Have you ever played a game that so thoroughly fulfills its central concept that you don’t think it can be improved? It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most compelling concept; it can be completely banal, but it convinces you that no matter how much budget is thrown at the idea, there’s no way to top it. This is Parking Garage Rally Circuit.
I’m not trying to say it’s the best racing game of all time. I rarely say it with such enthusiastic exaggeration. But I will say with some certainty that Parking Garage Rally Circuit is absolutely the best garage-style racing game ever released for the Sega Saturn.
Parking Garage Rally Circuit this is what I would describe if you asked me to guess the summary Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift based on what I remember from the trailer I saw in high school. The only image I have of the movie is cars rolling down a ramp in a parking garage. I’m not even sure I remember that correctly.
I love drifting. Or at least arcade drifting. I judge racing games mostly by how well they drift. But as much as I love drifting, I love retro hardware even more. More specifically, I’m passionate about people’s passion for older hardware. I love hearing people talk enthusiastically about ancient consoles and computers, even the worst ones imaginable. I like it more when people try to present them as authentically as possible.
One of the first things that greets you when you start up Parking Garage Rally Circuit is a series of graphical presets presented like different versions of the game, like the original hardware or the PC port. While this essentially only changes options like scanlines, aspect ratio, and draw distance, it puts those things in the context of the time period. If you don’t care about authenticity and want to be monotonous, you can individually adjust the settings to your own liking.
But even if you widen the screen, you don’t completely lose the aesthetic of the chunky polygons, artificial transparency, pixelated textures, and absurd ska song selection. Parking Garage Rally Circuit is really dedicated to the racing games of the mid-90s. It’s not Sega Rally Championship – I’m not trying to do it – but that’s what it looks like.
But looking like someone is one thing. Racing games have to play well. It’s not a genre that can do without artistic intent. Unless Road trip on PS2. Fortunately, Parking Garage Rally Circuit is like butter.
As I mentioned, I’m a bit of a drift queen. At least in video games. In real life, I don’t even have a driver’s license. But I managed to get a feel Parking Garage Rally Circuit very rapid and drove onto the parking ramps like this Drifting in Tokyo trailer in the blink of an eye.
As the name suggests, each of the 8 tracks are located in parking garages. Sort of. I guess the final level is technically a ferry, but I digress. You might be wondering how much variety you can get out of this theme. Turns out, there’s quite a bit. Each parking garage is located in a different city, and ranges from basic two-story structures to sprawling complexes. Hazards like snowplows and falling boulders make tight turns arduous, while perilous jumps over lofty structures keep you focused on your steering.
You’re not racing against real competitors, you’re racing against their ghosts. That means it’s a time trial, and your goal is to get the fastest time. While I like to push people off the road, I’m not sure the grid would really work in such tight conditions. The challenge of carefully drifting through extremely tight corners is enough to keep you focused. If you’re feeling competitive, there’s multiplayer, but, again, it’s all ghosts.
The only drawback I can point out is Parking Garage Rally Circuit is its brevity. There are eight tracks, and after winning a medal on each in a class, you get a modern car with different performance and re-run the tracks with minor changes. On paper, it’s decent, but it only took me a little under two hours to complete. I had a good pile of gold under my belt, but still more to go. Your mileage will vary.
On the other hand, there are also secret codes hidden in the game. I was told there were 10 of them, but I only got two. I couldn’t figure out any others, but they are supposed to be discovered and shared by the community. They unlock “secret cars, tracks, or gameplay modifiers.”
Despite its brevity, Parking Garage Rally Circuit is a huge force. It’s not just the perfectly rendered retro aesthetic or the near-flawless execution of its core concept. It’s just so damn cheerful to be here. You can feel the passion behind it, and that energy is palpable in every aspect of it. It knows what it is and is focused on delivering it in the most polished way possible. I can’t think of any game that beats it in the niche of racing games set entirely in parking garages. I’m not sure how best to sum up this review, so let’s try this: Parking Garage Rally Circuit is much more fun than parallel parking.
