QueenLyssa's Full Review: Chocobo Racing for PlayStation 1
My two daughters are well aware of my Squaresoft obsession. In fact, it's not uncommon for them to playact Selphie and Quistis on dangerous SeeD missions in our living room. However, they're still a bit too young at 7 and 9 to get the full enjoyment out of Squaresoft's RPGs without my help.
Chocobo Racing, on the other hand, is just their speed. While the graphics are simplistic at best, the story itself is geared right at them, narrated by that Squaresoft favorite Cid Highwind, who has been censored into a kindly mechanic for this version. In story mode, kids get to practice their reading skills in between increasingly challenging races as Chocobo gathers friends in a search for the meaning behind the mysterious magic blue crystals, magicite. For those that complete the story, their scores accumulated in the racing portions are put together to give them points to create their own racing character. Successive completions of the story open up hidden tracks and allow them to collect extra hidden characters like Squall from Final Fantasy VIII.
There are also several racing modes, where players can pit their characters against each other, either against another player or the computer. Winning races here also opens up special tracks. Players can choose from single tracks or Gran Prix style successive track races. Whether in racing or story mode, tracks offer not only a course and obstacles, but also provide a chance to pick up spell stones to use against your opponents. Limit breaks are also modified for the racing format, giving you the option to put the best ability for each track onto any character you wish.
The story mode and reward CGs are not fully animated, but do manage to hold my kids' interest just fine with adorably cute versions of Final Fantasy classics. The Chubby Chocobo on his Phat Burner Plus tricycle is a stand-out here. The sound track is upbeat and easier to listen to for hours on end than most kiddie games. The controls are very easy to learn and quite forgiving. The most violence you'll find here is with vehicle crashes, where a vehicle is thrown in the air, then spins around and is delayed, or runs off the road and must be repaired by Cid before it can start up again. The level is absolutely nothing the little set can't handle.
Adults will find the game a little too simple and slow for their tastes, but Squaresoft aimed just about right in difficulty for young players, challenging them without getting them frustrated.
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