Digimon Racing

Digimon Racing is a racing video game that utilizes characters and elements from Digimon as well as those of traditional racing games. The game follows a group of Digimon competing in a racing tournament within the Digital World, home to all Digimon. The purpose of the grand prix is to determine who is the best racer; thus, they use specially designed karts that equate all contestants in terms of ability.

Digimon Racing's gameplay largely resembles that of traditional racing games. It focuses on competing against five CPU-controlled characters in cup races consisting of three laps. The usage of items to attack opponents and improve one's own condition is an integral part of the gameplay, and adds an element of kart racing games. A new feature in the game is "kart hopping": using the karts to jump onto opponents, slowing them down.

Unlike previous games in the series which were developed by Japanese companies, Digimon Racing's development was handled by the Kirkland, Washington, United States–based Griptonite Games. However, Digimon series veteran Bandai (now Namco Bandai Games) returned to publish the game. It was the first original Digimon game for the Game Boy Advance, since Digimon Battle Spirit and Digimon Battle Spirit 2 were ports of WonderSwan Color games. The game uses the Mode 7 engine to create three-dimensional gameplay on the handheld console otherwise incapable of such a feat.

It occasionally uses voice acting during races, uncommon in Game Boy Advance games. The game was initially announced at E3 2003. It was later exhibited at E3 2004, with the North American release announced for August 2004. Upon completion of development, the game received a rating of "E" (Everyone) from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and "3+" from Pan European Game Information (PEGI).

Digimon Racing received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic. Critics criticized the game for its close resemblance to other kart racers of the time. com's Garnett Lee stated that Digimon Racing's gameplay mirrored that of Crash Nitro Kart and the Mario Kart series respectively. Aside from the familiar format, critics praised specific aesthetic points such as the graphics and music (GameZone's Michael Lafferty) and the tracks' layouts and themes (Lee).

Aspects of the gameplay were also praised, such as control (Harris and Lee), multiplayer mode (Lee), replay value, and kart hopping (Harris). Nintendo Power stated that "[t]he racing action is similar to that of other kart games, but the Digimon influence adds a fun gameplay edge." Famitsu's four reviewers gave the game scores of 5, 5, 7, and 6 out of 10, respectively, resulting in a total score of 23 out of 40. J.