History VideoGame / HalloweenRacer

Released in Late 1999 for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, ''Halloween Racer'' is a low-budget MascotRacer developed by Visual Impact over a period of three to four months. The music was provided by Eden Sound and the publication was handled by Microids. The game was designed to be an impulse buy for [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] and is appropriately themed. Hitting up two holidays at once, it also has UsefulNotes/{{Christmas}}-related elements and these only become available around the game's midway point. This also makes it a better fit for its Europe-exclusive releases, because Halloween as a spooky holiday is barely a thing there but Christmas is popular.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Because Halloween precedes the winter holidays, the final racer to be unlocked through the championship is a penguin with a spiked collar who rides on a snowman's head. They both look demonic and when the penguin picks up the lightning bolt for a speed boost, their animation turns them white as if the penguin isn't any less snow than the snowman's head. There is also a penguin NPC who is more friendly looking.

There isn't much meat to the story; just the denizens of Halloween organizing races in their realm. Six of these are playable: a witch on a broom, a knight on floating shield, a scarecrow, [[SecretCharacter a skeleton with fog feet, a penguin on a snowman's head, and a rabbit on a pumpkin head]]. These six cannot race against each other, but race against four, five, or six [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]]. The [=NPCs=] are much more simply designed than the playable cast and include a pumpkin person, a vampire bat, a mummy, a skeleton, a bedsheet ghost, a UFO, a carnivorous plant, a penguin, and a parka-wearing figure riding a snowball. The [=NPCs=] don't start at the finish with the player racer, but at various spots farther along the circuit.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The Garden is a practice mode-only circuits unlocked after beating the championship on the expert level. Like all practice mode circuits, there are no other racers and the player only has to make sure they reach each of the four checkpoints before the time runs out. In The Garden, meeting those time limits requires near-perfect racing. There are no beneficial objects to pick up, but all the harmful ones are present and often occupy turns that would already be tricky to maneuver without them.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Because Halloween precedes the winter holidays, the final unlockable racer is a purple penguin with a spiked collar who rides on a snowman's head. They both look demonic and when the penguin picks up the lightning bolt for a speed boost, their animation turns them white as if the penguin isn't any less snow than the snowman's head. There is also a penguin NPC who is more friendly looking.

''Halloween Racer'' received a StealthSequel in 2001 named ''Monster Racer''. There is no marketing, title, platform, logo, or story to tie them together, but most of the cast of ''Halloween Racer'' and several circuits reappear.

* CoversAlwaysLie: There is a vampire holding a gravestone on the cover along with the witch and the scarecrow. The latter two are default playable racers and the third default playable racer is a knight. There is no vampire racer in sight, whether by default or as an unlockable, although he does show up as a racer in ''Monster Racer''. So he presumably was meant to be in the game, but was cut before release and the cover wasn't updated to reflect that.

* LethalLavaLand: The Vulcan level takes place on a volcano. The racers cannot go off-track though, so the lava is not an issue. Because of this, it actually serves as the starter circuit.

The game offers two modes: Championship and Practice. Both are available in the difficulties Rookie, Advanced, and Expert. The latter two are [[UnlockableDifficultyLevels unlocked by beating the lower difficulties]] in championship mode. Rookie covers four circuits (Vulcan, Egypt, Red Moon, Mine) and eight races, Advanced covers five circuits (Jungle added) and fifteen races, and Expert covers six circuits (Icefield added) and eighteen races. A [[BrutalBonusLevel bonus circuit]], The Garden, is only available in practice mode after beating the expert championship. Championships are won by at minimum coming in third each race. Coming in fourth or failing to reach one of the circuit's checkpoints before the timer runs out requires the player to pay a credit to continue, which are earned by wining races and scoring points during races by picking up gems and overtaking opponents. The game makes use of a PasswordSave system in which passwords are handed out after each completed championship.

Released in Late 1999 for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, ''Halloween Racer'' is a low-budget MascotRacer developed by Visual Impact over a period of three to four months. The music was provided by Eden Sound and the publication was handled by Microids. The game was designed to be an impulse buy for [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] and is appropriately themed. Hitting up two holidays at once, it also has UsefulNotes/{{Christmas}}-related elements and these only become available around the game's midway point.

There isn't much meat to the story; just the denizens of Halloween organizing races in their realm. Six of these are playable: a witch on a broom, a knight on floating shield, a scarecrow, [[SecretCharacter a skeleton with fog feet, a penguin on a snowman's head, and a rabbit on a pumpkin head]]. These six cannot race against each other, but race against four, five, or six [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]]. The [=NPCs=] are much more simply designed than the playable cast and include a pumpkin person, a vampire bat, a mummy, a skeleton, a bedsheet ghost, a UFO, a carnivorous plant, a penguin, and a parka-wearing figure riding a snowball. The [=NPCs=] don't start at the finish with the player racer, but at various spots farther along the track.

