My apologies for anyone who got two notifications for this video. A prominent music distribution company is copyright claiming songs they don't have the rights to-- and rather than screw around with a dispute process I might not even win, I decided to just change out the Jeopardy theme for MGS music & reupload. You'll know the bit. Also, that 5 second bumper at the start is an unavoidable reality of reviewing licensed games on this hellsite. It's *unlikely* that I would've gotten kid-gloved by Papa Google, but the risk isn't worth it. Hell, they still might. If you enjoy this video, please consider pledging on Patreon to ensure I still get paid for making it :) This was a really long project, been on and off the shelf for almost a year now, but I'm really glad to finally get it into your hands.
Legitimately, the weirdest thing about RU-vid's "for kids/not for kids" policy is that they're leaving an algorithm to automatically decide what's "for kids", even when they're intentionally marked otherwise. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Do you have a CRT? You should grab one (even if it's just for GBA via cube). If you're in Europe, it doesn't have to be an expensive PVM/BVM. A good consumer TV with Scart RGB is not a "terrible choice" by any stretch (in all honesty, it's not even that distant a second best for many of the "premium monitors" at 240p/288p/480i/576i. And can be had free in places.
The story of H35, World Race and Acceleracers is really interesting considering the fact it ended so abruptly and without much ado. I hope you finish the video about it one day and I'm looking forward to it
@@superiorone2061 I believe there was supposed to be a proper conclusion but it was cancelled from lack of profit like many of the great things of history. Later on there was another "Hot Wheels" series with the main character being named "Vert Wheeler" but there is no connection to HW35.
Being an "older" (basically post-College) person when the GBA was alive, I didn't spend a lot of time on licensed stuff, but damn Stunt Track Challenge actually looks like a neat effort - gives me the kind of vibes I miss from some older racers (Stunt Car/Track Racer, Stunts/4D Sports Driving and Hard Drivin' and its successors). I can't help but love how the GBA offers some neat cuts underneath the licenses, or ports of titles from way more capable systems - it's certainly a system with plenty of surprises!
I know this wasn't the intention of the video (which is a great dive into an un-analyzed sphere) but I have to thank you for continuing to feed my unknowing idiot brain good arcade racers. Hot Wheels World Race GCN looks like a super good time! The iceberg bit is also one of my favorite bits of any video on this platform, hands down. Can only imagine how even more awful it was with bad music instead of the Encounter theme/Jeopardy theme.
You're the only person on this forsaken site that goes to such lengths to review these obscure racing games and every video is an absolute joy to watch over and over again. Thank you Kacey, another job well done!
Oh man I got All Out in a bookfair as a kid. Suffice to say that even as a kid I knew it was terrible. I also had a double pack cart of Velocity X & World Race. Of course one game I did skip on was Stunt Track Challenge unfortunately lol. I definitely would've digged that one a lot more as a kid.
Kacey: "these games are best played on an original GBA with an IPS screen mod" Me: *looks at my Analog Pocket, a single tear rolling down my cheek* I'm sorry for what I have to do Kacey
Eh, I rember as a kid actually got a copy of that that also icluded the stunt track challenge as wellI remember not getting as far on that compared to Stunt Track Challenge.
I'll be honest, when I first read the title, my brain just went "Oh god, what has she gotten herself into?". Glad to know there were only two games on the level I was expecting
Holy. I remember playing Velocity X on my Gamecube up and down, it was my very first Camecube game, together with Zelda: Twilight Princess. I love it so much as a little kid.
I have stunt track challenge/world race as a combination game on gba, and played it a bunch when I was a kid. One of them got a lot more play time than the other, for obvious reasons.
I had stunt track challenge as a kid. Looking back at it as a 3D artist today, they went the right direction. Rather that texture mapped flat surfaces with a lower render res to maintain a playable framerate, going for cleaner flat shaded polygons with a higher render res was the way to go. You could cleanly see what was happening and the track design felt so fresh and exciting on the go compared to flatter NFS titles. I loved it to bits and it has aged much better than most racers on the console.
I once lent a kid a DS game in midschool... and in return he _gave_ me his copy of GBA Velocity X. I could see why he wanted to get rid of it. I was probably the one kid on Earth to ever beat it (it's very short and easy), and the final reward car is hilarious. Maxed out in every stat, it was basically a cheat code. The devs seriously cared about their own game that little.
Re: the speech about reviewing handheld games on real hardware. That's actually the exact same approach I took with my Dead Heat Fighters retrospective too! Playing on real unmodded GB, GBC and SGB+Super NES consoles and basing my review on that, but using emulation for much of the capture.
Good video as always, very impressed with the STC GBA Port. I remember liking the console game at the time, it had some bullshit but the actual racing and tracks were super fun. Btw, i am SUPER looking forward for this HW35 video 👀.
i wouldve never thought id hear again about those games. I stil have my cartridge with both Stunt Track Challenge & World Race on it. I didnt really like any of them but i still have the memory of playing them.
You can change the controls of Velocity X to the standard asymetric controls. You just need to go to the options menu and change the handling from "beginner" to "advanced"
That trans-media storytelling joke absolutely got me. Great vid Kacey! I'll almost certainly never play these, but your presentation style is a joy to watch.
