Chocobo Racing


 * ''For the recurring minigame, see Chocobo Racing (Minigame)

Chocobo Racing is a video game for the PlayStation, released in 1999 by Square Electronic Arts. It is a racing simulator, and it has often been compared to ' and '. Though most characters use cars or buggies, some specific ones just fly, or use scooters, magic carpets, roller skates, a mine car, and even a cloud.

The game's characters consist mainly of popular recurring figures from Square's Final Fantasy series, such as Chocobo, the Moogle and the Black Mage. In true Final Fantasy style, this game also has a character named Cid.

Modes
There are five Modes of race:
 * Story Mode: The mode where Cid narrates the story of the game via a pop-up storybook. Player controls Chocobo initially and gains new characters and abilities as the story progresses.
 * Versus Mode: Players get to race against another player or the computer.
 * Grand Prix (GP) Mode: A player races against computer-controlled opponents in four selected tracks of his or her choice.
 * Relay Race: The player chooses three racers to compete in a relay match.
 * Time Attack: The player selects any stage and try to beat the fastest time record set there.

Magic Stones
The standard goal is to reach the finish line first. However, this is not easy with Magic Stones scattered throughout the tracks. Each racer can hold a maximum of three magic stones. If a racer collects several magic stones of the same type, those stones will "level up".

Below is a list of Magic Stones used in the game:
 * Haste - makes racers go faster. The higher the level, the longer the effect duration.
 * Fire - shoots a fireball in a straight line, which can miss. Higher levels will not miss, and Fira attacks one racer in front of the user, while Firaga attacks all racers in front of the user.
 * Blizzard - creates an ice sheet behind the user. Any racer that drives over it will spin out. Blizzara creates a large ice sheet which is hard to avoid, while Blizzaga causes all players to spin out of control and crash, stalling them. Flying racers are not affected by Blizzard and Blizzara.
 * Thunder - Thunder causes lightning to strike in front of a racer. Thundara causes three lightning strikes in front of a racer, while Thundaga strikes all racers.
 * Minimize - a small angel appears and reduces the size of all racers, slowing them down by 25%. The highest level reduces the racers' speed and size by 75%. If run over, a shrunken racer will be squashed, stalling them.
 * Reflect - deflects offensive spells back at the user. It is triggered automatically when a spell targets the holder, but it can also be activated manually to create a temporary Reflect shield. This Magic Stone does not level up.
 * Doom - a skull with a 10-second counter appears over the player. It can be transferred to another racer by bumping into them. Once the counter hits zero, the racer crashes. This Magic Stone does not level up.
 * Ultima - causes an attack that stalls all racers. The highest level stalls all racers much longer.

Magic Stones can be stolen by bumping on another racer from behind.

Story
The inventor Cid presents Chocobo with a pair of "Jet-Blades" and offers Chocobo a chance to take a test-run with them on the racetrack behind his lab. After the race, Mog drops in and asks Cid about the progress of the racing machine he had commissioned. Cid promises to bring the machine by tomorrow, but later confides to Chocobo he had forgotten it. The next day, after presenting the doubtful Mog with his scooter, Chocobo and Mog race. After Chocobo wins, Mog confronts Cid over his vehicle's poor performance, but Cid replies that Chocobo won because of the differences in their abilities; Chocobo's "Dash" and Mog's "Flap". He explains that the secret of Chocobo's "Dash" ability is the Blue Crystal on his leg-ring. Mog mulls over his inferior "Flap" ability and decides he wants a Blue Crystal as well, so Cid recommends that the two go on an adventure to find out the secret of the Blue Crystal. The two head out to discover the secret behind the Blue Crystal. At the village gate, they met the gatekeeper Golem who warn them of the dangers beyond the gate and prohibits them from leaving unless they beat him. Mog and Chocobo notices a Blue Crystal on Golem's bracelet, and Mog proposed a race where the winner gets all Blue Crystals. When Chocobo wins the race, Golem decides to follow them, since he did not trust Mog. The trio continues on towards the Mythril Mountains, where they need to go through an abandoned mine to cross to the other side. Just then, a Goblin bandit appears, taking Mog hostage and demanding them money. Chocobo and Golem notices a Blue Crystal on Goblin's right earring. Goblin forces them to race him, and the winner gets to keep all Blue Crystals. After beating Goblin, the trio realized that the Goblin is the infamous Gobin Hood, a thief who steals from the bad and rich and gives to the good and poor. With his identity revealed, Gobin Hood demands that he follows the group. Chocobo agrees. Goblin guides them through the Cursed Forest, where they stumble upon the infamous Black Manor. Chocobo bravely enters the manor first and discover a racetrack. After the race was won, the Black Manor's resident Black Magician reveals himself to the party. It was his magic that kept everyone from leaving the place. Somehow, Chocobo and the Black Magician became fast friends and so tags along with the party. Mog wishes a cute girl would follow them instead... Black Mage silently leads them to Mysidia, a village of mages. Tired from their travel, the party asks a female White Mage to heal them. She notices that they all carry shards of Magicite, which they refer to as the Blue Crystals. The travelers were interested to know about the legend of the Magicite; but the White Mage refuses to tell them unless they beat her in a race. When the race was won, the White Mage tells the legend:
 * Chapter 1: Gadgets a-go-go!
 * Chapter 2: Moogling Right Along!
 * Chapter 3: A Life in Ruins!
 * Chapter 4: The Pleasure is Mine!
 * Chapter 5: Mind Your Manor!
 * Chapter 6: Crystal Clear

