Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Help locating old / Pre year 2000 games you used to play.
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cartons77
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Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Post by cartons77 »

Hello folks,

A bit of background first.. some weeks ago my mind wandered to a game me, my friend, and my older sister played in on our old computer (DOS / Windows 3.x) I think between 1996-1998 (the game might've been older). Very randomly my friend sent a message to me asking if I remember the same game, and honestly I can't remember ever discussing this with him since the time we played it, so a bit of a hive mind / freaky coincidence. Since then we've spent many an evening browsing through Google image Search, MobyGames, UVList, random abandonware sites, but we've got absolutely nothing, which is so strange given how fun and well made this game was. Moreover, we remember the game vividly, so it is as if it has evaporated from the face of the Earth.

Hard details:
Year: 1990-1998
Platform: DOS / Windows 3.x

The game is quite unique in its format. We remember it being a turn-based, board game style game, where on a map of (Europe I think) the players race between real world locations in (cars I think), and various things occur, and you might get boosted/set back depending on the route you take and the luck you have.

The graphics are 2D. The setting as a whole is very very cartoonish / kid friendly. Characters are cartoonish humans. Overall the game had a very fun aesthetic to it. Even though most of the pieces on the board are stationary, you do get some continous animation.

Random tidbits on which we are less certain on:
- The soundtrack includes famous tunes like When the Saints Go Marchin' In
- The players compete with each other or it is co-opish vs. AI
- There is a a villain resembling Waluigi who terrorizes the players
- The map is authentic in that you have real world cities you need to get to / pass by on your journey, I do vaguely remember the map not stretching out to Finland (it might've only included Helsinki), which was disappointing to us being from there
- Each player plays as one of the cartoonish human characters
- Money is being collected/lost within the game

Very iffy:
The name I vaguely remember being rather long along the lines of 'something something trip around the world/Europe' / 'magic ticket around Europe' / 'Someone's chase around the world'

I believe we got the game from one of the collections sold in the latter part of 1990s of (even then) older games (often demos) from early 1990s or so. My dad used to buy these as they were so cheap. We certainly did not own the game in a format that we would've bought from the store with only that game in it.

I'll try and fill out more details as they come up.

Any help at all in aiding us to find the game would be appreciated in the extreme, thanks!
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Rwolf
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Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Post by Rwolf »

I was thinking of some version of 'Mille Miglia', but that is usually only in Italy.

Also some detective games like 'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego', but there is seldom cars in those.
cartons77
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Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Post by cartons77 »

Hello,

Much much appreciated your help but alas, none of the aforementioned is what I'm looking for.

One aspect I could've been more explicit on is when I explained the game is board game style, the game is more like bird's eye view / view from above, rather than a classic driving game style. The view you have throughout the game is of the game board that at the same time is a map of real countries and cities between which you move each turn. It is also turn-based with a dice system, so real time driving games like World Rally Fever and Mille Miglia are very much out of context. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego is not it either, looks like a very different concept. Graphics/era wise Mille Miglia is probably similar.

My friend had a very vague memory about the system being such that everyone starts from the same location, does a few turns, after which the Waluigi looking character starts coming after the players from the starting point. The object of the game was through some system of avoidance of the Waluigi character/other players, collect the point-style coins and make your way to a destination / set of destinations. The game is all turn-based in a hot seat format.

In the meantime, we'll keep digging.

Thanks for your help.
cartons77
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Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Post by cartons77 »

Found it guys, Dr Drago's Madcap Chase
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Desperate search: Turn-based cartoonish board game style car(?) game, Windows/DOS 1990s

Post by Rwolf »

Thanks for the update; here is Mobygames entry: https://www.mobygames.com/game/win3x/dr ... dcap-chase
(There is a demo here: https://archive.org/details/Dr.DragosMadcapChase_1020 )
I saw someone tried to update the game to more modern operating systems some years ago, but that effort seems to have stopped.

But a recent spiritual follow-up is available on Steam: 'The MoneyMakers Rallye' which might be interesting for those not using Win3.1 anymore.

Not sure if the devs of the latter were involved in the first attempt at an update too.
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