Beetle Adventure Racing Review

I never notice the shortcuts until it’s too late -- at least on the first lap. It’s always something like a tunnel or an obvious ramp flying by at the edge of the screen. The designers of Beetle Adventure Racing make each track’s unique diversions extremely obvious, but only once it’s too late to use them. This opens up the opportunity to discover the entry point on lap two and then perfect the shortcut on lap three.

That three-lap structure is the heart of Beetle Adventure Racing’s exquisite design. If that were all it had going for it, it would still be one of the best racing games on the Nintendo 64. As it stands, however, this classic racer has nearly everything going for it -- and, as such, remains one of the best racing games ever made.

A big part of why Beetle Adventure Racing holds up is its modern sensibility. It came just a handful of years after Super Nintendo racing games that didn’t have much to them. By comparison, this game feels like EA figuring out the future of progression. It autosaves after every race, which is notable because it truly feels like an “adventure.”

As you conquer each race -- and eventually each championship -- you unlock higher tiers of cars. These vehicles offer noticeable improvements in speed, acceleration, and handling. The fun ramps up so much with these upgrades that you’ll find yourself jumping back into the higher difficulties to see what the cars are really capable of.

That’s not to say that Beetle Adventure Racing isn’t fun from the jump. The cars immediately feel great, even at the slower starting speeds. A lot of this comes down to the hallmarks of N64 design. The physics system is robust, and you can really feel the balance of each vehicle through the various corners and chicanes. At the same time, the arcade-style action is never punishing. The Volkswagens bounce off the walls and each other. Eventually, you’ll go from being grateful that a crash didn’t completely wreck your race to purposefully gliding your Beetle along certain walls to carry even more speed through narrow shortcuts.

Feeling completely in control while having plenty of room to recover from mistakes has a secondary benefit: You can occasionally look around and witness just how bonkers each level can get. Again, that is hugely important for finding and executing the shortcuts. It’s the main reason I think Beetle Adventure Racing has the best tracks in any racing game ever. But the visual flourishes also do a lot to make each course memorable.

These aren’t short races. Even the beginner course, Coventry Cove, often takes six to eight minutes to complete across all three laps. But each race is an adventure unto itself. Inferno Isle, one of my favorites, takes place on an erupting volcano that also happens to look a lot like the setting of Jurassic Park. On each lap around the circuit, you’ll likely encounter a Tyrannosaurus Rex, while the course itself evolves as lava overtakes everything and forces you onto detours. Oh, and then it has a hidden cave with an entirely different theme to it that you could completely miss. 

By the time you finish a grand prix, all that action will leave you feeling thrilled and exhausted. But I’m always excited to see what the next track has in store.

Because of all the detail that Paradigm and EA Canada poured into each track, the studios leaned into quality over quantity. Beetle Adventure Racing has only six tracks. That might sound slight, but I’ve never felt that way while playing through the game. The beefy stages really help on this front. 

I should also acknowledge that you cannot come to this game for vehicle variety. Every car is a Volkswagen Beetle (or a Holden Special Vehicles car if you play the Australian version). So yes, even as you unlock better automobiles, they’re all just variations on the Bug. Even at the time, I remember finding that a bit questionable. The late 1990s were a time of peak “male flight,” and the new Volkswagen Beetle almost instantly became a car associated with girls (oh, no!) thanks to Mandy Moore’s “Candy” music video.

But I’m glad I ignored the insecurities that might have prevented me from playing this game at launch. What do they say about making judgments based on the cover? 

Beetle Adventure Racing remains a model for what a racing game should be, and it deserves its reputation as an all-time classic. These really are the greatest tracks in the history of the genre. And while some others might match it for spectacle (Forza Horizon’s showcases or even Cruis’n Blast’s rollercoaster-like tracks), no other game really makes you feel like you’re truly riding on the limit while the tracks explode around you.