GAME REVIEWS

Road Trip
Platform: Playstation2
-- reviewed by Alexander Scott

Road Trip, developed by Takara and published by Conspiracy Entertainment is a budget-priced racing adventure. Yes, that does sound odd, but in reality Road Trip is a “CarPG” known as Choro Q HG in Japan. The Choro license, though little known in the US, is quite the fad in Japan. And if you spend some time with this quirky little title, you will start to understand the reason behind Choro’s popularity.

As you begin Road Trip, you start out with a super-deformed vehicle that isn’t particularly good, but is good enough to win a few races. As you win more races, you can upgrade nearly every part of your ride, from new body kits (all super-deformed versions of real cars) to new rims. Eventually your vehicle (or vehicles if you count all the extra bodies you can collect) will be quite the race car, and you’ll find yourself winning lots of races. However, as the name implies, Road Trip is not only about racing.

During the course of your time playing Road Trip, you’ll travel a fairly expansive, though linear, world with several different towns. Each town has its own distinctive flavor, from a Japanese-style village (complete with pagoda) to a Las Vegas type town in the middle of a desert. You’ll also visit many photo shops along the road and in the cities, where you can have your car’s picture taken in front of local scenery. In addition to the photo shops (and other mini-games, including roulette and soccer) you’ll have the chance to start your own city by telling various other cars about the cheap real estate in the up and coming city. Finally, there are many Choro coins scattered about the world that you can collect to trade in for secret bodies and parts. All in all, there is quite a bit to do in Road Trip’s world.

Graphically, Road Trip is passable, though it certainly won’t win any awards. The cars are good toy-styled representations of their real-world counterparts. The game also displays a full field of 24 cars during a race with no slowdown; I expected less from a low-priced game like this and was pleasantly surprised. There is also no slowdown in the driving around the world portion of the game, which while good, is not nearly as impressive as the amount of cars that you race against.

Sound wise, much like the graphics, is decent, though nothing special. The sound effects change based on what type of terrain you’re on, and capture racing sounds fairly well. The tunes played on the different radio stations are catchy and will stick in your head for a while after you’re done playing. As I said, the sound is decent, though it fits the budget price of Road Trip.

Gameplay is quite good in Road Trip. It is fitting that your car isn’t a hot rod when you start the game and you can upgrade almost any aspect of your car. The game is also reasonably challenging as you progress. The racing engine is very arcade-like, though you won’t be able to powerslide though a turn at 160 mph. The only real downer to the game is that it only has less than 10 different tracks on which to race. However, if you factor in the 3 difficulty levels, it is still decently varied. The controls are also good, if a bit simple (really, what can you do in a racing game other than gas and steering?).

Ultimately, Road Trip is a decent little racer with a huge amount of heart and charm. You’d never known what a cool little game Road Trip is by looking at its packaging (why do companies do a budget job on the cover and rear art of a game if that’s going to be the real decider for most people looking to buy a budget title?). Do yourself a favor and give a copy of Road Trip a home. You won’t be disappointed and for ten bucks you can’t go wrong with this title.

Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
Control: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 6.75/10