For Game Club, my buddy @cameronreigle (check out his art, it’s amazing, and he’s a lovely guy) picked this surprising 64 classic. I was so glad to revisit it as it was one of my beloved childhood games, and it 100% holds up [adjusts rose-tinted glasses].
First of all, there’s a big mystery surrounding this game. This is a game built around the concept of Volkswagen’s “New Beetle”, the refreshed design for their iconic little motorcar. But supposedly there was a variation specifically created for the Australian market that completely swapped out the bug for Holden Commodores. There’s evidence that this game exists, but I and an independently verified friend both owned the Beetle version and don’t remember seeing the HSV one in its time. So I don’t know what’s going on with that, but I will say that you should play the Beetle version, as those cars have more character that suits the game’s fun and slightly off-beat tone (plus the Aussie voiceover is total cringe, mate).
So that’s the Beetle covered, but what makes the game actually fantastic is the Adventure in its Racing. There’s only six tracks in the game but they’re huge, sprawling, themed affairs with many alternate routes, setpieces, and collectibles to reward exploring their full scope. Many of the collectibles unlock extra features and content for the multiplayer mode, which is a bit of a downer if you’re playing solo; but discovering the surprises hidden around detours could be considered its own reward? I remember having decent fun with the multiplayer in my youth (Beetle Battle mode has some nice arena-based car traversal and combat) but didn’t touch it this time.
Championship mode is how you unlock more of the game, as you only start with three tracks and underpowered cars. Each successive difficulty has more tracks to race in a row, so you end up seeing the earlier ones several times by clearing this mode completely. The tiers also give you some new cars to use; they’re all Beetles of course! But they have better stats and, like, racing stripes and decals etc. This mode is the only place that the bonus boxes appear (unless you unlock the cheat to spawn them in single race) so it’s the true intended experience.
It was a great nostalgia trip to revisit this, but I also picked up on how I’ve enjoyed some of its approaches and features in other racing games. For example, Diddy Kong Racing’s fantastical adventure feel and collectibles, Excite Truck’s wild and surreal bombast, or Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed’s alternate routes and dynamic tracks. BAR was formative for me, and I appreciated being reminded of that. But it’s also just a really cool, inventive, and well-made game; much better than the cheap cash-in it could have been.
