Included in the September 2021 Nintendo Direct was a welcome surprise for Square Enix fans: the reveal of Chocobo GP, a racing game and successor to the PS1 title Chocobo Racing. The game aspires to be a lighthearted kart-racing game using characters, race tracks, and magic from various parts of the Final Fantasy franchise. Of particular note is the item system, using three-tiered magic like that of the original Chocobo Racing. With many Final Fantasy crossovers occurring in mobile games these days, it’s nice to see a console game bring the whole franchise together for some friendly competition.
The fact that the game is a Final Fantasy crossover may come as a surprise to some. Chocobo GP is chiefly based on the Chocobo game series, which has used a wide variety of game genres but is best known for its dungeon-crawling entries. The series has adapted many iconic Final Fantasy characters and monsters into chibi form, making it a sort of spiritual prequel to World of Final Fantasy. One might think that such a roster would be enough to fill a kart racer’s cast, but Chocobo GP also uses characters from other games in the series. This is a staple of the Chocobo Racing games, as the original featured Cloud, Squall, vehicles from various games, and Aya Brea’s cop car from Parasite Eve. The characters revealed by the new game's reveal trailer have yet to reach such goofy heights, but there are plenty of exciting crossovers in there.
Racers Hailing From the Chocobo Series
More than half of the revealed characters hail from the Chocobo series proper. The main Chocobo, simply called Chocobo, is an obvious representative from the series. As are the recurring White Mage Shiroma and the Moogles Mog and Dungeon Hero X (secretly the same person), who are usually around to help Chocobo in his adventures. Behemoth and Ramuh are present in their more cartoon-ish Chocobo game designs, and Cid has finally returned to his classic red-haired look from Chocobo titles. Some of the most recent Chocobo games featured a lot of drift from the deformed designs the series is known for, so it’s nice to see them back in full force here.
The remaining Chocobos are more odd. The only Chocobo seen in a kart is probably series-regular Fat Chocobo, though it’s difficult to make out his face in existing footage and he seems to be sporting a significantly different design. The other Chocobo seen skating down the tracks is a dark orange female named Camilla. She’s been a recurring character in the Chocobo games since the original Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon on PlayStation, but has never been given a major role despite essentially being the female equivalent to Chocobo. She was the strongest unlockable Buddy in the recent Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!, so it seems Square Enix is giving her more limelight.
Characters From Other Final Fantasy Games
There is one more Chocobo present in the revealed cast, though this one is different from the others. Despite looking like a Chocobo series regular, Mecha Chocobo has never been in a Chocobo game. It could have if the cancelled Battle de Chocobo arcade game actually came out, but that didn’t have anything to do with the other Chocobo games. Instead, this mechanized bird is a boss from World of Final Fantasy. Gilgamesh also looks like he could be from World, but he is sporting an all-new design. This is the latest of many, considering this Final Fantasy 5 lackey has been dimension-hopping for a long time.
The final two known characters are Adelbert Steiner and Vivi, both main characters from Final Fantasy 9. This comes as a surprise considering Black Mages are a recurring element in the Chocobo series, and an important one named Croma already exists. Their appearance does fit the cute style of Chocobo GP, and they provide a good teaser for the other Final Fantasy characters who could potentially appear later on. Their appearance also supports the theory that Square Enix is pushing for a resurrection of Final Fantasy 9 in the near future. The roster is already shaping up to be strong, and more crossover appearances can only make it better.
Chocobo GP will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch in 2022.