The game offers two modes: Championship and Practice. Both are available in the difficulties Rookie, Advanced, and Expert. The latter two are [[UnlockableDifficultyLevels unlocked by beating the lower difficulties]] in championship mode. Rookie covers four tracks (Vulcan, Egypt, Red Moon, Mine) and eight races, Advanced covers five tracks (Jungle added) and fifteen races, and Expert covers six tracks (Icefield added) and eighteen races. A [[BrutalBonusLevel bonus track]], The Garden, is only available in practice mode after beating the expert championship. Championships are won by at minimum coming in third each race. Coming in fourth or failing to reach one of the track's checkpoints before the timer runs out requires the player to pay a credit to continue, which are earned by wining races and scoring points during races by picking up gems and overtaking opponents. The game makes use of a PasswordSave system in which passwords are handed out after each completed championship.

''Halloween Racer'' received a StealthSequel in 2001 named ''Monster Racer''. There is no marketing, title, platform, logo, or story to tie them together, but most of the cast of ''Halloween Racer'' and several tracks reappear.

* AbandonedMine: Ostensibly, the Mine track relates to an abandoned mine, but there's no mine in sight. The track does go through a rocky desert where a mine would not at all be unexpected, but there's not even an entrance to be seen.
* AncientEgypt: Despite not taking place on Earth, there is a track through Egypt. It is a sandy area with sphinx statues littering the landscape and pyramids on the horizon.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The Garden is a practice mode-only tracks unlocked after beating the championship on the expert level. Like all practice mode tracks, there are no other racers and the player only has to make sure they reach each of the four checkpoints before the time runs out. In The Garden, meeting those time limits requires near-perfect racing. There are no beneficial objects to pick up, but all the harmful ones are present and often occupy turns that would already be tricky to maneuver without them.
* ChristmasTown: The Icefield is the last track to be unlocked for the championship and it is subtly Christmas-themed. There are north pole-poles, conifers, and snowmen.

** There is a real challenge in the races in regards to overtaking opponents and reaching the checkpoints timely, but there is also a fake challenge in how many races have to be completed for each championship. The rookie level calls for eight races, the advanced level for fifteen races, and the expert level for eighteen races. The rookie level covers four tracks, the advanced level five, and the expert level six. So to beat the rookie level, each track has to be raced on twice and to beat the other two levels, each track has to be raced on thrice.
** ''Halloween Racer'' lacks a track map, even though it reuses the engine of ''Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing'' and that game has a track map. This means corners cannot be prepared for other than by sheer memorization while corners are easily the most difficult part of each race.

* FogFeet: The skeleton racer has no legs, but instead coasts across the track on green fog. When he picks up lightning bolt for a speed boost, the green fog envelops him completely.
* HalloweenTown: The realm of Halloween is its own dimension where monsters live. Not all areas are necessarily eerie, as for instance the Icefield has a subtle Christmas vibe. There's also a region called Egypt, which is filled with sand and pyramids.

* JungleJapes: The Jungle track takes place in a jungle.
* LethalLavaLand: The Vulcan level takes place on a volcano. The racers cannot go off-track though, so the lava is not an issue. Because of this, it actually serves as the starter track.

* {{Mayincatec}}: The area of the Red Moon track holds many vaguely Mesoamerican statues. The landscape is furthermore fully red due to the moon's influence, evoking the association with blood.

* SecretCharacter: The game starts with three playable racers and three more can be unlocked. A skeleton with fog feet becomes available upon beating the rookie championship and a penguin on a snowman's head becomes available upon beating the advanced championship. If one manages to beat The Garden track in practice mode, a white rabbit riding a pumpkin head becomes available.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The Icefield takes place in a snow-covered field surrounded by mountains. Despite that the track looks slippery, it is not.

* TripTrap: There are snails spread across the track. Hitting them causes the player racer to trip and neither invincibility nor the speed boost protect against it.
* UnlockableDifficultyLevels: The game starts with the championship and practice modes available only on the rookie level. Beating the rookie championship unlocks the advanced level for both modes and beating the advanced championship unlocks the expert level for both modes. The higher difficulties come with an added track each -- the Jungle for the advanced level and the Icefield for the expert level -- and the championships are harder due to a higher number of opponents, tighter time limits, and more races to complete.
* WeirdMoon: The Red Moon track does not take place on the moon, but in an area colored red due to the moon's influence. The moon itself is only slightly red and whether or not it is perpetually in the area's sky or if the races are just timed right is unclear.
* WhiteBunny: The rabbit has a white coat, which may very well be because it is a snow rabbit. Being a creature of Halloween, it looks sinister but doesn't have to be.

''Halloween Racer'' received a StealthSequel in 2001 named ''Monster Racer''. There is no marketing, title, platform, logo, or story to tie them together, but almost the entire cast of ''Halloween Racer'' and several tracks reappear.

* CoversAlwaysLie: There is a vampire on the cover along with the witch and the scarecrow. The latter two are default playable racers and the third default playable racer is a knight. There is no vampire racer in sight, whether by default or as an unlockable, although he does show up as a racer in ''Monster Racer''. So he presumably was meant to be in the game, but was cut before release and the cover wasn't updated to reflect that.

* Mayincatec: The area of the Red Moon track holds many vaguely Mesoamerican statues. The landscape is furthermore fully red due to the moon's influence, evoking the association with blood.