The White Mage then felt responsible for revealing the legend, and so decides to follow them. The party agrees, except for Mog, who mumbles about "democracy"... The party reaches Gingerbread Land, where they met Chubby Chocobo and discovered that it had ate a piece of the Magicite. Eager to get his hands on the shard, Mog proposes a race where if they win, they get the Magicite in Chubby Chocobo's stomach, and if they lose, Chubby Chocobo can eat them all. The race was won, but Chubby Chocobo confesses it is hard to get the shard out the natural way due to his bowel problems, and decides it is better to follow the party instead. Chubby Chocobo leads them to Vulcan-O Valley, a wasteland said to contain a Magicite shard. Behemoth, a magical monster, appears in front of them. When White Mage reveals their intention to search for Magicite shards, Behemoth reveals to them his own piece, the largest one. Behemoth then challenges them to a race, where the winner receives all the shards. When the race was won, Behemoth stands defeated and hands them his piece. Suddenly, the Magicite pieces begin to glow... Mog's "head bopper" was in fact a shard of Magicite. With all eight Magicite shards brought together, the portal to Fantasia was revealed. During this, the opening to the fourth part of Dancing Mad plays. The party arrived at Fantasia, the realm of the Espers, where Bahamut, the great king of Espers, places them in a final trial: master Ultima, the magic stones of Fantasia, and defeat him. After the race was over, Bahamut reveals more details of the legend:
 * Chapter 7: Maybe it's something I ate...?
 * Chapter 8: Won't you be my lava!?
 * Chapter 9: FINAL FANTASIA

However, relieved that the party, a gathering of different races: chocobos, moogles, golems, goblins and humans, have traveled together in harmony, Bahamut decides to open the portal between the Outer World and Fantasia, declaring that "Fantasia shall exist in harmony with your world from this day on".

Racers
Below is a list of the storyline racers, their vehicle and their unique ability.
 * Chocobo wearing the Jet-Blades CR - Dash: Temporarily boosts top speed and acceleration, similar to the Haste spells.
 * Mog in the Mog-Mobile R2 - Flap: Allows the character to soar over ground-based hazards on the track; useless on the mages or Bahamut, who are already flying.
 * Golem in the Rockin' Roller V8 - Grip-Up: Allows the character to maintain better traction on the road.
 * Goblin in the Gob-Cart H4 - Mug: Steals accumulated spells from another racer towards the front.
 * Black Magician on the MagiCloud MK-1 - Magic Plus: Instantly powers up any collected spell.
 * White Mage on the Cosmic Carpet - Barrier: Nullifies the effects of magic and some abilities.
 * Chubby Chocobo in the Phat-Burner Plus - Receive: Adds a magic spell cast upon the character to his or her repertoire.
 * Behemoth in the Behemo-Buggy 99 - Charge: Gives the character a turbo boost that can be used to ram other racers and make them spin out.
 * Bahamut with his Dragon Wings - Megaflare: Large-scale magic attack that causes all characters to spin out.

Secret Playable Racers
Aside from Squall, secret characters do not have custom portraits (they appear merely as a generic black figure with a question mark for a face) or their own abilities (they must select another racer's).
 * Squall Leonhart in the Tempest - Gunblade: Causes the character to accelerate and attack any racers passed until they take the first position.
 * Cid in a tank.
 * A Moomba (named "Mumba" in-game) on foot.
 * Cloud Strife on the Hardy-Daytona.
 * A Cactuar on foot.
 * Aya Brea (star of the Parasite Eve series) in a police car.
 * A classic (8-bit) Chocobo on foot.
 * The S.S. Invincible
 * Jack (star of 3-D WorldRunner) on foot.

Music
Chocobo Racing Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack produced by Kenji Ito for the game. It uses music from the Final Fantasy series.

Box art
Chocobo Racing Chocobo Racing