their own. In the Versus Mode, two players can race each other on a horizontally split screen. In Grand Prix (GP) Mode, the player races computer-controlled opponents in four selected tracks of their choice. In Relay Race Mode, the player chooses three racers to compete in a relay race. In Time Attack Mode, the player can select any stage and try to beat the fastest time record set there. There are a total of ten tracks, two of which have to be unlocked by playing the story mode: Cid's Test Track, Moogle Forest, The Ancient Gate, Mythril Mines, The Black Manor, Floating Gardens, Gingerbread Land, Vulcan-O Valley, Fantasia, and F.F.VIII Circuit.

While racing, the player can accelerate, brake, reverse, activate Magic Stones, or use a "special ability" using the game controller's analog stick and buttons. An additional move is the skid, which is executed by simultaneously braking and accelerating into a turn, can be used to take sharp turns quickly. If the player skids too sharply, however, a spin out will occur. Before the start of any race, the player's character can receive a speed boost by tapping the Accelerate button with precise timing during the countdown.

In Chocobo Racing, Magic Stones are scattered throughout each course, and can be picked up by the player by driving through them. Magic Stones can also be stolen from opponents by bumping into them from behind. The player can then activate the Magic Stone for some special effect. Activating a Haste Stone, for example, gives the character a short speed boost. Some Magic Stones stack, increasing in power if more than one of the same kind of stone is picked up by the player. Each stone is represented by a corresponding symbol on the racetrack, while stones marked with question marks grant the player a single kind of Magic Stone at random.

Special abilities are another aspect of Chocobo Racing. Before each race, the player is prompted to assign a special ability to the selected character. During a race, the player can only activate the chosen special ability when the meter in the upper left-hand corner of the screen is full. After using the special ability, the player must wait for the meter to recharge to use it again.

Plot

Setting

Chocobo Racing borrows themes and elements from Final Fantasy I to VIII. The Story Mode is narrated by Cid and includes nine chapters in a pop-up book fashion with FMVs. To progress, the player needs to defeat the chapter's respective challenger. Before each chapter begins, the player is given the option of viewing the story or skipping to the race except when playing the Story Mode for the first time.

Characters

The cast of Chocobo Racing is drawn from recurring creatures and characters from the Chocobo's Dungeon and Final Fantasy series. Eight characters -- Chocobo, Mog, Golem, Goblin, Black Magician, White Mage, Chubby Chocobo, and Behemoth—are immediately available, and additional, secret characters such as Cactuar, Bahamut, Cloud, Aya, and Squall may be unlocked after completing Story Mode.

Story

Chapter one, titled "Gadgets a go-go", begins with the inventor Cid presenting Chocobo with a pair of "Jet-Blades" and offers Chocobo a chance to take a test-run with them on the racetrack behind his lab. After the race, Mog the Moogle drops in and asks Cid about the progress of the racing machine he'd commissioned. Cid promises to bring the machine by tomorrow, but later confides to Chocobo he'd forgotten it. The next day, after presenting the doubtful Mog with his scooter, Chocobo and Mog race. After Chocobo wins, Mog confronts Cid over his vehicle's poor performance, but Cid replies that Chocobo won because of the differences in their abilities (i.e., Chocobo's "Dash"). He explains that the secret of Chocobo's "Dash" ability is the Blue Crystal on his leg-ring. Mog mulls over his inferior "Flap" ability and decides he wants a Blue Crystal as well, so Cid recommends that the two go on an adventure to find out the secret of the Blue Crystal.

The two head out to discover the secret behind the Blue Crystal, meeting (and racing) many along the way. When they reach Mysidia, the village of mages, a White Mage there notices that all the companions have Magicite, which the companions had previously referred to as "Blue Crystals". The companions want to know the legend behind the Magicite shards; the White Mage agrees to tell them on the condition that they race her in the Floating Gardens, with the story as the winner's prize. Upon winning, she tells them of the legend: "There are Magicite Shards scattered all over the world. It used to be one large Magicite Crystal...But people kept fighting each other over it. So the founder of Mysidia, the great magician Ming-Wu, broke the Crystal into eight pieces. He then scattered the shards to the four winds. He did so to assure later restoration of the Magicite Crystal...when all eight pieces are brought together again".

After this discovery, the companions continue to search for other racers in possession of the crystal shards. Upon defeating Behemoth in a race, the monster joins their ranks, bringing the party's number to eight. The companions then notice that their Magicite shards begin to glow, and Mog discovers that he possessed Magicite all along. The convergence of all eight shards of the Magicite crystal fulfills Ming-Wu's prophecy, and the gate to Fantasia, the Land of the Espers, opens. When the companions arrive in Fantasia, they are greeted by Bahamut, King of the Espers. Bahamut decides to test their worth with a final trial, and welcomes their attempts to defeat him in a race. After the race, Bahamut acknowledges the powers of the group. He goes on to rhetorically ask if the companions knew why Ming-Wu broke up the Magicite, and explains the legend once more. Bahamut is pleased with the companions, noting that humans, moogles, chocobos, dragons, and monsters all came together in goodwill. In celebration, he decides to leave the portal between the world and Fantasia open, declaring that "Fantasia shall exist in harmony with your world from this day on".

Development

The first demonstration of Chocobo Racing was at the Fall Tokyo Game Show '98; it was then unclear if there would be a North American release. IGN staff noted its striking similarities to Mario Kart. In the release of Chocobo's Dungeon 2, a bonus CD included a video clip of the game. Originally slated to be released in late September/October, the release date was moved to August 1999 because "it was done early, and is now ready to go". Square worked with toy company Choro Qi to produce toy cars for the release of the game.

Music

Chocobo Racing Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack album produced by Square. It was released in Japan on March 25, 1999 by DigiCube, and sold roughly 35,000 units. Almost all of the tracks are arrangements of music Nobuo Uematsu composed for Final Fantasy games, arranged by Kenji Ito. The only exception is the song played during the final song, "Treasure Chest In The Heart", which is a vocal track orchestrated by Shirō Hamaguchi and performed by Hiromi Ohta in Japanese and Vicki Bell in English.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.

Douglass C. Perry of IGN said the game was an attempt by Square to "cash in" on the popular kart racer genre created by Nintendo's successful Mario Kart. Other reviewers agreed, calling it "a tired rehash" due to its colorful but unpolished graphics, crude track designs, and poor controls. Daniel Erickson of NextGen called it "kart-racing fare" that is standard but lacks the deathmatch-type courses that made Mario Kart popular. In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it a score of 30 out of 40.

1Up.com's Final Fantasy Retro Roundup stated that it was a "decent game" ruined by the necessity of steering with a D-pad, and was rated "Not Worth It". Many similarities were noted with Mario Kart such as similar course themes and the need to "power slide". It was also called too easy, with story mode lasting only two hours and there being limited replay value except for the unlocking of secret characters and courses. Other critiques included a lack of a battle mode and limited customization. The music was thought to be average, though the last song of the story mode was "strikingly beautiful".

In Japan, the game sold 300,000 units.

Sequels

In 2010, a new Chocobo Racing title, tentatively titled Codename: Chocobo Racing 3D, was announced for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system. However, in October 2013, Takashi Tokita, director of the original Chocobo Racing, confirmed that the project had been cancelled, noting that had he been part of its development process, he "would have made sure that it came out".

A new Chocobo Racing sequel, Chocobo GP, was released for the Nintendo Switch as an exclusive title on March 10, 2022.