The GameCube has received its fair share of quality racing titles this year, and now developer MTO is jumping into the fray with their first GameCube game, GT Cube. Based off of the popular GT Advance GBA games, the GameCube version shares many of the same traits. For those thinking that this is a Gran Turismo killer, you'll be disappointed to hear that it's nowhere near it. In fact, the game pretty much kills itself for the amount of annoyances you need to put up with while you play.

The main draw of the game is the cel-shaded look that the cars sport. While the effect isn't as dramatic as in Capcom's Auto Modellista, the subtle shading of the cars in GT Cube gives them a pleasing look. There are a great deal of Japanese car manufacturers who have vehicles in the game, from the familiar Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi brands, along with smaller companies like ASL, Daihatsu, and Mitsuoka. In total, the game includes well over fifty vehicles from ten manufacturers, ranging from minivans to SUVs to sportsters.

You start off in GT Cube with a meager selection of cars, and need to work your way up the ranks through a variety of three-race cups, some of which have entry restrictions. For example, you might only be allowed to race a four-door car in one cup or a minivan in another cup. Every time you get first place in a cup, you unlock a new car and a new tuning part to trick out your rides. These upgrades to your car range from better suspension, bucket seats, and of course, a variety of horns to honk at your opponents as you pass them by. Most of these parts will increase the performance of any car you put them on.

When you've decided on which car you fancy, and have applied the parts that you like on it, it's time to hit the track. Unfortunately, this is where the many of GT Cube's annoyances begin to show up. The first thing you'll notice is the scenery. It seems fine at first, but as you race around the track, you'll notice that it's rather basic and boring to look at. It doesn't really fit well with the cel-shaded look that the cars have, either. On top of that, you'll be seeing the same type of track over and over again, since there are really only four track locations (circuit, city, mountain, and highway) with ten tracks total among them. Weather effects are also poorly done, with rain looking like film grain scratches, and near-zero visibility at night.

While racing, you and eleven other cars duke it out for first place. It should be said that all of your opponents are very competitive, and many times, all of the cars will remain tightly grouped for the duration of a race. So tightly grouped, in fact, that it's not too uncommon for the entire field to finish within a second or two. This is good for racing within the pack, but it's also bad, considering it's easy to make a mistake while you're in front and have all eleven cars pass you at once. There are many times when one mistake will cause you to finish out of the top three in any given race, and you'll be forced to retry it until you can get a podium spot.

As you spend more time with the game, you'll begin to get aggravated by just doing race after race. Ten tracks (plus reverse tracks) don't help break up the monotony, that's for sure. The tracks are too long for the cars you wind up driving, especially when you need to switch to a slower car for a different cup. The engine sound effects that your car produces are also quite irritating, and the background music is weak. Having to put up with these annoyances each time you race prevents you from playing the game in large chunks and makes it hard to enjoy the good parts that the game does have.

Although GT Cube does have these faults, there's still some fun to be had. The control is solid and won't get in the way of playing the game (although your car sometimes hangs between gears in automatic transmission). As you race against all the other cars on track, you can't help but get a little excited, considering that many other racing games only have a total of four, six or eight cars, let alone all on screen at the same time. The replays look nice too, with numerous camera angles and those sweet-looking cars staying in focus.

In the end though, this game barely has enough to make it slightly above average. The actual racing is fun if you can put up with the annoyances, and it's good to play with friends, too. Then again, this being an import title, it's definitely not worth it to shell out the bucks to bring this one over from Japan. Perhaps if this were brought to the States as a budget title, it would be worth your attention, but as it stands, it would be best to leave this one alone.