I haven't watched the video yet, but it already made me remember the hot wheels game that was the the Cartoon Network website in the early 2000's where you could play all the Cartoon Orbitz games I think. it was pretty fun, atleast the trial version or whatever it was.
I have no idea how I even stumbled upon the Hot Wheels All Out rom many, many years ago...but the only thing I always remembered from that game was the title screen music lol
Everything you said about the console version of stunt track challenge is completely valid, I’ll give you that, but it’s still my favorite hot wheels game with unleashed being the closest second. Growing up, that game was a part of my trifecta for the ps2 (also including battlefront 2 and guitar hero 3). The cheesy show theme always made 6yo me feel like I was a part of the HW universe and the overwhelming energy of that abomination of an announcer only added to that feeling. Although the sticker collection mini games are hellish punishments, most of the others were pretty good, and all of the races were creative and fun. (Especially the pirate and space ones) The music was also great in all aspects and each world’s theme fit it perfectly. It’s by no means perfect but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
i never had any trouble with the steering in velocity x as a kid, but then again that was my first top down racer so i guess that reinforces the horse game comparison
I had actually own World Race GBA as a kid. I hadn't owned the console version. What I don’t get is why they reduced the number of drivers to 15, Lani not a playable character despite being a main character, and why they changed Kadeem's car?
"This is a racing game, keep that in mind while I show you unedited uncut gameplay" I was trying to parse exactly what was going on and i just thought it was a dead end but when the frogger ass iceberg platform showed up I was fucking howling WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT LIKE THIS?????????????????????
I tried out Stunt Track Challenge on the GBA a while back, and it’s a good time all-around. @Kacey if you’re looking for a similar game on the GBA, I highly recommend the LEGO Drome Racers game; it’s basically a beautiful marriage between the World Race GBA game, and the Stunt Track Challenge GBA game. :)
Super excited, I remember having the Stunt Track Challenge and I think Beat That growing up, can't wait to see a proper review of these and the other ones!
11:06 as someone who never plays isometric racing games, my brain automatically assumes the directions are based off the camera and not the car(even if I do play other racing games)
I remember when I got Stunt Track Challenge on my GBA and I was blown away by the graphics, overall quality and amount of content. Still have it, and still one of my favorite GBA Games. Also I'm glad I bought HW Unleashed physical shorty after reviews went live (still as a pre-order), and its such a great game, I even got the platinum trophy for it.
I'd recommend an ita display over an IPS one nowadays. it's a dsi screen that's been put into a gba shell. gives you 1:1 pixel size with no scaling, like the games were intended
That is an extremely entertaining and well made video! I play my gba games on my ds lite and also think (at least for me) its the best way to play them.
I beat Velocity X no problem a number of times. Had nothing better to do in 3rd Grade, I guess. The controls felt slippery when I was out-of-practice but I never felt they were unfair either. Did a lot better with it on my SP.
@normanclatcher I mean ya its not a hard game by any means, but I would always forget what password I had and never had anything to write it down with when I was playing as I would normally play in car rides
Good look. I think I maybe played a Hot Wheels game at one point but forget which one on console but otherwise I'll take a look at some of these as always curious about any racing games. I am not familiar with the GBA library and never had a GBA. Besides GT Advance 3/MotoGp as a dual pack with my OG DS that's all I got besides emu tight now and I got that dual pack as my first GBA/second OG DS (DSi replaced first back in the day) in 2020/2021. Might play the GT Advance like one though looks good even if less content and similar to it. Isometric racing games I never can get used to ever so pass. The Climax one seems good as of course they make tons of greats. Have yet to get into Split Second but still I'll take a look with low expectations in mind. I enjoyed the F Zero GBA game with the story (GP Legend I think it was not Maximum Velocity) on Wii U VC so I'll give it a go. The second last (3D one) is very impressive though. Ok the last one yeah I get what they wanted to do but that's bad for obstacles especially to that extent it is a bit much. Even as a platforming racing game it wouldn't really be that great day (skateboards, on foot running even type approach or more out there racing with jumps like a ramp besides the platform so there is two options to get across like in Modnation Racers which reminded me just now how similarly it looks and made it clear to me how much I don't like obstacles in kart racing games even though I'm not a kart racing fan but pick up some to fill in a gap for racing games on a system) if it were for the wipeout obstacle course tv show type games (I'd that were on GBA no clue but still) or something else maybe but not like that. Got to say the variety is good though but rough and all of the place can be awkward besides the handful of good. I do enjoy the old eras of arcade racing games though and the handful that do appear on consoles WHEN they do.
00:14 A bit side tracked here, butcan we appreciate the fact Kacey use Gundam Breaker 3 footage instead of the other 2 newer Gundam Breaker footage? Anyway, I never touched Hot Wheels game on GBA, but some of them looks surprisingly fun.
@@Kaceydotme Yes, but the same can't be said with NGB... Which is the only one that accessible on PC. Oh well, I'm gonna save so I can get the console again.
As a fan of the Hot Wheels games, but somebody who has never played on a GBA or DS, this is super interesting. The only mobile Hot Wheels game i have played so far was "Ultimate Racing" on the PSP, which is OK. Not bad, but not great.