My thoughts on: Auto Modellista

Before we begin, I’d like to point out that I’ll be heading back to college for the next few months so posting these “My thoughts on” pieces are really going to become more of a challenge to pull off every week. I’m not going to give up on my channel, but I might need more time for school and because of this, my reviews may be coming a bit late. Just bear with me, and we’ll see what happens.

So, Auto Modellista is a thing. I mean, I’ve been around many circles on the internet, but I’ve never come across someone who actually remembers this game. It was made by Capcom, who I didn’t know at the time I got it was one of the biggest companies on the market, and it became more of a guilty pleasure for me growing up. There were a lot of factors behind my love and my hate behind what I believe is the biggest mixed bag in videogame history. This was, when I first Googled it, the first and only racing game Capcom ever released until the MotoGP games came out. Besides that, it was the only driving game from them, and for good reason. But it also was one of the best looking games out there, for good reason. So, what made Auto Modellista one of my biggest best/worst games of all time?

Visuals: The biggest reason why this game was so great for me back then and even today is the art style. It’s something I’ve never seen before, and still haven’t to this day.
Literally, everything looks like Initial D.

Everything.

Holy crap.

It’s amazing to think that a racing game, which made several rushed and confusing design choices, can still be commended for its visuals. Then again, it’s not necessarily because all the cars look real, but because of the art style, which helps make this game pure eye-candy. I’ll just leave this gameplay here for your consideration:

Gameplay: Visuals aside, this is when the game begins to fall apart. One of this biggest reasons why this game got panned by critics is because of the garbage handling model. It’s atrocious. Everything just feels like ice, and no matter what you drive, you end up slipping into walls and, for some reason, this game lives on the idea of having you bounce off walls whenever you hit them. You can, therefore, hit the side of a wall at 150 mph and get a boost into the next corner. This isn’t really a problem on the touge portion of the game, but in the city and highway portions, it really can kill any difficulty in the game. It’s almost as if every good thing in this game is suddenly countered by a bad thing. It’s sad really, and the hits keep coming

Cars: The list is also a mixed bag. If you love JDM, and had a childhood that consisted of Civic’s, Supras, Skyline GTR’s, and Paul Walkers face, then you’ll be in heaven. Literally everything you can imagine is in this game, from Subies, to Toyotas, to Nissans, to even Tommy Kairas. If you can’t find a single car in this list great, you’re not a JDM fan, pure and simple. The problem? That’s really it. There are a few American cars in game, including the Ford GT concept from 2002, but that’s it. There aren’t even any European cars in this game, which is a shame for anyone looking to see at least an Ruf, which isnt even in the game either. Shame.

Customization: Now this is when things get really fun. Every car has at least 3 different options for a set part of the vehicle, like the front bumper, rear, side skirts, and others. Some are even custom made by the Capcom team themselves, which look great for a company known for Resident Evil, Marvel vs Capcom, Street Fighter, and practically everything that doesn’t involve 4 wheels and an engine (and DLC being installed onto the disk for hackers to obtain for free. But that’s none of my business…). You can install different logos onto the car also, including ones based of other Capcom franchises once you unlock them. It’s all great and one of the things that really helps make this game last a while, after all the racing is set and done.

Tracks: One of the only things this game completely nails are the track list. You’ve got Osaka highway, downtown Tokyo, Suzuka, and even 2 different touge tracks, both featuring uphill and downhill variants. There even are 2 oval tracks, with an asphalt track and a dirt track at the same time. It’s Need for Speed: Prostreet/Gran Turismo 4/GRID 2 levels of amazing with its track design and detail. Every course is easily identifiable through both visual style and color. The two touge events are either blue, with the sun in the sky and full of clouds, or a crisp red/orange, with leaves falling to the ground after a Civic charged passed with its VTEC at full chat. It’s all like a Haiku, and you’ll never forget them, even despite the garbage handling.

Soundtrack: Ok, so this is another thing this game gets right. The menu music is amazing, and has its own identity and flair. I mean, the racing music is good, but the menu music is Godlike. save them for later, and watch them with others. All of this is great, but here’s the thing.

It’s simply amazing, and worth listening to while drawing, or even typing (I should know. It’s what I’m doing right now. LOL.). There is even a mode where you can take your replays, which look amazing by the way, and are able to make music videos of them in the VDJ mode. Then, you can save them for later, and watch them with others. All of this is great, but here’s the thing.
If you haven’t played this game over some Eurobeat from Initial D, you haven’t lived yet.

Career (Garage Life): This is where the game falls apart, however. The career surrounds around different events you have to do within different series. You have to complete at least 2 events to move on to the next series, but if you want to get everything, (If it wasn’t unlocked already, which I’ll get to in a second…), you’ll have to do all the events. Sometimes you need to do the event twice to get everything from that event. Now, all of this would be fine, if the game felt any good. It doesn’t, so it’s not. What makes this even worse is that you don’t even buy the cars. You have about over 75% of the game given to you, and you have to unlock the rest. This wouldn’t be that bad if you had to buy them to get more of a challenge, but they are all free. That and all the customization is free, except for the locked items (Which are really simple to find, by the way, it’s just the first event on the second series, which is easy.). This game doesn’t really hold your hand, it’s just that there’s not much to worry about. The whole game is so easy, besides the handling model, which makes the entire game feel unnecessary. What’s the point of winning if you don’t unlock anything necessary towards your cars to win the same events over and over, only to have to slog through the same boring race over and over, only to get some car you don’t need. You don’t even know what car you’ll win in the end, so you could end up spending half an hour racing the same cup, only to win a piece of garbage you’ll never use. Sound like fun? At least the “Auto Modellista” mode is interesting enough to keep you going. It’s just a mode where you can swap engines with another car, which can lead to some fun results however. The thing is though, is that this leads to a game breaking exploit which makes every race super easy. Take a Toyota Super 800, do an engine swap with a Supra engine, and then race it. The game still thinks you’re driving a simple 800, and makes every car there the slowest in the game, when your car can hit 220 MPH when set up right. It makes the rest of the game unbelievably easy. Just don’t forget to save, like I did when I hit the halfway point, because it doesn’t have auto save. On a side note, this game also lets you customize your garage with different things you unlock throughout the game. It’s another surprising part of the overall game, and I remember seeing my sister play for hours customizing my garage. All in all, this is the part of the game where you spend most of your time with, and sadly it’s the worst part of it.

Overall: This game is a massive missed opportunity, despite it having a little bit of everything you want in a racing game. Beautiful and memorable race tracks, tons of JDM, great soundtrack (BUT IT NEEDS MORE EUROBEAT), and an overall amazing and charming look. The problem is that it has a little bit of everything you don’t want in a racing game. The career is crap, the handling model is a chore, and the whole game lacks any depth. Sadly, this great idea for a cell-shaded, manga looking, racing game never took off here or in Japan, and I haven’t seen any game like it. Despite this, and its downsides, I still recommend playing this game, or looking into it. You might just find something you’ve never seen before. I sure as hell did.

Thank you for reading. As I mentioned above, these reviews may be coming a bit later then usual because I’m heading back to school. I’ll try to stay on top of things, and try to give my opinions on these things I love. Remember to leave a like and a recommendation for my next review. If you want to see more though, please remember to hit that follow button for more. :)