Jalopnik is Live on Twitch at 4 p.m. ET Playing the Tragically Beautiful Auto Modellista

Today at 4 p.m. Eastern over at twitch.tv/jalopnikdotcom we’re continuing our exploration of early-2000s racers with a game that just makes you happy to look at: Capcom’s Auto Modellista.

Does it make you happy to play, though? That’s always been the debate over this 2003 car-PG aping Gran Turismo but with cartoony visuals, a more energetic soundtrack and, most polarizing of all, unique physics.

Auto Modellista was highly anticipated leading up to its release in Japan in August of 2002, but criticism over the game’s handling led to lukewarm critical reception and prompted the development team over at Capcom Production Studio 1 to rework the vehicle dynamics before the title’s planned North American launch the following March.

The final product — eventually re-released in Japan with the subtitle U.S. Tuned — was certainly different from the original, though not necessarily a step in the right direction depending on who you ask. Me? I’ve always weirdly enjoyed Auto Modellista’s handling, and by that I mean the handling in the version we got.

It’s certainly not perfect and can be a little touchy and meandering at times, but as long as you’re careful not to let your car get too sideways in corners, it’s satisfying to dance on that delicate edge of holding a slide without losing momentum and skidding. The Japanese original is grippier and a little more predictable as a result, but lacks the suspension action and physicality I prefer from my arcade racers.

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Anyway, enough about the physics and dwelling on the negatives. Auto Modellista is of course beloved because of its visual style. Between its curated roster of Japanese performance mainstays and cel-shaded aesthetic, this game moves like a racing anime, trite though that is to say.

It’s frankly shocking nobody’s really tried to copy the idea since, because I’m 99 percent confident it’d print money, especially now. I mean, every other day someone, somewhere will start a thread on some gaming subreddit with the title “Old graphics better than new? Discuss,” and it’s likelier than not Auto Modellista will be name-dropped, possibly with a link to a screenshot of it upscaled to 4K. Everyone will agree in different permutations of the same opinion that, yes, Auto Modellista was indeed pretty, and then nothing will come of it.

I’m frankly tired of that, and you probably are too. Images of Auto Modellista are one of modern medicine’s only known temporary relievers of depression, alongside SSRIs. Sales were underwhelming and Capcom never bothered with a sequel, so this divisive first attempt is all we have. So let’s show it some love at 4 p.m. Eastern, at twitch.tv/jalopnikdotcom. Be there, be happy.