Shoutout to a weird PS2 game called 'Gadget Racers' that I found at a yard sale

I bought it for a dollar thinking it was just a cheap kart racer knockoff. The box art looked super generic, you know? But it turned out to have this crazy deep garage mode where you could build your own car from hundreds of parts. I spent a whole weekend just tinkering with engines and body kits. Has anyone else ever played this hidden gem, or know of other forgotten racing games with weird custom stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_hart2mo ago

Wait, you found that for a dollar? That's insane. The garage mode in that game was wild. I remember trying to make a car that was just a giant engine on tiny wheels. It flipped over at the start of every race. Totally broke the game.

ivan822mo ago

The trick is to put the weight low and wide. @joseph_hart, you need a heavy block for a chassis and mount that huge engine as low as possible. Tiny wheels in the back, slightly bigger ones in front. It still handles like a shopping cart, but it won't flip right away. Lets you actually experience the glorious mess you built.

grayb641mo ago

Oh man, the shopping cart handling is so real. I spent way too long trying to make a "dragster" that was just a long pole with an engine at one end. It would do a wheelie and then immediately cartwheel into the sunset. My builds were less "glorious mess" and more "immediate disaster," but it was still stupid fun.