Mini Shiku Shining Scorpion – Let’s & Go!!!

Description

Mini Yonku Shining Scorpion: Let’s & Go!! follows brothers Retsu and Go Seiba enter the world of Mini 4WD racing. Players take on the role of a young racer who receives the Shining Scorpion, a fully cowled Mini 4WD designed by Tamiya, and compete in tournaments while meeting characters from the anime. The tone is lighthearted and adventurous, echoing the shōnen spirit of the source material: friendship, rivalry, and the thrill of racing.

In the 1980s and 1990s, kids around the world were swept up in RC cars: fully steerable, battery- or fuel-powered models prized for their realism and demanded both driving skill and mechanical tinkering, making them popular with older kids and hobbyists. Mini 4WD, introduced by Tamiya in 1982, took a different approach: small, affordable 1:32 scale cars that ran autonomously on slotted tracks, with the excitement coming from customizing motors, gears, tires, and rollers to squeeze out every bit of speed. Fueled by anime like Dash! Yonkuro and Bakusou Kyoudai Let’s & Go!!, Mini 4WD became a massive craze in Japan, with tournaments, dedicated shop tracks, and even limited-edition model tie-ins.

Gameplay blends RPG-style exploration with racing simulation. Between races, players walk around towns, talk to NPCs, and buy or upgrade parts for their Mini 4WD. Races themselves are automated slot-car style: you don’t steer directly, but performance depends on how you’ve tuned your machine motors, gears, tires, rollers, and stabilisers. The Shining Scorpion serves as the signature machine, with upgrades unlocking as you progress. This made the game feel like a hybrid an RPG, with F-Zero’s futuristic racing, and a heavy emphasis on vehicle customisation like Exhaust Heat, Battle Grand Prix, even Top Gear 3000.

Development was handled by ASCII in collaboration with Tamiya, who used the game as a cross-promotion for their Mini 4WD line. Pre-orders even came with a limited-edition Shining Scorpion model kit (gold-plated or pearl-white variants), making it a collector’s item. The game was Japan-only, but it became a cult favourite among fans of the anime and Mini 4WD hobby. Reception was positive among its niche audience. Fans praised the faithful adaptation of the anime’s characters and the depth of customization, though some critics noted that the automated racing could feel passive compared to more interactive racers. Still, it captured the excitement of the Mini 4WD craze of the mid-1990s and remains a nostalgic for collectors and enthusiasts.