Square Enix is bringing Chocobo GP to Switch soon — on 10th March to be precise — and Nintendo UK's Twitter account has posted a trailer showcasing a quartet of tracks based on locations from four different Final Fantasy titles.
As you can see from the tweet below, four circuits for the upcoming kart racer are highlighted, including Zozo from Final Fantasy VI, Alexandria from Final Fantasy IX, Big Bridge from Final Fantasy V, and finally Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 8 Gold Saucer from Final Fantasy VII:
Yes, as noted by our friends over at Eurogamer, Gold Saucer — the roller coaster-filled theme park and tourist attraction from FFVII — bears more than a passing resemblance to Mario Kart favourite and famous finale circuit Rainbow Road. Compare the two tracks in the images below:
In fact, we see echoes of various Mario Kart courses in the short video, although the spectrum of colours across Gold Saucer's circuit certainly sticks out as being 'inspired by', even if it's true to its FF source. Love it or hate it, Rainbow Road and its treacherous multicolour highway suspended in a vast expanse certainly sticks in your mind — and it appears it might have lodged itself in Squeenix's brainbox while crafting tracks for Chocobos.
Not just for Chocobos, of course. Square Enix has previously revealed much of the racing roster, and we have to say that Chocobo GP looks to be shaping up to be a credible rival for Mario in the Switch kart racing... er, race.
We'll find out soon if it's in with a shot at the podium or whether Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its incoming DLC courses will leave this one in the dust.
Let us know below if you think the Gold Saucer/Rainbow Road similarity is uncanny or pure coincidence.
- Further reading: Best Nintendo Switch Kart Racers - Every Kart Racing Game Ranked
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 37
Was looking forward to this but after finding out you'll have to pay extra for certain characters my interest vanished immediately.
they might have took a thing or two, but It looks just like the track from final fantasy 7's chocobo races.
Eh theres definitely some inspiration there but lets not pretend like Nintendo invented rainbows.
No, it looks like the Chocobo racing track from FF7. It’s literally the track from the original game.
Pretty sure that was in the games as some point. May have been inspired but "copy" is a little harsh. I love the FF IP so I will probably get this one as I have been burnt out on Mario Kart 8
It's not copying, it's friendly plagiarism.
@RubyCarbuncle Oh my, that's new to me. Not good.
The 1st one: Genuinely a really interesting track design wise.
The 2nd one: That one Skies of Arcadia track from Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed.
The 3rd one: Bowser's Castle but w i n t e r y .
And the last one: Rainbow Road at Vegas.
@BTB20 Your gonna have to get cloud in the BP I think.
I'm really liking the look of this. As much as I love Mario Kart, it's nice to have something a little different to compliment it. Crash and Sonic Team's 30fps racing prevented me from buying one of those.
The free lite version that launches alongside it seems rather generous, it even let's you race online, which should ensure it's easy to find opponents.
I think it goes both ways. Paper Mario TTYD Glitz Pit was almost certainly inspired by FF7s Gold Saucer.
@OorWullie Really? Then I might have to give it a shot.
@Snatcher Yeah, it's pretty decent too. Honestly, the free version might even be enough for me as it seems you have access to the online modes. If I dio buy it, I imagine most of my time will be playing online anyway.I'm not really familiar with most of the characters, so having a limited set doesn't bother me. I don't play local multiplayer and I'm not sore the story mode will be worth paying full price for. So it seems the Lite version will do just fine. I get the new Mario Kart tracks for free in March too, so that's really great haha.
Here's the info...
'Coming out at the same time as Chocobo GP, Chocobo GP Lite is a free version of Chocobo GP that allows you to try out single and multiplayer mode.
In Chocobo GP Lite, players can play the Story Mode Prologue, and participate in both local and online multiplayer*, using a limited amount of characters.
Chocobo GP Lite players can also join local multiplayer races hosted by a player who owns the Chocobo GP full game.
Both Chocobo GP or Chocobo GP Lite players are able to race in the 64-player knock-out style online tournament, Chocobo GP mode.
With your purchase of Chocobo GP, you can carry over your saved data in Chocobo GP Lite, including any items and in-game currency acquired through your racing adventure.'
It does say' try out' which makes it seem like it's a trial but surely it would say if it is. It doesn't say anything on the Eshop page either.
I was gonna get this day one, but after the BP shenanigans, I'm good.
I don't know if I can support this game the way it's being monetized. The Battle Pass to unlock characters disgusts me
It looks more like a track from Crash Team Racing to me. I wasn't particularly interested in this game, but that short trailer with no gameplay really peaked my interest, lol. These tracks look really neat with interesting gimmicks. I've never played a Final Fantasy game though, so the references would be lost on me. Mario Kart is also getting DLC, so, y'know. Maybe if I ever finally pick up FF VII, I'll give it a go. Looking forward to trying the Disney one, as well. Which will get Sora first? Chocobo Racing or Disney Speedstorm? 🤔
@NinjaWaddleDee Same. I refuse to buy this after hearing about the Cloud BS - I mean, BP!
It's just bad business. Don't pee on your customers and tell them it's raining. I would have gone for this game, too. It looks good, and while I'm not the biggest FF fan around I do have some attachment to some of the characters (and needless to say, Cloud is one of those 😥). But I won't support companies that do business like this.
Nope, no copying involved.
$65 million in damages right there.
@JasmineDragon As someone who's literally just an FF6 and FF7 fan, I don't really care about the other characters. So the fact that I'm basically forced to grind out the game to get Cloud doesn't make me happy.
@NinjaWaddleDee same.
@OorWullie wow, I’m gonna have to give it a shot now. Story mode is something I was not ready for.
Cocobo GP looks like it could be good.🤞🤞
Got this pre-ordered. Tempted to cancel once I heard about the lite version but I really like my kart racers so I'm all in. Plus you get stickers and a keyring with the physical version, I mean what's not to like.. 😆
@nessisonett @Snatcher You can tell how many people who voted played FF7 (not many).
@WoomyNNYes Is Cocobo a chocolate Chocobo?! 😹😹😹
If only they add Lab 32 (where we challenge Johnny) from Chrono Trigger as a playable track, that would be nice.
@TowaHerschel7 AHH, my spelling! Good eye! I don't need no stinkin' H.😁
Well, I mean, everybody calls kart racers that aren’t Mario kart a Mario kart clone..l
So why not take that one step further?
Copy or not, it looks like this game will be at least decent.
@OorWullie do you know if we will get a physical copy of the game. It seems like every online retailer in the US has taken it down as an option.
I want to like this one, but I feel like I’m probably going to wait for it to go on sale. My back log is insane.
@RubyCarbuncle yeah same, i was even trying to preorder a physical copy. But my interest is completely gone now after finding that out...
The 16% that said it was a direct copy, clearly never played FF7. Its just a similar track to the chocoraces in FF7
@HotGoomba Its neither. The Chocobo race track in FF7 was similar to this. Its not a copy of rainbow road its just the track from the original FF7
Looks like a copy-paste effort.
If you don't remember the original gold saucer track, just say that 🤷♂️
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