Road Trip: Shifting Gears is one of those GBA racers that somehow nails the "simple but weirdly satisfying" vibe. You pick from these little chunky cars—some handle better, others are faster, and I always ended up favoring the red one for no real reason—then just go. No fancy power-ups, no rubber-banding AI, just you, the road, and the occasional opponent car that’s more of a moving obstacle than a real rival.

The tracks are surprisingly varied for a game this old-school, from tight city streets to wide-open desert highways where you can actually feel the speed difference when you shift up. And yeah, you do manually shift gears with the shoulder buttons, which sounds tedious but ends up being weirdly fun once you get the rhythm down. Mess it up, and your car wheezes like it’s about to fall apart.

It’s not gonna blow your mind, but there’s something about the way the pixelated scenery blurs past that makes it hard to put down. Perfect for short bursts when you just wanna zone out and drive. The music’s got that early 2000s synth-cheese thing going on too, which honestly adds to the charm.