* NitroBoost: One of the beneficial pick-ups is a lightning bolt that grants a temporary speed boost that also allows the player to bypass the opponents' bodily blocking. Notably, each racer has its own animation when the boost is in effect. The scarecrow gets brighter colors and makes jittery arm motions, the witch gets an orbiting particle shield and sways on her broom, the knight glows red and huddles a little, the skeleton gets a green glow around his arms and raises them, and the penguin turns white as snow and flaps its wings.

There isn't much meat to the story; just the denizens of Halloween organizing races in their realm. Five of these are playable: a witch on a broom, a knight on floating shield, a scarecrow, [[SecretCharacter a skeleton with fog feet, and a penguin on a snowman's head]]. These five cannot race against each other, but race against four, five, or six [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]]. These [=NPCs=] are much more simply designed than the playable cast and include a pumpkin person, a vampire bat, a mummy, a skeleton, a bedsheet ghost, a UFO, a carnivorous plant, a penguin, and a parka-wearing figure riding a snowball. The [=NPCs=] don't start at the finish with the player racer, but at various spots farther along the track.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The Garden is a practice mode-only tracks unlocked after beating the championship on expert rank. Like all practice mode tracks, there are no other racers and the player only has to make sure they reach each checkpoint before the time runs out. In The Garden, meeting those time limits requires near-perfect racing. There are no beneficial objects to pick up, but all the harmful ones are present and often occupy turns that would already be tricky to maneuver without them.

** There is a real challenge in the races in regards to overtaking opponents and reaching the checkpoints timely, but there is also a fake challenge in how many races have to be completed for each championship. The rookie rank calls for eight races, the advanced rank for fifteen races, and the expert rank for eighteen races. The rookie rank covers four tracks, the advanced rank five, and the expert rank six. So to beat the rookie rank, each track has to be raced on twice and to beat the other two ranks, each track has to be raced on thrice.

* PasswordSave: Unlockables from beating championships are saved by means of a password system. Passwords are referred to as spells and contain six symbols. The selectable symbols include letters (all but the vowels and "J"), numbers, an exclamation mark, and a skull, so that makes for 31^6 or 887503681 combinations. Funnily, it exists for only three similar passwords. The password for beating the rookie championship is [=2!!MT9=], for beating the advanced championship is [=2[skull]!NT9=], and for beating the expert championship is [=PCT92!=].

* PumpkinPerson: One of the [=NPCs=] is a carved-out pumpkin head.

* SecretCharacter: The game starts with three playable racers and two more can be unlocked. A skeleton with fog feet becomes available upon beating the rookie championship and a penguin on a snowman's head becomes available upon beating the advanced championship.

* UnlockableDifficultyLevels: The game starts with the championship and practice modes available only on rookie rank. Beating the rookie championship unlocks the advanced rank for both modes and beating the advanced championship unlocks the expert rank for both modes. The higher difficulties come with an added track each -- the Jungle for the advanced rank and the Icefield for the expert rank -- and the championships are harder due to a higher number of opponents, tighter time limits, and more races to complete.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The Garden is a practice mode-only tracks unlocked after beating the championship on expert level. Like all practice mode tracks, there are no other racers and the player only has to make sure they reach each checkpoint before the time runs out. In The Garden, meeting those time limits requires near-perfect racing. There are no beneficial objects to pick up, but all the harmful ones are present and often occupy turns that would already be tricky to maneuver without them.

* PasswordSave: Unlockables from beating championships are saved by means of a password system. Passwords are referred to as spells and contain six symbols. The selectable symbols include letters, numbers, an exclamation mark, and a skull, so that makes for 38^6 or 3010936384 combinations. Funnily, it exists for only three similar passwords. The password for beating the rookie championship is [=2!!MT9=], for beating the advanced championship is [=2[skull]!NT9=], and for beating the expert championship is [=PCT92!=].

The game offers two modes: Championship and Practice. Both are available in the difficulties Rookie, Advanced, and Expert. The latter two are [[UnlockableDifficultyLevels unlocked by beating the lower difficulties]] in championship mode. Rookie covers four tracks (Vulcan, Egypt, Red Moon, Mine) and eight races, Advanced covers five tracks (Jungle added) and fifteen races, and Expert covers six tracks (Icefield added) and eighteen races. A [[BrutalBonusLevel bonus track]], The Garden, is only available in practice mode after beating the expert championship. Championships are won by at minimum coming in third each race. Coming in fourth or failing to reach one of the track's checkpoints before the timer runs out requires the player to pay a credit, which are earned by wining races and scoring points during races by picking up gems and overtaking opponents. The game makes use of a PasswordSave system in which passwords are handed out after each completed championship.

* PasswordSave: Unlockables from beating championships are saved by means of a password system. Passwords are referred to as spells and contain six symbols. The selectable symbols include letters, numbers, an exclamation mark, and a skull, so that makes for 38^6 or 3010936384 combinations. Funnily, it exists for only three passwords. The password for beating the rookie championship is [=2!!MT9=], for beating the advanced championship is [=2[skull]!NT9=], and for beating the expert championship is [=PCT92!=].