Kinetica (PS2) - The futuristic racer you probably never played

[Shinobido Heart]

Kinetica is a futuristic racer that came out for the PS2 in 2001 by Santa Monica Studio!

In this game, there are no cars. Instead, the racers themselves are the vehicles.

Each racer has wheels on their hands and feet, covered in protective armor.

Because of this, the racers are agile and nimble, enabling them to perform tricks at any time on the ground or in the air.

Performing stylish tricks rewards the racer with Boost meter that let's the player boost around the race track at increased speeds!

The game also featured a jammin soundtrack that made blazing through the race tracks even more fun.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

No, YOU probably!

 

[Lord Fanny]

That I probably did what?

 

[Bundy]

Super underrated. And the soundtrack is great.

What's with the thread title tho?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Played a bunch of this at Sears on a demo disc that had this, and I believe Ico and Downhill Domination.

so this was no doubt no better than the third best game on said demo disc, lol

 

[Transistor]

I did probably Kinetica, but I preferred probably Extreme G III

 

[Shinobido Heart]

LOL oops, sorry guys, Ill get a mod to fix the thread title xD

 

[Transistor]

LOL oops, sorry guys, Ill get a mod to fix the thread title xD

Click to shrink...

I got u

 

[Lord Fanny]

Super underrated. And the soundtrack is great.

What's with the thread title tho?

Click to shrink...

I assume he meant to write that 'you probably never heard of'

 

[Border]

How does it compare to SSX and Wipeout?

I remember being interested in the game when it came out, but never really got around to playing.

 

[Shinobido Heart]

I got u

Click to shrink...

Thanks! It should say "The futuristic racer you probably never played!"

I assume he meant to write that 'you probably never heard of'

Click to shrink...

Close! :P

 

[Dremorak]

Oh wow, this looks awesome!
I have indeed, probably never heard of it!

 

[Shinobido Heart]

Oh wow, this looks awesome!
I have indeed, probably never heard of it!

Click to shrink...

If I remember right, when I still had my PS4, I saw it under the PS2 Classics section on PSN!

 

[Jakenbakin]

I did probably Kinetica, but I preferred probably Extreme G III

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I loved Extreme G so much, but I only ever played the first two on the N64.

While I've heard of Kinetica I never noticed the racers were their own vehicles lol I dig it.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

I had this game! I think about it from time to time. I didn't know anyone else knew about it!

 

[Addleburg]

I had this game back when it was new and loved it. I bought it again a couple years ago on PS4 and it was still pretty fun, but didn't hold my interest like it did as a teenager, heh.

 

[Shinobido Heart]

I had this game! I think about it from time to time. I didn't know anyone else knew about it!

Click to shrink...

It's one of those hidden gems on PS2, I wish more people knew about it.

I was surprised when they put it on PSN for the PS2 Classics. Like, the game is niche but its so good.

 

[Zaied]

I remember playing the demo a lot and really enjoying it. What I didn't realize until fairly recently was that it was developed by Santa Monica, which was interesting. I see the PS2 Classic version is on sale right now for $5, so maybe I'll get it.

 

[Kernal 64]

Kinetica is a futuristic racer that came out for the PS2 in 2001 by Santa Monica Studio!

In this game, there are no cars. Instead, the racers themselves are the vehicles.

Each racer has wheels on their hands and feet, covered in protective armor.

Because of this, the racers are agile and nimble, enabling them to perform tricks at any time on the ground or in the air.

Performing stylish tricks rewards the racer with Boost meter that let's the player boost around the race track at increased speeds!

The game also featured a jammin soundtrack that made blazing through the race tracks even more fun.

Click to shrink...

I only have some vague memories of seeing this game on store shelves. I never played it or even knew anything about it, but I thank you for posting about it because that soundtrack is fire. I'm loving it! It actually shares a track with Extreme-G 3, which was a futuristic motorcycle racing game that I loved the hell out of. It also has a really great soundtrack that you'll probably like if you enjoyed Kinetica's soundtrack. I may see if I can find a used copy of this somewhere to try out. The gameplay looks fun.

EDIT:

If I remember right, when I still had my PS4, I saw it under the PS2 Classics section on PSN!

Click to shrink...

Looks like it's off to PSN I go!

 

[JacksonJordanTyson]

i see bare behind

 

[Deleted member 11976]

Soundtrack was good but I the only other thing I seem to remember about this game was the bad bikini armour character designs. Love that they used Hybrid for the intro tune.

 

[Shinobido Heart]

I remember playing the demo a lot and really enjoying it. What I didn't realize until fairly recently was that it was developed by Santa Monica, which was interesting. I see the PS2 Classic version is on sale right now for $5, so maybe I'll get it.

Click to shrink...

Oh it's on sale? Nice!

i see bare behind

Click to shrink...

Soundtrack was good but I the only other thing I seem to remember about this game was the bad bikini armour character designs. Love that they used Hybrid for the intro tune.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the bikini armor strikes again. If they ever come back to this game, be it remaster or sequel, hopefully they can change up the designs.

 

[Breather-Resistance]

This is one of the games on PS2 early in its life that built this association with the PS2 in my mind as the futuristic console, of such advanced technology that the worlds of its games were equally advanced and far out. Never played it until years later when I discovered that it was a fairly bare package all in all, but its concept is still captivating to this day.

 

[Fisty]

Craziest part about this game is that Ratchet & Clank and God of War were built in the Kinetica engine

 

[Kraid]

I got this in the annual B2G1F sale at TRU. It was neat

 

[Jahranimo]

Ohhhh I remember this! Looked super cool.

 

[sora87]

I really loved futuristic racers back then, the fifth element racing game was pretty cool too

 

[hey it's that dog]

Yeah, the bikini armor strikes again. If they ever come back to this game, be it remaster or sequel, hopefully they can change up the designs.

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Hey there's nothing wrong with a few MILFs (motorcycles I'd like to fuck) now and then.

 

[VeePs]

I loved this game, War of the Monsters, and Downhill Domination. All Underrated classics on PS2.

 

[Jaymageck]

I never played this but the concept looks worth reviving the IP for.

 

[Rosebud]

I bought and played it on PS4 when I realized it was made by SSM.

 

[Shopolic]

First time I read about it in a magazine 20 years ago and it looked interesting, but didn't find it anywhere to buy.
Years later, played it with PS Now and... it was so hard for me! Haven't played it for more than some minutes though and maybe I should give it more time.

 

[Deimos]

BRUH I just remembered playing this game recently but couldn't remember the name.

 

[ChrisD]

I wanted to play it when I was a kid, as my (Now) in-law brought his PS2 over while staying at our house for a bit. Mother caught sight of the character designs at some point though and banned me from playing. I was too young to think anything of it, so that kind of sucked lol.

But yeah! Definitely still think on it occasionally. Just remember people being motorcycles and doing cool tricks. Maybe I'll grab the PS2 on PS4 version at some point.

 

[Shinobido Heart]

Craziest part about this game is that Ratchet & Clank and God of War were built in the Kinetica engine

Click to shrink...

Oh yeah, I remember this! I still find this pretty wild to believe.

 

[RROCKMAN]

Even as a kid I was turned off by the weird ass armor

My only thought was that it would hurt like a bitch if they were to crash