Play Road Trip : Shifting Gears Online

Road Trip: Shifting Gears came out for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, developed by MTO. It was part of that wave of GBA games that tried to do something a little different with the hardware, offering a top-down driving adventure instead of a typical platformer or RPG. You don't see many games like it on the system, which always made it stand out in my collection.

You control a customizable car, driving from screen to screen across a large, interconnected world. Your main goal is to complete jobs for various characters, which usually involves delivering items or winning races to earn money and new parts. The signature mechanics are the exploration and the car customization; you're constantly unlocking new areas by finding upgrades like better tires for rough terrain or a snorkel to drive through deep water. The pacing is generally relaxed, though some of the later races can get tricky. It feels like a light, open-world road trip where your progress is measured by the new parts you bolt onto your car.