Tokyo Xtreme Racer series

[ExitPlanetDust]

Coming mostly from the Ridge Racer series and typical SEGA racing games (especially Daytona and Scud Race).
How much would I like Tokyo Xtreme Racer? I know a new title is coming to consoles.

It’s almost simcade before simcade was a thing. Cars have weight and lots of momentum. A good comparison would be Virtual On and the fast paced Gundam games are to Ridge Racer, Daytona, etc as Armored Core is to TXR as Mechwarrior is to Gran Turismo or an even heavier sim.

[Lemnear]

Coming mostly from the Ridge Racer series and typical SEGA racing games (especially Daytona and Scud Race).
How much would I like Tokyo Xtreme Racer? I know a new title is coming to consoles.

It is totally different. It’s not realistic per-se, but it’s generally a lot slower and the cars feel much heavier than those arcade racers. No drifting either (at least in the early ones, not sure about the later entries). Watch some gameplay and see if you think you would like it.

I've seen them, but I can't decipher them completely, it seems similar to Initial-D on PS3 (I don't remember the name of the chapter)... I remember that it wasn't easy though, at least for me, the car was sliding like a bar of soap.
I read the reviews on the latest one that was released as a preview on Steam, it made me turn up my nose a bit that the races are so "one-way", where it's either a crushing defeat or a crushing victory without that elastic effect that puts pressure on you to go even faster.
Unfortunately, trying it on my PC would be useless because it would probably run at like 30fps...

It’s almost simcade before simcade was a thing. Cars have weight and lots of momentum. A good comparison would be Virtual On and the fast paced Gundam games are to Ridge Racer, Daytona, etc as Armored Core is to TXR as Mechwarrior is to Gran Turismo or an even heavier sim.

I take it as a "very likely candidate", it's a shame that not many games like this come out anymore, or arcades in general...many indie games are really poorly made.
I also miss something like Motorstorm.

however many say that TXR is the spiritual heir of NFS Underground 2 o_0

[Austin]

I've seen them, but I can't decipher them completely, it seems similar to Initial-D on PS3 (I don't remember the name of the chapter)... I remember that it wasn't easy though, at least for me, the car was sliding like a bar of soap.
I read the reviews on the latest one that was released as a preview on Steam, it made me turn up my nose a bit that the races are so "one-way", where it's either a crushing defeat or a crushing victory without that elastic effect that puts pressure on you to go even faster.
Unfortunately, trying it on my PC would be useless because it would probably run at like 30fps...

The series is a "slow burn". It's about getting lost in the atmosphere and grinding out experience points/currency for future car purchases and upgrades, which in turn allows you to make progress through the game. It's RPG-like with regards to grinding. You always earn something even if you fail, so you're always inching your way towards your next upgrade.

I can't vouch for the new PC game, but with the old ones there are a lot of one-way moments where you're winning by a longshot or your opponent has absolutely crushed you (this is usually a case of you not having the proper vehicle or upgrades to compete properly). But there are a lot of neck-and-neck moments too that get super tense. Then there's you taking on opponents you theoretically shouldn't be able to beat, but using clever tricks to keep them behind you, like forcing them behind moving traffic, or cutting them off physically/smashing them into walls (you take no body damage in the old games). It's good times.

I always recommend people start with the first Dreamcast entry. It's balanced very well but also doesn't overstay its welcome. Most PCs these days should be able to emulate that pretty well, I would think.

[it290]

The new game is still being developed so the physics aren't final, but as it stands right now there is very little drift and your car is pretty firmly locked to the track. TXR has never been a drift game and this new one is even less so. There are only a couple of points in the whole circuit where it's really even necessary to brake at all, so aside from raw power the winning strategy tends to be trying to get the AI cars caught up in traffic or on corners (they brake when they don't need to).

[Lemnear]

that's why I was asking, also because many reviewers today don't usually know the originals and so their judgments are approximate.
Even in the new one they said there was no collision damage (not that I care, after all you don't have to hit anything).
It seems like I don't have many similar games to compare it to (isn't it like PGR or Initial-D?), it seems I have to try it by emulating the Dreamcast [never emulated on PC, I'll see how to do it from some tutorial ].

I don't know if this game is appreciated only because it was on the legendary Dreamcast or if it is in fact one of the best of its kind. Some titles are mythologized, but then when you go to try them, they aren't true masterpieces. But lately I have the need, the need for speed.

[it290]

It’s a fun game and I’m really grateful for this new installment-but bear in mind the fun is not just about the racing but also finding all the rivals and seeing their liveries, following the story (which the original game doesn’t really have), and customizing your car (which the original does offer but not nearly to the extent of this most recent game). I don’t know if I would call any of the games in the series a ‘masterpiece,’ but I can say that I played almost every half decent racing game on the Dreamcast when they were current, and the only game I put more hours into than TXR was Sega Rally 2.

[Lemnear]

It’s a fun game and I’m really grateful for this new installment-but bear in mind the fun is not just about the racing but also finding all the rivals and seeing their liveries, following the story (which the original game doesn’t really have), and customizing your car (which the original does offer but not nearly to the extent of this most recent game). I don’t know if I would call any of the games in the series a ‘masterpiece,’ but I can say that I played almost every half decent racing game on the Dreamcast when they were current, and the only game I put more hours into than TXR was Sega Rally 2.

I read that to start a race you have to flash your opponents with headlights, which is really cool. It's a shame that the races are only at night, but considering the cultural context, it has to be that way.

I don't know, I feel like a lot of games these days have rough gameplay (NFS in the last 10 years for example and others).
I don't often find the precision and depth of gameplay that I would like and that a lot of old arcades had.
Today they all seem rough, or really flat

[m.sniffles.esq]

The new game is still being developed so the physics aren't final, but as it stands right now there is very little drift and your car is pretty firmly locked to the track.

Wait, are you telling me Tokyo Xtreme Racer has no Tokyo Drift©?

Spoiler

everyone was thinking it

I don't know if this game is appreciated only because it was on the legendary Dreamcast or if it is in fact one of the best of its kind.

Man, I don't know. I still play the second and it is a very enjoyable game. It's both conceptually nutty (a racing rpg set in a alternate present where Warriors-style gangs rule Tokyo's highways and wage turf wars via racing. If you don't find that at least a little appealing then you and I are very different people), that's also xtremely mechanically engaging.

[it290]

I read that to start a race you have to flash your opponents with headlights, which is really cool. It's a shame that the races are only at night, but considering the cultural context, it has to be that way.

You can mod the PC version of the new game to have a day/night cycle, although the scenery is obviously designed for night so a lot of the buildings lack detail. However, someone else is working on a 'detailed buildings' mod so that may change as well.

[Lemnear]

It's both conceptually nutty (a racing rpg set in a alternate present where Warriors-style gangs rule Tokyo's highways and wage turf wars via racing. If you don't find that at least a little appealing then you and I are very different people), that's also xtremely mechanically engaging.

wait, no one here or in the reviews has specified this thing

that's also xtremely mechanically engaging.

I think this is the most important part for me, it's what I wanted to know!

You can mod the PC version of the new game to have a day/night cycle, although the scenery is obviously designed for night so a lot of the buildings lack detail. However, someone else is working on a 'detailed buildings' mod so that may change as well.

I've basically only played on consoles, let alone now switching to PC and using MODs , I'm waiting for it on PS5, maybe they'll improve it even further.