Disclosure: Core received this title for review from its publisher
The Bottom Line
A total of seven different racing games were released alongside the
Dreamcast last week. Of those seven, only three could really be considered
true racing games; Monaco Grand Prix, Flag to Flag, and Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
The other four; TrickStyle, Hydro Thunder, Pen Pen TriIcelon, and TNN Hardcore Heat are racing games, but each
are untraditional. Now, depending on your preferences, Tokyo Xtreme Racer
could be the best of the bunch. It's got four different modes, over
twenty-five different cars, some extremely good graphics, solid control, and a brisk 60fps framerate. What
really sets Tokyo Xtreme Racer apart from Monaco Grand Prix and Flag to Flag
is that Tokyo Xtreme Racer is strictly a street racing game, whereas Monaco
GP and Flag to Flag are track
based racing titles. If racing through the streets of Tokyo with a nice
car sounds like fun to you, you'll likely enjoy Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
However, if you don't care for racing games in the least then, despite its
fast frame rate and phenomenal graphics, you won't care for Tokyo Xtreme.
A Closer Look
There isn't much of a story behind Tokyo Xtreme, but that's to be expected.
It's a racing game after all. You assume the role of a street racer who's
mastered the roads in America. Because you're such an adrenaline junkie you
take it upon yourself to construct the most powerful racing machine outside of the Indianapolis
Speedway. You decide that Japan's cult-like underground street racer
culture is the only place you'll be able to get the challenge you desire, so
you head to Tokyo to race against others on the congested Tokyo highway system. Quite a hokey backstory, but
backstories aren't really necessary in a racing game.
Tokyo Xtreme's graphics are among the best yet for a console racer.
Everything looks absolutely beautiful. The cars all have a deep, rich color
and a vibrant shine that reflects the light from the street lamps and other
things, such as the shadows of an overpass. The streets, walls, drone vehicles, and signs look perfect.
There aren't any muddled textures to speak of. The level of detail is so
high that you can read every word on each sign with no problem and you can
even make out license plate numbers. As mentioned above, the framerate is a speedy 60fps which makes your
vehicle and the drone vehicles move very smoothly and realistically. It
also bears mentioning that the lighting is fantastic. The street lamps and
underpass lights look really good, and the overall lighting effect is superb. However, there are a few
minor graphical problems, but they truly are minor. For one, if your car
swerves, or another car swerves, or you hit another vehicle the light
emanating from the taillights leaves a temporary red light trail. Also, it two-player mode, some cars seem to look
a lot more elongated than they do in one-player mode. I'm sure this can be
attributed to the screen being split, but it probably could've been fixed
before the game was released.
Again, both these points are extremely minor and do nothing to
significantly tarnish the game's stunning graphics.
The sound in Tokyo Xtreme is decent, but it's not one of the game's
strongest points. The game's soundtrack is composed of relatively generic
upbeat pop rock tunes with a few techno-esque and hard rock tracks thrown in
for good measure. The game's sound
effects are very well done. You can hear such things as each engine
getting louder and louder as its RPMs increase, the screeching of tires as
you swerve or take a turn at high speed, and the bumping sound that's
created when you hit a wall or another vehicle. The bumping sound that's made when you hit a wall or vehicle sounds
a little too hollow. If I hit a car or a wall at 120 MPH I'd expect to hear
a sound that's a bit louder and more forceful. Again though, this is a
minor point. Overall, the sound is solid and likely won't get grating, but it's nothing special.
As far as features and modes go, Tokyo Xtreme has a total of four modes of
play as previously mentioned. These modes are Practice, Quick Race, Quest,
and Versus. In the Practice Mode you select one of two routes; the A type
CI Inner Circuit and the B type CI Outer Circuit. Both tracks are identical, but each has you drive in a
different direction. You select which track you'd like to race on, decide
whether you'd like to have other cars on the track, and which car you'd like
to use. You can select from a list of cars or use the car you've saved from Quest Mode.
The Quick Race mode has two options, SP Battle and Time Battle. SP Battle
is a little different from anything seen in a racing game to date. During
an SP Battle race each driver has an SP bar that appears at the top of the
screen. During the race, the car that is losing loses SP from his or her SP bar. Once one driver's SP
bar has been completely depleted, he or she loses and the race is over. A
map on the left-hand side of the screen shows the course and each car. Your
car is displayed as a yellow dot and your rival or rivals are displayed as blue dots. Defeated opponents
appear as green dots. Time Battle is, as you probably surmised, a race
against the clock, pure and simple.
