DGS-Online writes: "Poor GTI Club. Ever stood at the cradle of the open world racer before anyone even of Midtown Madness, Midnight Club or Burnout Paradise had heard. Konami GTI Club pioneered in 1996 I came into a genre that did not exist before. As the music played are wrecked, it is with Konami's racers, once revolutionary but now overtaken by time and technology."
GA: "I'm a sucker for arcade games. They take things back to a time when storyline and complex systems of leveling and unlocking every bell and whistle weren't important, blowing stuff up and topping an arcade machine's highest score meant everything. In no way am I discounting the grandeur of modern gaming and storytelling, but something strikes a chord with me when some bright synth music and announcer are chiming on behind some basic flashy visuals with numbers popping out of every object you interact with."
PopMatters: Of course, the counter argument that you hear is that linear gameplay is essential when trying to tell a compelling story because it allows the creator to know when and how a narrative unfolds before the player.
When it comes to racing games on the Nintendo Wii, most gamers will probably only be able to name one or two; most certainly Mario Kart Wii will be one of the ones named. Konami hopes to add their latest arcade racer GTI Club Supermini Festa! to that very short list. While the game doesn't quite play up to those kind of standards, it is a valiant effort.
