The Racing RPG Everyone Forgot…Road Trip Adventure

Road Trip Adventure needs to be remembered

Now, usually when I mention Road Trip Adventure on the Playstation 2, many furrow their eyebrow in confusion and either have no idea what it is I’m talking about or say “Don’t you mean Road Trip Arcade on the GameCube? Gadget Racers?” No. No, I do not mean that or else I would have said so. Road Trip Adventure is that type of game you would think up from the phrase “What if cars could talk and had a life of their own? What mischief do they get up to when I’m not looking?” and again, no. I do not mean like Disney Pixar’s Cars. Road Trip Adventure has it’s own unique quality that makes it different from the rest. I’ll tell you how and why, but first let’s discuss what Road Trip Adventure is.

What is Road Trip Adventure?

Developed by E-game in 2002, Road Trip Adventure is an open world racing car RPG, that is the best way to describe it. It starts off with the President (a dark green car) who decides they want to quit their job and on impulse decide that whoever wins the grand prix will be the one to become the next president. However, it isn’t that easy. You, as a car (there are no humans in this game) must go all over the world, including the great ocean, all just to find two team mates and get a Super-A License to the World Grand Prix. This requires entering many races from different towns from ‘Q’s Factory’ until your rank is high enough to compete in the grand prix race. This also means you, as a player must spend time upgrading your parts, meeting new cars to help you along the way, learning new skills and fulfilling side quests to receive rewards that’ll help you on your journey. At the very end you are able to race the president, which doesn’t prove to be an easy task and if you beat the president, you get to be one. Simple as that.

What makes this game so magical?

I’m glad you asked. This game is filled with tons of secrets to discover, you hear rumours from different cars that drive around each village, they tell you a story about a haunted house nearby, you go there and find out it’s nothing but an old man who needs help with his barrels rolling down the hill. Another car asks for a peach from a nearby peach tree, you go to get it but he is long gone and perhaps keep the peach for a number of days and give it to them when you come back that way when you have the time. You become so engrossed with their personalities, the environment, the secrets, the small conversations and the experience in each town, that becoming president only becomes one of your goals. If you’re lucky enough, fly yourself up to…Ah wait, no spoilers…

If you’re curious, here’s a gameplay video you can have a look at.

This would be an Amazing Nintendo Switch Game

I can think of any better console for this to be on than the Switch. Seriously, I mean handheld mode on the Switch Lite would be fantastic as well. Though it would be well suited for the Playstation 4 and 5 as well, as it had been intended to play while sitting down at home. However, I believe that the experience of Road Trip Adventure would be wonderful to play on a portable gaming system. I would pay hundreds for this on the Nintendo Switch, that’s how good I believe this game is. It’s a terrible shame this has yet to be rereleased. Nonetheless, I will continue to Play Road Trip Adventure on my Playstation 2 Silver Slim and go through various waves of nostalgia.

I seriously recommend it. Go and play it if you haven’t already, there are emulators. Buy the game and do something with it. Figure it out, I challenge you to go for it and come back here to tell me about it.