Quest Mode has you purchase a new or used vehicle and customize it. As you
win races, and money, you can upgrade your vehicle. In excess of one
hundred different parts are available for purchase, including wheels, fog
lights, spoilers, and the like. You can even change your car's color and, in the garage, you can name your
car, switch to a different car, and view your car's performance stats with
the L and R trigger buttons. The shop is where you buy new cars. There are
also Rivals, Tuning, Battle, and System options. The Rivals option lets you see who you've defeated and
the Tuning option lets you buy parts, replace parts, and change various
aspects of your car. The Battle option has you select a course to do battle
on and turn shift assisting on or off. One day passes each time you return to the Quest mode after racing.
With the 25,000 CP that you start off with you can purchase one of seven
different cars out of a total of twenty-four initially selectable cars.
Each racer in Quest mode is a member of a different racing team. If you defeat all the members of a
particular racing team you can challenge their leader to a race. If you
beat that team's leader by a certain amount of points you have to race four
additional racers. Beat them and you've won the game. The Versus mode is your run-of-the-mill Versus mode.
It's head to head racing against a friend on a split screen.
Control, along with graphics, are Tokyo Xtreme's two strongest points.
Although it takes a little getting used to, you'll probably find that, with
proper breaking and accelerating, you can handle each car pretty well.
Different cars handle differently, but it doesn't take long to get a feel for whatever car you select.
Steering is done with the analog stick and you unfortunately don't have the
option of using the D-pad. Accelerating and braking are done with the right
and left trigger buttons respectively. The B button flashes your headlights and the Y button changes the
view to an in-the-car perspective. An overhead out-of-the-car view and the
in-the-car-view are your only viewpoint choices. When in the overhead view
you can't see directly behind you, but in the in-the-car view you're given a rear view mirror. The
collision detection is good, but one aspect of it is either a positive or
negative depending on your preference. When you hit a drone vehicle, an
opponent, or a wall you often lose very little speed. So, if you're going, say, 120 MPH and you smash into a wall
you'll lose maybe 10 MPH of speed as a result. Now, if you're into racing
games with a high degree of realism, this probably won't sit well with you.
On the other hand, if you like arcade racers with a bit of realism mixed in, this likely won't be a
big deal to you. If you do smash head long into another car or a wall you
come close to a complete stop. Also, when playing against a human opponent
on a split screen there's frequently noticeable slowdown. It's usually only at the beginning of the race,
and eventually dissipates, but it's there. With the processing power of the
Dreamcast I'd expect there to be no slowdown, regardless of the fact that
game runs at 60fps. Although the course variety leaves a lot to be desired (each course looks very
similar to every other course), one nice aspect is the ability to take
different routes. A series of on and off ramps can be taken so that often
times you and your opponent or opponents won't see each other for a majority of the race. Finding the best
possible route isn't always easy, and if you take one that's too roundabout
you'll most definitely lose.
All in all, Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a beautiful looking game with good
control, some nice features and modes, and an average soundtrack. If you're
looking for a Dreamcast title that comes pretty close to the likes of Gran
Turismo then Tokyo Xtreme is definitely the game for you. While perhaps not quite on a par with Gran Turismo,
Tokyo Xtreme is a title that is well worth your time. However, it isn't
worth full price. If you can pick up used it's a great buy, but at fifty
bucks it just isn't quite worth it.
Graphics:
+Cars have deep, rich color and shine like real brand new cars d
+Not a muddle texture to speak of
+60fps framerate makes each vehicle move smoothly and realistically
+Great lighting
-A bit of slowdown in a versus race
-Taillights leave trail of red light when any vehicle is hit or hits something
Sound:
+/-Soundtrack is good with a mix of different music types, but is fairly generic
+Sound effects such as engine noise and tire screeches sound realistic and clear
-Hollow bumping sound made when cars hit each other or walls
Gameplay
+Non linear tracks, complete with on and off ramps, adds a strategic element
+/-Control is solid, but it takes a bit of getting used to
+/-Smashing into a wall or another car often results in a very minimal loss of speed
-Using the D-pad as opposed to the analog stick for steering isn't an option
Replay Value
+Over twenty-five cars and one hundred parts give you lots of car and customization choices
+Four different modes will keep you busy a while
+Ability to save your car in Quest mode and use it in other modes is nice
-Racing against the computer gets old after a little while
Overall
Graphics: A-
Sound: C+
Gameplay: B-
Replay Value: A
Overall: B+
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