TOP GEAR

TOKYO XTREME RACER captures the stylish spirit of street racing

- Kerry Brunskill

My rival disappears into the night with a burst of nitro, and I have no choice but to put my foot to the floor and weave through heavy traffic, holding my breath as I chase after them, squeezing between cars and scraping roadside barriers to keep up. After some shunting, shoving, and a bit of luck, I pull ahead and finally leave them behind—but there’s no finish line to cross here.

That’s because Tokyo Xtreme Racer isn’t interested in pure speed, or points, or getting the best lap time around a defined circuit, but racing. I win when I crush my opponent’s spirit (represented by a fighting game-style bar across the top of the screen), and I’m allowed to use any means necessary to do it. Maybe I pull away and then maintain a demoralizing distance. Maybe get in close then bash them from the side, shoving their beautiful paintwork into a metal barrier, or force them to choose between braking and ramming into the back of a random car. Maybe I do a bit of both, my tactics adapting to whatever stretch of road we happen to be racing on at the time. I just need to prove I’m better than them.

Such intensely personal rivalries are only believable if there’s someone worth fighting on Tokyo's lamp-lit streets, and luckily for me Tokyo Xtreme Racer’s happy to deliver an extensive and diverse roster of potential adversaries. There are themed teams to go up against, experienced old racers hanging around parking areas, and weird custom cars I hear about in rumors from racing fans. I might run into demanding drivers who will only agree to a battle if I’m driving a specific vehicle, and others who only show up on certain days of the week.

It’s these personalities that make Tokyo Xtreme Racer different from Forza, or Ridge Racer, or really any other racing game I’ve ever played.