Game Review: Auto Modellista

Game: Auto Modellista
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 6th December 2002

In many ways Auto Modellista is a pretty unremarkable racing game; it features 7 levels of competition with races and competitions to complete in each, a certain number of which must be won to progress. Players have a choice of Japanese cars which are upgradable and can be tuned to suit the circuit which racing is taking place on. Cars can also be customised visually with spoilers, body kits and decals. The main difference between this and other racing games is its cel-shaded art style.

Instead of attempting a realistic look of any kind, Capcom decided to make a racing game which appears to have come off the pages of a comic, or out of Jet Set Radio's world. This means that the entire game world, the tracks and the cars racing on them look amazing, and with some nice sense of speed effects to top things off, it's a very pretty game to look at, especially for 2002.

The game's main mode focuses on winning a few races from a selection which feature the game's 6 tracks in their forwards and reversed configurations. Despite a large-ish selection of cars, there's only a few that I'd consider choosing as my main vehicle and there's nothing that isn't in Gran Turismo or other racing games. The user interface for the main mode is laid out pretty badly and navigating through it can be a struggle; simply upgrading your car comprises three or four screens worth of options.

It doesn't take long for simply winning races and upgrading your car to get boring; the AI is too easy, and the races become longer and longer as the main mode goes on. Despite there only being 7 levels, there's no incentive to continue and complete the game, although it could easily be done in a single sitting. Arcade mode offers little more than the main mode, allowing players simply to play around with the entire selection of cars on offer.

The graphics of the game impact fairly heavily on the overall car handling; there's a huge sense of speed, but braking is swift and the car very rarely is out of player control. Only the hairpins of the uphill and downhill courses offer any real challenge in terms of steering. In terms of competition and challenge, a second human player is probably the best option for a truly exciting race experience. The music behind the racing action is pretty average and less memorable than I'd have liked it to be. An odd addition to the game is the constant 'encouragement' of an announcer, almost Dancing Stage style.

Overall, while Auto Modellista is an incredibly beautiful and visually original racing game, it's lacklustre main mode, awful UI, and easy AI make it a chore to play through once the inital buzz of the artwork has worn away. Depite the acceptable range of cars, there's not nearly enough tracks to race around and most of the tracks included in the game are outshone by the inclusion of Suzuka circuit anyway.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C