Have you ever come across a racing game that is purely about the racing, devoid of any extra features or in-game purchases, and stays true to its origins? If you haven’t, let me tell you about Tokyo Xtreme Racer – a game I’ve been engrossed in for the past few days. For those who are new to this, the Tokyo Extreme series has been around for nearly three decades, revolving primarily around night-time street racing on Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway. Its original Japanese title translates to “Metropolitan Expressway Battle”, suggesting that you’ll be going up against your opponents and defeating them by either damaging their vehicle or building a significant lead over them.
In the fast-paced world of Tokyo Xtreme Racer, the gameplay is remarkably straightforward yet surprisingly captivating. The unique “Spirit Battle” system works by exploiting your opponents’ mistakes, either by colliding with them, forcing them off course, or building a significant lead over a set distance to drain their health. Each race is a one-on-one duel that starts when you tailgate your competitor and flash your headlights. As I mentioned earlier, the simplicity of this gameplay mechanic makes it highly addictive!
As an enthusiastic player, I can’t help but share my excitement about the “Spirit Battle” system. In these intense encounters, the goal is to deplete your opponent’s health by tricking them into errors, colliding with them, or pulling ahead and maintaining a substantial lead over a specific distance.
In Tokyo Xtreme Racer, you navigate through an expansive 180km world connected by the Shuto Expressway. Here, numerous opponents await, each with distinct skill levels and AI behaviors. These encounters can range from lightning-fast sprints to drawn-out races that last for minutes, offering a thrilling gameplay experience reminiscent of a cat-and-mouse chase.
Collisions with barriers or oncoming traffic could cost you the lead and the entire race. Interestingly, your AI competitors can also stumble, potentially handing the advantage back to you. The unpredictable nature of these encounters is what makes racing in Tokyo Xtreme Racer so exhilarating.
Fundamentally, Tokyo Xtreme Racer offers an exhilarating arcade-style racing experience, enhanced by captivating progression mechanics. As you triumph in successive races and duels, you’ll be rewarded with skill points that can be utilized to unlock various vehicles, expand your garage space, obtain new vehicle components, and even augment your vehicle’s attack and defense capabilities.
While the majority of these enhancements, such as unlocking parts or boosting vehicle stats, align well with a racing game’s logic, certain aspects seem illogical. For instance, restricting your ability to earn money beyond certain skill thresholds appears preposterous. If you choose not to upgrade specific skills, you will eventually hit a ceiling and be unable to accumulate any more wealth. To prevent losing your race earnings, it’s essential to persistently upgrade that particular skill set.
In a puzzling manner, the mechanics of this game don’t seem to align with common sense, leaving me baffled about the reasoning behind it. Yet, there’s an intriguing aspect to Tokyo Xtreme Racer – you can purchase new vehicle components and customize various settings for your ride. While it may not offer the same level of detail as something like Gran Turismo 7, it caters to players who appreciate tweaking their vehicles’ finer aspects. Moreover, you can personalize parts such as bumpers and tires, even adding neon lights all around your vehicle if that’s your style. Remarkably, for an arcade game, Tokyo Xtreme Racer stands out with its impressive progression and customization features.
In addition, “Tokyo Xtreme Racer” enables you to purchase upgrades for your vehicles and customize various vehicle settings.
In addition to its high-octane racing action, Tokyo Xtreme Racer incorporates a narrative element through silent text messages and simple visuals. Unfortunately, this aspect of the game wasn’t particularly engaging as the plot development is minimal, almost to the point where it feels unnecessary. The storyline could easily be removed without impacting the overall enjoyment of the game. I hope that more details will be added in the final version, but at this stage, I feel its current inclusion adds very little value.
Previously mentioned, the game Tokyo Xtreme Racer offers approximately 180 kilometers of the Shuto Expressway for racing. The map is sectioned into ramps, and each one becomes accessible once you’ve traversed them. However, the fast travel system within the game exhibits inconsistency. Once a ramp is unlocked, you can only quickly travel to it by visiting the garage. Yet, while on the track, you cannot quickly travel to any ramp of your preference. This made mission accomplishment a laborious task since each opponent is situated in a distinct part of the map. Consequently, you either need to drive to get there (keep in mind that some locations are quite distant) or quit and return to the garage to quickly travel to the nearest ramp. Additionally, the game’s map lacks midpoint detours.
If you’re standing on one side of the road and wish to cross over, you have two options, both of which are time-consuming. One is to return to your garage, then fast travel to the closest ramp, or simply journey towards a detour that may be several miles away from where you currently stand. In a game centered around speed and swift action, these design choices hinder it from realizing its full potential. Ideally, these hindrances will either be eliminated or reworked in the final version as they merely add unnecessary gameplay time artificially.
In the initial release of the game Tokyo Xtreme Racer, you’ll find a limited selection of soundtracks that effectively complement the action, but I hope for more options in future upgrades. The visual style is distinctive yet nostalgic, harking back to the PlayStation 2 era. Not every game needs to rival Forza or Gran Turismo in terms of graphics; Tokyo Xtreme Racer maintains its unique identity and aesthetic, which I appreciate. Moreover, the PC system requirements are minimal, allowing me to run smoothly at 60fps with all settings maxed out at a resolution of 4K.
Previously mentioned, Tokyo Xtreme Racer’s gameplay revolves around depleting your rival’s health meter. Yet, when vehicles collide, there’s no visible damage or indicator to show this. While it might not require intricate damage physics like those in F1 games, I believe simple additions such as static damage marks and visual effects for destruction would significantly enhance the racing experience, making it more engaging.
“In its early access release, Tokyo Xtreme Racer features only a handful of soundtracks.”
As a passionate gamer, I’m excitedly diving into the world of Tokyo Xtreme Racer, but as per the developer, it’s currently in early access for four months. That means there might be some hiccups along the way, but I’m hoping the team will swiftly address those pressing issues. At this moment, I haven’t stumbled upon a clear roadmap for the game, so I can’t quite tell what updates we can expect down the line.
To put it simply, the preliminary version of Tokyo Xtreme Racer is generally enjoyable, although it has some design flaws. For instance, the map layout, fast travel system, and capping the maximum currency limit with skill requirements all need improvement. However, there are plenty of appealing aspects to this game. Its 1v1 racing, stunning visuals and smooth performance, addictive yet straightforward gameplay, and commitment to the series’ original essence set it apart from other racing games.
This early access version of the game was reviewed on PC.
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2025-01-28 13:11