- Gadget Racers (2002 video game)
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For the 2002 GameCube game also known as Gadget Racers, see Road Trip: The Arcade Edition.
Gadget Racers 
Developer(s) E-game Publisher(s) Series Choro Q series Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance Release date(s) Genre(s) Racing/Role-playing video game Rating(s) - PEGI: 3+
Gadget Racers (known in Japan as Choro Q HG 3) is a role-playing, racing game for the PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to Road Trip Adventure. It was also meant to be published in North America by Conspiracy Entertainment under the title Road Trip: Adventure Avenue but was cancelled.
Gadget Racers is like the same as Road Trip Adventure with many elements of racing in it but there are new things that the player can perform. There are three types of race courses: there are short, middle and long. The player's main goal is to become the legendary meister. There are many races to complete before becoming the meister, each race contains a flag after the player wins nor completes the race. The player goes around to four towns to do biddings and other sorts of things from the inhabitants that needs help with. There are a few mini-games such as Rental Courses, Drag Racing and also Football Regulation. Players may also acquire car bodies after they won the race and there is a reward for that if 151 bodies are acquired and officially players can now acquire gadget parts that will make them fly, float and go faster to enhance the performance of their cars.
Contents
Starting
At the start of the game the player is asked to enter the name, currency, favorite food, disliked food and favorite famous person. Then he starts in a garage with no money, a car body and no flag. The player starts in Grunge Garden and there are many useful cars in the vicinity and can give him hints and information about how to win in races and who the legendary meister is.
Biddings
There are several biddings given from the inhabitants in each world and they need your help on solving them and also items are also requirements to those that always wanted or convince someone to repent their mistakes. Items are handed to you for passing *errands* or for achieving a goal. No big reward is stated after all biddings are completed.
Land
There are only four towns (one of them has a different size according to the hierarchy, such as a country, a village, a valley, a city, etc.) called Grunge Garden, Echo Forest, Scratch Mountain and Noise City. The four towns are linked by gates with number of flags that is required to access them. Towns contain houses, shops, ventures and some towns contain landmarks, workplaces, pubs, tenements and business companies which can give events. Many buildings can be entered, as a cave or an secret lab for example.
Other Cars
The player can still "talk" to other cars by driving up to them, entering the building they are in or honk your horn near them. They can sometimes give the player useful information or items, or they may just be happy or angry to talk to the player. Some cars ask the player to play a band at the Livehouse. It is the other good way of inviting band members.
Two Player Gameplay
Gadget Racers is a two-player game as well. Once two controllers are inserted into the PS2, a Two Player option is available at the main menu. The Football game is only available. You can go head-to-head with your friend in race courses and after the races, scores are added up via amounts of wins, and the highest amount of points win.
Mini Games
There are a few mini games in Road Trip Adventure, a few of them based on unrealistic activities and a few based on human activities. The player may use his car directly in a mini-game or use it to manipulate other objects e.g. hit a ball in Rolling Boulder or football.
Reception
Praise
Gadget Racers has been praised for being one of the few Choro Q games that have excelled in gameplay while focusing mainly on racing and not sandbox. Despite its age and lack of resources for creating it, Gadge Racers' graphics were extremely improved over its predecessors. Trees and other scenery were considerably upgraded, given a 3D "full" look, and shading & shadowing was programmed into the game, taking effect on houses and buildings. Roads and their surroundings are a lot more detailed, scattered with little features like lamposts or details on the roads.
Criticism
Gadget Racers has often been criticised for its poor physics. These sometimes allow the car to "float" and maintain in-air control in the air for an unrealistic amount of time and also "crash" by hitting the barrier so hard. The game, despite being somewhat seamless, is very limited for a sandbox type game, with some areas being impossible to enter and protected by unknown barriers.
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