Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift

Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift
North American PlayStation 2 cover art
Developer(s)Genki
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Nobukazu Itabashi
SeriesKaido Battle
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: February 27, 2003
  • NA: April 18, 2006
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift (known as Kaidō Battle: Nikko, Haruna, Rokko, Hakone in Japan) is the third racing game published by Crave Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth main installment in Shutokō Battle series. The game allows racing at both day and night. Daytime offers the opportunity to enter competitions and gain money, while night time is where the player can race against rivals to gain respect.

Gameplay

Story

The player controls Hiroki Koukami, a Wanderer driver. He is able to defeat every rival and challenges every leader, called a "Slasher", from Hakone, Haruna, Nikko, Omote Rokko and Irohazaka. After he beats "Speed King", Iroha's Uphill's Slasher, he challenges Hamagaki, aka Kaido President, who drives a yellow Pantera GTS (a black Acura NSX in the US version) and holds the title of "Drift King". After Koukami defeats him, he takes his title, becoming the new Drift King, while Hamagaki loses it and is demoted to Trickster.

The game is set between Zero and 3, according to the Japanese series timeline.

Cars

The game includes Japanese and imported foreign cars. The foreign cars included are Alfa Romeo, Mini, Lotus, DeTomaso, and Volkswagen, depending on the version. Honda was licensed in this game (with some cars localized as Acura models in the US version) but was not available in Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 due to licensing issues. Ford, Lotus, and DeTomaso were removed in the 2006 US release, and Alfa Romeo and Audi from Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction were added in, even though Kaido Battle 2 never had a North American release.

Development

The game was originally conceived as "Touge Battle" and was planned to be released on the GameCube.[1] Sammy Corporation was publisher for the game before it was moved to Crave Entertainment.

Reception

The game was met with mixed reception upon release. Its GameRankings score was 62%,[2] while its Metacritic score is 59 out of 100.[3]

References

  1. ^ 街道バトル2 CHAIN REACTION公式ガイドブック [Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction Official Guidebook] (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2004-03-01. p. 215. ISBN 978-4757718463.
  2. ^ a b "Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift". Game Informer. No. 156. April 2006. p. 124.
  5. ^ Rice Burner (May 25, 2006). "Review: Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT". GamePro. Archived from the original on July 7, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  6. ^ Navarro, Alex (May 3, 2006). "Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT Review". GameSpot. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Roper, Chris (May 31, 2006). "Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT". IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  8. ^ "Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. April 2006. p. 80.
  9. ^ "Review: Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift". PSM. April 2006. p. 74.
  10. ^ Leeper, Justin (April 5, 2006). "Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on April 9, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2014.