The Choro Q video games are a series of video games based on Takara's Choro Q toy cars (also known as Penny Racers in English-speaking markets). The games have been localised for Western release under many different names, including Gadget Racers, Penny Racers and Road Trip.
Most of these games were developed by external companies, although they are usually credited to Takara since the developers' name rarely appears outside of the ending credits. Some of these developers include Tamsoft (Choro Q, Choro Q 2 and Choro Q 3), Barnhouse Effect (Shin Combat Choro Q, Choro Q HG and Choro Q HG 4), E-game (Choro Q Wonderful!, Choro Q HG 2 and Choro Q HG 3), Electronics Application (aka Eleca) (Choro Q Advance, Choro Q Advance 2, Choro Q: Hyper Customable GB and Perfect Choro Q). Most are auto racing games with extensive opportunities for customization, often including role-playing video game-style elements such as towns and side-quests.
Only three games in the series were released outside Japan prior to 2001 (including the 1984 MSX game by Taito, which is unrelated to the later Choro Q titles) - Choro Q for the PlayStation (released in Europe only as Penny Racers) and Choro Q 64 for the Nintendo 64 (released in North America and Europe as Penny Racers). However, since 2001 many of the titles have been released in the US and PAL regions as budget titles, by publishers including Conspiracy Entertainment, Midas Interactive Entertainment and Play It!.
| Title | Date | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Media type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choro Q チョロQBuggy SPA | 1984 | MSX | Taito | Nidecom JP Electric Software EU Sony Spain SPA | Cartridge Tape/Softcard Cartridge |
| A puzzle game. | |||||
| Choro Q JP チョロQPenny Racers EU | March 1996 1996 December 1996 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara JP Sony Computer Entertainment EU | CD |
| The first in the Choro Q racing series. | |||||
| Choro Q 2 チョロQ2 | February 1997 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara | CD |
| Choro Q 3 チョロQ3 | February 1998 | PlayStation | Tamsoft | Takara | CD |
| Choro Q Jet: Rainbow Wings チョロQジェット レインボーウィングス | February 1998 "the best" January 2000 | PlayStation | Astro Vision | Takara | CD |
| Choro Q Marine: Q-Boat チョロQマリン Qボート | June 1998 | PlayStation | Barnhouse Effect | Takara | CD |
| The first game in the series to be developed by Barnhouse Effect. | |||||
| Choro Q 64 JP チョロQ64Penny Racers NA/EU | 1998 JP 1999 NA/EU | Nintendo 64 | Locomotive Corporation | TakaraJP THQ NA/EU | Cartridge |
| Combat Choro Q コンバットチョロQ | February 1999 | PlayStation | Barnhouse Effect | Takara | CD |
| Choro Q Park チョロQパーク | March 1998 | Sega Saturn | Nextech[1] | Takara | CD |
| Choro Q Hyper Customable GB チョロQ ハイパーカスタマブルGB | July 1999 | Game Boy Color | Electronics Applications | Takara | Cartridge |
| The first entry in Electronics Applications' Game Boy series. | |||||
| Choro Q Wonderful! チョロQ ワンダフォー！ | August 1999 | PlayStation | E-game | Takara | CD |
チョロQ64 2 ハチャメチャグランプリレース | 1999 | Nintendo 64 | Locomotive Corporation | Takara | Cartridge |
| Choro Q Hyper Racing 5http://arcade-projects.com/forums/index.php?thread/1788-st-v-game-i-d-never-seen-before-choro-q-hyper-racing-5/ | 1999 | Arcade | Unknown | Unknown | Cartridge |
| Perfect Choro Q パーフェクトチョロQ | August 2000 | Game Boy Color | Electronics Applications | Takara | Cartridge |
| Choro Q HG JP チョロQ HGGadget Racers NA | December 2000 JP 2001 NA 2002 EU | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Midas Interactive Entertainment EU | DVD |
| "HG" is an abbreviation for "High Grade". | |||||
| Choro Q Advance JP チョロQアドバンスGadget Racers NA | 2001 JP/NA 2002 EU | Game Boy Advance | Electronics Applications | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Xicat Interactive EU | Cartridge |
| Choro Q HG 2 JP チョロQ HG2Road Trip NA | 2002 JA/NA 2003 EU | PlayStation 2 | E-game | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Play It! | CD |
| Shin Combat Choro Q JP 新コンバットチョロQSeek and Destroy NA/EU | 2002 JP/NA 2003 EU | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Play It! EU | DVD CD CD |
| Combat Choro Q: Advance Daisakusen コンバットチョロQアドバンス大作戦 | August 2002 | Game Boy Advance | Takara | Cartridge | |
| Boku no Choro Q | March 2002 | PlayStation | Takara | CD | |
| Choro Q Advance 2 JP Road Trip: Shifting Gears NA Gadget Racers EU | 2002 JP 2004 NA 2003 EU | Game Boy Advance | Electronics Applications | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Zoo Digital Publishing EU | Cartridge |
| Choro Q HG 3 JP Road Trip: Adventure Avenue NA Gadget Racers EU | December 2002 JP Cancelled NA 2003 EU | PlayStation 2 | E-game | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Zoo Digital Publishing EU | CD |
| Choro Q! JP Road Trip: The Arcade Edition NA Gadget Racers EU | December 2002 JP 2004 NA 2003 EU | GameCube | Electronics Applications | Takara JP Conspiracy Entertainment NA Zoo Digital Publishing EU | GameCube Game Disc (MiniDVD) |
| Choro Q Byun Byun Racer | 2003 | Stand-alone TV game | SSD Company Limited | ||
| Choro Q HG 4 JP ChoroQ NA/EU | 2003 JP 2004 NA 2005 EU | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Takara JP Atlus NA Zoo Digital Publishing EU | DVD |
| Choro Q Works | 2005 | PlayStation 2 | Barnhouse Effect | Atlus and Takara | DVD |
| Choro Q DS | Cancelled | Nintendo DS | Unknown | Atlus | Cartridge |
| Choro Q Wii JP Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway NA | 2008 | Wii | Barnhouse Effect | Takara Tomy | Wii Optical Disc (DVD) |
| Choro Q Grand PrixJP | December 2012 | Android | Barnhouse Effect | Takara Tomy | |