After the unique visuals and fresh implementation of standard and advanced features, the most compelling reason to get your hands on Auto Modellista is for its online multiplayer racing capabilities.
I never gave this game much of a chance back in the day. I bought it on the GameCube then because of the cell shaded graphics, which have aged well. But the games difficulty immediately turned me off and I never touched it again. Fast forward to modern day. I've purchased the PS2 version to go e it another shake. The game is still difficult, but now that I've played quite a few Sims since then, I now understand you have to try to treat it as such and not an arcade racer like it visually looks like. If you can do this, it controls perfectly. Don't push the turns too hard, brake before your turns, and counter steer to prevent under steer. It's very simple. Trackings are plentiful and unique and the car selection feels like a love letter to a better time for sports cars. If you gave up on this early back in the day, give it another go. You might just realize what all you've missed for all these years.
Still, if you're like me, you'll find yourself living with these problems just because of Auto Modellista's solid online aspects, and right now, that's what every online racing fan needs. [June 2003, p.48]
Has a fantastic look, but its gameplay unsuccessfully tries to straddle the line between simulation-style tuning options and arcade-style handling and collision physics.
The biggest problem I found was control. Nag all you want about the AI, its not that big a deal. But I hardly ever felt like I was in true control of the car that I was driving.
Powersliding, for a start, is a disaster. It's nearly impossible to do with any level of consistency, and no amount of fiddling with the car's setup will fix it. [May 2003, p.60]
The original "Ridge Racer" on PSOne had better control than Auto Modellista. The biggest problem with the game is the utter lack of traction that these cars have. [June 2003, p.28]
This is indeed a very underrated game. The car selection is great, the OST is good and the unique cartoon visuals are excellent. The problem with Automodellista is the handling that can be quite loose, this happens only in the U.S Tuned release, so my best advice to enjoy the ultimate automodellista experience is to play the original european or the japanese release.
Pros:
+Gorgeous cel-shaded graphics
+Good soundtrack
+Nice car list
+Garage customization is pretty neat
Cons:
-Bad handling in the U.S Tuned version
This is a pretty decent game with steering wheel compatibility but is a liitle bit on the bland side. The graphics of the cars (cartoony cell shading) are excellent however the rest of the games quality is average to most other racing games on the system. Despite the wheel working it does not really have a satisfying feel and gameplay enjoyment really boils down to how much you love the graphics, or not.
Juego bastante innovador, con al rededor de 70 vehículos, sin daños, estilo entre el simulador y el arcade, música bastante olvidable, lo mas interesante es el uso de los ya pasado de moda graficos Cel shaded, se aconseja buscar la versión US Tuned que trae mas pistas y vehículos. un juego interesante de parte de Capcom
Les graphismes particuliers très enfantins sont déconcertants mais peuvent attirer un public très jeune. Les possibilités d'optimisation et de personnalisation sont aussi poussées que dans un Gran Turismo, voire plus complètes encore ; malheureusement l'approche abominablement arcade rend tout cela caduc, il ne reste alors que l'esthétique : toutes les voitures ont en effet le même comportement simpliste et simplet. Reconnaissons tout de même une partie sonore correcte et un début de vague amusement le temps de la découverte. Hélas, vient assez vite la soupe à la grimace.
Released in 2002 by Capcom, Auto Modelista is Capcom's much hyped and flopped racing game. The game received a fair bit of hype because Capcom said was going to the first great online racing game on the PS2. Sadly it wasn't to be, but is it any good.
Graphics wise this game is solid. This is a racing game that still looks good today. Everything in this game has this really nice cell shaded comic book look to it. The cars also look pretty damn cool in the game with tons of different kinds of cars from Ford Camero to Dodge Vipers. This with the great sense of speed and excellent menus helps this game last the test of time.
Sound wise it's also pretty decent. There a decent selection of music, but nothing too spectacular. Aside from that the game is just in general very respectable audio wise.
The game play is mediocre at best. I'll be honest with you I'm not the biggest fan of simulation games like Gran Turismo, but at least in those games, I don't spin out every 30 seconds in a race. This is probably the biggest problem I have with the game. The controls are so touchy that it's hard enough to keep the car going straight as is, but it get's even harder making turns. I personally will never figure out how to get a good grip of the controls. If you can do a complete race without spinning out every 30 seconds, great for you, I'm an idiot. Probably the best things I will say that it has all the standard modes, it has early use of online play for the PS2 and some cool ways to customize your car. The problem is at the end of the day if the game doesn't play well, it all doesn't matter.
Overall Auto Modelista is an absolute disappointment. There are some cool ideas and it's pretty cheap, it's just there are so many better racing at the time alone that you shouldn't bother.
Summary(U.S. Version with Online capability) The future of online racing is now! Experience the first cell-shaded 3D arcade racing game of its kind on the PS2. Race head-to-head, up to 8 drivers online, up to 2 offline. Revolutionary VJ Feature: edit your instant replay footage and screen effects, music or save for later review. Easily customiz...