Kubert: Rural Racing

Kubert: Rural Racing is a racing video game for the Nintendo GameCube. The game is notable for starring GameCube Online's mascot, Kubert, as the main character. The game was released in Jetania on 14th March, 2003, Republic of Guy on 22nd March, 2003 and the rest of Europe on 6th April, 2003. The game was later released internationally half a year later, with the game releasing on 31st October, 2003 in Brazil, 20th November, 2003 in El Kadsre and later 19th December, 2003 in Japan. In Europe, it was among the last games to be reviewed by ELSPA.

The game was a success in Jetania, selling 3 million copies in the country alone, and received positive reviews from critics. The game was a moderate success in international regions. Following the game's success, a franchise starring the characters was later spawned.

Ironically, despite the main character of the game being the mascot for an online service, there was no online connectivity for the game aside from sharing replays online.

Plot
Dr. Steelwheel announces that he is hosting a racing competition for charity. Kubert, who has not had the best history with the doctor, thinks this is one of his tricks, but decides to go for it anyway, after paying a rather high fee.

After winning all of the races in the game, Dr. Steelwheel admits that he is not giving the money to charity, but has instead spent it on himself, and he has now created a robot called Tempt that challenges Kubert to a race. After defeating Tempt, Dr. Steelwheel is taken to jail. Kubert, however, says that he has had fun, and everybody continues racing.

Gameplay
Kubert: Rural Racing is a racing game. All of the characters have wheels, meaning the game is essentially a footrace.

Every character can have three different types of wheels; Booster Wheels, Power Wheels and Sticky Wheels. Booster Wheels allow the players to use ramps and panels to get bursts of speed. Power Wheels allow the racers to drift and drive over wine and water. Sticky Wheels allow the characters to drive up walls.

Kubert: Rural Racing is more puzzle orientated and involves more strategy than most racing games. Many of the levels have optional paths that give the player keys or switches that can open up shortcuts, however, the player must take caution that their rivals can take these shortcuts too.

Instead of having the player race through a track several times, each stage has a goal that every player must reach to finish.

Characters
Kubert: Rural Racing features twelve playable characters. The first eight are avaliable from the start.

Nine of the characters are original characters, who make their debut in this game. Alongside these nine, Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight also appear as guest characters.

Dr. Steelwheel is unlocked after defeating Tempt.

Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight are unlocked by setting a certain amount of time trials. Kirby is unlocked after 8, King Dedede is unlocked after 16 and Meta Knight is unlocked after 24.

Circuit Zones
Circuit Zones feature the players racing around a certain amount of tracks and trying to get either a gold, silver, bronze or green trophy. Different zones have different conditions attached, which the player will need to consider before taking it on.

Ghetto Street was omitted in the international version of the game and was replaced with a retextured version called Ghost Street.

Pleasure Beach is based off. Gunge Train is based off the event in.

After winning 1st on the White Gem for the first time, the player will have to race Tempt on an unnamed castle track. If the player losses, they will not get the gold trophy and will have to retry the White Gem. If the player wins, the credits will play, though the player will not be able to race Tempt or race on the castke track again, unless they start a new file.

Cubes
Cubes are the items of the game. Players can store up to four items at once, and can use them by pressing either X, Y, or one of the directional pads.

Pummel Attacks
Pummel Attacks can be used by pressing X or Y without holding any cubes, when facing another player. Both players are invincible during the process, and the player who launches the attack receives a burst of speed afterwards.

Soundtrack
Kubert: Rural Racing - The Soundtrack was released on 1st December, 2002 in Jetania and 7th January, 2003 in El Kadsre, and features several of the songs that were featured in the game. It was later released on iTunes on 8th June, 2003, becoming one of the first video game soundtracks to ever become avaliable on iTunes.

Cheating and Hacking
The game has a debug menu which can be accessed via hacking devices.

Hacking the game allows the player to play as Tempt. He passes through cubes (the race against him has cubes turned off), though he can still collect and use them. He has no victory and losing animation, and uses a placeholder image as a potrait. Ingame, however, he is still listed as Tempt. If a player plays a Circuit Zone as him, the game will crash after the last race.

Cheat Codes
In the pause menu, if the player holds down the L button for a couple of seconds, they will be sent to the option to add cheat codes, typing in a six character space. The following codes are:
 * BADCPU - Stops the computer players from moving altogether.
 * ARMOUR - Makes the player invinicible.
 * 4EVER - Gives the player unlimited supplies of the next item they receive, or the item they are holding.
 * MARIO - Causes the Bob-Omb Battlefield music from Super Mario 64 to play.
 * SONIC - Makes the player move incredibly fast.
 * TRESET - Resets the time of the race.
 * FINALE - Makes the current lap the last lap.
 * BOOM - Causes every item to explode after its use.

Cheat codes only last for one race.

If the player uses a cheat code in the race against Tempt, after finishing the race, an alternative cutscene will trigger, where Dr. Steelwheel calls the player out for cheating, and treats it like the player lost the race.

If a player uses a cheat code in multiplayer, it will only affect the player who paused and entered the cheat code.

Critical reception
Kubert: Rural Racing received critical acclaim from the critics for its impressive graphics for the time, great course design and unique gimmicks. IGN gave the game a 8.8 out of 10, whilst GameSpot gave the game a 9.6 out of 10. The game currently has a 85% rating on Metacritic.

Trivia

 * With 6 circuit zones and 6 difficulties, there are a total of 36 trophies the player must earn to 100% the game.
 * When finishing a race, each character will have a positive reaction, unless they came last place.