Greetings everyone.

I was sitting around today, reminiscing on the games that I miss from my childhood. I played it, it stuck with me and I continue to enjoy it to this very day. It was something that I was not expecting, and something that I cannot say I have truly experienced ever since.



The game was Final Lap Twin, as the image above will show. I played it on my Turbo-Grafx 16. I once wondered what about it made the game so appealing? Was it because the game is a blend of RPG and Racing? Or was it simply that, being an RPG fan, the game had those aspects? Whatever it was, the formula worked for me.

Now, occasionally you'll have a game that experiments in newer realms, briefly touching an RPG aspect, then quickly leaving it. An example would be Gran Turismo 4's director mode, what with its "levelling" AI driver. But no. Despite it being somewhat familiar in terms of minor systems, never did I play another mixture between racing and RPG that actually had an overworld to travel:





Occasionally, while travelling the world - you'll encounter a random battle that ends up in a brief dialogue where you have the option to back out of the race or go straight into a split screen race with your opponent.



While it was a fantastic game, i've been looking for blends of the RPG and another genre ever since. Occasionally i'll find a game that partially does it, like MLB Power Pros. But there's certain things i'm looking for in my ridiculous RPG Blend dreams. One of those things is a certain level of ridiculous power gain. We're talking about throwing flaming fast balls here. The kind of ridiculousness you only see in watching anime or the live action version of Prince of Tennis.



MLB Power pros kind of took it to more of a dating sim with some inclusion of an RPG skill increase system. Which just a skill increase would be right up my alley. But alas, it just didn't sit right with me. I'd train and train and it just wouldn't have that big bang of a visual effect I was looking for. Not like seeing my new top speed in FLT just after i've "equipped" that newest engine I got. Or how responsive my turning has gotten since those new tires.

I am told there is a game to be ported to the US called Inazuma Eleven that might sate my desires. But until then, who is to know - Perhaps i'm destined to only have that same feeling I enjoyed so much with Final Lap Twin.