Parking Garage Rally Circuit Review – an addictive 90s inspired racer

September 22, 2024 | Game

I said at the end of my story Harmony article that the current triple-A malaise might encourage me to play more indie games, and that’s not an empty threat. Astro Bot is a surprising double-A hit, with a streamlined scope and simple gameplay that makes it feel like playing a retro game on PS5 steroids. Parking Garage Rally Circuit takes it a step further – it also looks like a retro game!

Speed ​​and control

Meanwhile, Walaber Entertainment’s official description reads PGRC intended to look like a Sega Saturn game, this game still appeals to me as a PlayStation kid. The title screen demo mode, the checkered flag waving in the menu background, the music, and the countdown to the start of the race all reflect a 1990s aesthetic.

As the name suggests, this game requires you to drive rally cars in a parking garage. At first I thought I had made a mistake when I bought it – the handling seemed simple to the point of boring me, there was no sense of speed, and all the ghost cars seemed to be way ahead without any fault on my part.

Then I realized how important drifting is. Hold Chain a few drifts together and suddenly you’re going 100mph.

After the first few levels, the circuits become more complex and you have to memorize the lines to know when to go around blind corners. Each round is a challenge of memory and split-second reactions to get – and stay – ahead. It’s an addictive experience that’s more like a platformer than a racing game.

Traveling around America

There are a total of eight circuits, themed around US cities ranging from San Francisco to Boston. One of my favorites – although one of the most difficult to master – is the New York track, which features a jump over the crown of the Statue of Liberty. There’s a lot of variety, and some levels even mix things up with mid-race changes like rolling boulders or power outages plunging the track into darkness.

My only minor gripe with the circuit layout and handling model is how easy it is for the cars to roll over or go off track. Sometimes this is your own fault, but it can be frustrating when your entire run is disrupted by a particularly sharp edge or incline that sends you crashing into an obstacle or going over the course limit at the top.

To unlock the next circuit, you must achieve at least a bronze trophy by beating the time target. When you have completed all eight, you will unlock the next class of cars, which are faster and heavier. At the end of all three classes (24 events total), you’re done, and any additional challenge comes from chasing gold in previous events.

It took me two and a half hours to get through each race, but mastering them will take longer. When you earn a silver medal for a run, you also unlock Endurance mode, which is a timed run based on checkpoints. Again, I think fighting against the ghosts of the leaderboards is incredibly addictive – especially because it’s the rare game where you have a chance of taking the global top spot if you do it right.

Simple but addictive

And that’s the summary. Parking Garage Rally Circuit it’s simple, short, sweet, and has enough depth in terms of medals and rankings to keep you playing well beyond your first run through its event list. I imagine this will go into my rotation of fun little games to load up when I have 20 or 30 minutes to spare and don’t have time to invest in a cinematic title with a complicated story.

The graphics, music, and gameplay are so convincing in their imitation of 1990s console games, that I could easily mistake it for a long-forgotten title plucked from my PlayStation collection. If you are the type of person who is interested in “one more” games that test your memory and reactions, you will easily recoup your investment within a few hours.

4/5