I’m not sure why I love Beetle Adventure Racing so. It is objectively a good game, scoring 90 on Metacritic, but aside from this I have a real affinity for the title that I'm sure plays on childhood nostalgia.
 
I recall renting it from Choices (remember them?) twice. I think buying it was outside of my price range at the time, in fact I don’t think I ever owned it. However, I enjoyed it so much I crammed two weeks of rentals out of it and boy did I have fun!
 
For the uninitiated, Beetle Adventure Racing is an arcade racing game where you take control of the iconic car make in a variety of tracks that featured hidden shortcuts and sharp gameplay. The range of cars balance various elements such as manoeuvrability, acceleration and speeding to provide a range of options to the player, ensuring that no two cars feel the same.

The tracks themselves are distinct and take inspiration from famous movies such as Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and Bond and are long with a variety of hidden short-cuts that reward exploration, meaning that even after three long laps you still feel like you’ve got a lot to explore. Scattered throughout the levels are bonus boxes that will give you instant boosts and extra points, allowing for a variety of gameplay approaches as you can choose to collect them or flat-out race to the end. Your progress depends on coming in the top 3, but if you fail this and have enough points you can still progress, allowing players the choice of approach.
 
Beetle Adventure Racing handles well by-and-large and provides a mixture between the Mario Kart series’ box collection element with more traditional racers, making it stand out as something unique amongst other racers.
 
The multiplayer mode ‘Beetle Battle’ allowed you and friends to duke it out while trying to collect six different coloured ladybugs and then race to the finish once you’ve got them all. It’s similar to Mario Kart’s battle mode but with its own twist that helped it to stand out. 

I should just buy a N64 again.

Unfortunately while a sequel was discussed at some point, it never came to be. Similarly, the title has never found its way onto the Virtual Console, meaning if you want some groovy racing action you’d need to track down a cart and dust off the N64. I recommend it though, it’s a great racer that in spite of looking dated, still plays well.
 
Electronic Arts would later go on to make the Need for Speed series and in many ways Beetle Adventure Racing is a precursor for some of the earlier titles. If you’ve played Need for Speed but never played this, try and find it.
 
The variety of vehicles and routes within the numerous levels make it fun to play alone. However, get some friends round and it comes close to rivalling the beloved Mario Kart in terms of multiplayer joy.