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5Chocobo GP
Chocobo GP is a kart racing video game developed by Arika and published by Square Enix. Chocobo GP is a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series in celebration of the series' 35th anniversary, and features locales and characters from across the franchise. It is a sequel to 1999's Chocobo Racing. The game released for the Nintendo Switch on March 10, 2022.
Gameplay
The game is a kart racing game featuring single-player and multiplayer modes. The player chooses a character from the Final Fantasy series of video games and directs them through a race track in efforts to finish before the other racers. Players can perform power-slide drifts to help make tight turns and get extra speed boosts. Items called "magicite" can be collected by driving a character into "Magic Eggs", and can be used to either help the player's character, or hinder other racers. Individual characters also have specific abilities, and vehicles can be customized by the player. The game features multiple modes, including a "story mode", custom races, and online races. The online races include a 64 player elimination tournament mode as well.
Story, setting, and characters
The game's story mode includes characters entering a racing tournament offers a winning prize of "a wish for anything their heart desires". Race courses are set in locations from various Final Fantasy games, such as the Gold Saucer from Final Fantasy VII, the town of Zozo from Final Fantasy VI and the town of Alexandria from Final Fantasy IX. Characters in the game include both specific party members from previous Final Fantasy games and characters from the previous Chocobo spin-off games. The roster includes Chocobos, Moogles, White Mages, Black Mages, Vivi, Steiner, Cactuar, and Maduin, among others. Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart were added to the roster as purchasable characters.
Development
The game is a sequel to the 1999 PlayStation game Chocobo Racing. A follow-up to the game was first announced in 2010 for the Nintendo 3DS, though its development was outsourced, the quality suffered, and it was quietly cancelled by 2013.
In March 2021, publications noted trademarks being filed for a Chocobo GP and Chocobo Grand Prix. On September 23, 2021, Chocobo GP was officially announced during a Nintendo Direct broadcast. It released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on March 10, 2022, alongside a free version of the game, titled Chocobo GP Lite.
This free-to-play version of the game included the Story Prologue, Chocobo GP mode, three characters, local and online multiplayer, and allowed players to transfer their progress over to the full version of the game after purchase. The full version features a season pass and microtransactions.