The Choro Q video games are a series of video games based on Takara's Choro Q toy cars (also known as Penny Racers in English-speaking markets). The games have been localised for Western release under many different names, including Gadget Racers, Penny Racers and Road Trip.
Most of these games were developed by external companies, although they are usually credited to Takara since the developers' name rarely appears outside of the ending credits. Some of these developers include Tamsoft (Choro Q, Choro Q 2 and Choro Q 3), Barnhouse Effect (Shin Combat Choro Q, Choro Q HG and Choro Q HG 4), E-game (Choro Q Wonderful!, Choro Q HG 2 and Choro Q HG 3), Electronics Application (aka Eleca) (Choro Q Advance, Choro Q Advance 2, Choro Q: Hyper Customable GB and Perfect Choro Q). Most are auto racing games with extensive opportunities for customization, often including role-playing video game-style elements such as towns and side-quests.
Overseas releases
Only three games in the series were released outside Japan prior to 2001 (including the 1984 MSX game by Taito, which is unrelated to the later Choro Q titles) - Choro Q for the PlayStation (released in Europe only as Penny Racers) and Choro Q 64 for the Nintendo 64 (released in North America and Europe as Penny Racers). However, since 2001 many of the titles have been released in the US and PAL regions as budget titles, by publishers including Conspiracy Entertainment, Midas Interactive Entertainment and Play It!.
Series history
| Title | Date | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Media type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Choro Q
Buggy SPA | 1984 | MSX | Taito | Nidecom JP Electric Software EU Sony Spain SPA | Cartridge Tape/Softcard Cartridge |
| A puzzle game. | |||||
Choro Q JP
Penny Racers EU | March 1996 1996 December 1996 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara JP | CD |
| The first in the Choro Q racing series. | |||||
Choro Q 2
| February 1997 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara | CD |
Choro Q 3
| February 1998 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara | CD |
Choro Q Jet: Rainbow Wings
| February 1998 "the best" January 2000 | PlayStation | Astro Vision | Takara | CD |
Choro Q Marine: Q-Boat
| June 1998 | PlayStation | Barnhouse Effect | Takara | CD |
| The first game in the series to be developed by Barnhouse Effect. | |||||
Choro Q 64 JP
Penny Racers NA/EU | 1998 JP 1999 NA/EU | Nintendo 64 | Locomotive Corporation | TakaraJP THQ NA/EU | Cartridge |
Combat Choro Q
| February 1999 | PlayStation | Barnhouse Effect | Takara | CD |
Choro Q Park
| March 1998 | Sega Saturn | Nextech[1] | Takara | CD |
Choro Q Hyper Customable GB
| July 1999 | Game Boy Color | Electronics Applications | Takara | Cartridge |
| The first entry in Electronics Applications' Game Boy series. | |||||
Choro Q Wonderful!
| August 1999 | PlayStation | E-game | Takara | CD |
Choro Q 64 2: Hachamecha Grand Prix Race
| 1999 | Nintendo 64 | Locomotive Corporation | Takara | Cartridge |
| Choro Q Hyper Racing 5[1] | 1999 | Arcade | Unknown | Unknown | Cartridge |
Perfect Choro Q
| August 2000 | Game Boy Color | Electronics Applications | Takara | Cartridge |
Choro Q HG JP
Gadget Racers NA | December 2000 JP 2001 NA | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA | DVD |
| "HG" is an abbreviation for "High Grade". | |||||
Choro Q Advance JP
Gadget Racers NA | 2001 JP/NA 2002 EU | Game Boy Advance | Electronics Applications | Takara JP | Cartridge |
Choro Q HG 2 JP
Road Trip NA | 2002 JA/NA 2003 EU | PlayStation 2 | E-game | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA | CD |
Shin Combat Choro Q JP
Seek and Destroy NA/EU | 2002 JP/NA 2003 EU | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA | DVD CD CD |
Combat Choro Q: Advance Daisakusen
| August 2002 | Game Boy Advance | Takara | Cartridge | |
| Boku no Choro Q | March 2002 | PlayStation | Takara | CD | |
| Choro Q Advance 2 JP Road Trip: Shifting Gears NA | 2002 JP 2004 NA | Game Boy Advance | Electronics Applications | Takara JP | Cartridge |
| Choro Q HG 3 JP Road Trip: Adventure Avenue NA | December 2002 JP Cancelled NA | PlayStation 2 | E-game | Takara JP | CD |
| Choro Q! JP Road Trip: The Arcade Edition NA | December 2002 JP 2004 NA | GameCube | Electronics Applications | Takara JP | GameCube Game Disc (MiniDVD) |
| Choro Q Byun Byun Racer | 2003 | Stand-alone TV game | SSD Company Limited | ||
| Choro Q HG 4 JP ChoroQ NA/EU | 2003 JP 2004 NA | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP | DVD |
| Choro Q Works | 2005 | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Atlus and Takara | DVD |
| Choro Q DS | Cancelled | Nintendo DS | Unknown | Atlus | Cartridge |
| Choro Q Wii JP Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway NA | 2008 | Wii | Barnhouse Effect | Takara Tomy | Wii Optical Disc (DVD) |
| Choro Q Grand PrixJP | December 2012 | Android | Barnhouse Effect | Takara Tomy | |