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TOKYO HIGHWAY CHALLENGE 2 (DC)
Screenshots
Customisation to the nth degree
By WILLIAM BARKER
 The
original Playstation was so popular thanks to Sony's mucho-grande marketing
budget, plus its extensive range of driving games. There are literally
hundreds of them for the PSX and if the figures are anything to go by,
both the casual and core gamer lapped them up.
The Dreamcast is showing signs of this too, but now that production has
stopped, don't expect to see 75 million consoles worldwide. Despite this
fact, the driving category is growing at a steady rate on the ole' DC.
Add another title to the list with the arrival of Tokyo Highway Challenge
2. The original game, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, was a tad hit-and-miss, with
a rather 'floaty' physics engine. But number two is a completely different
kettle of mutated sea-bass.
For those who are not familiar with the Shutokou Battle (Japanese title)
way of life, let me explain. It's all about street racing. All you need
is a highway, some traffic, highly modified and usually illegal streetcars
and a bunch of like-minded speed freaks yearning for the chance to leave
you in their catalysed wake.
You start the game with a set amount of cash - $10,000. With this money,
you must buy a car - sorry folks, there'll be no investing in the Church
of Scientology here. With this minimal amount of dosh, you'll only be
able to buy a few cars, such as an early 90s Honda CRX, Nissan Sylvia
(200SX) or you could go for the ultra-trashy mid-80s Toyota Corolla. Ooh-la-la...
After deciding on a vehicle, you take your wheels to a most impressively
accurate recreation of the Tokyo highway system to break every road rule
in existence and to prove your worth against about 60 other gangs of racers,
complete with nighttime traffic for extra giggles. Each gang has between
three and seven members plus a gang leader, who will chase you down once
you've beaten his rev-head cronies. There are also zone bosses, head bosses,
freakazoid bosses, boss bosses, drum n' bass bosses and wanderers. In
all there are about 370 other petrol heads to beat.
The fun part is the racing, which is very different from what you'd expect. Instead of going around a track, lap after lap, against five or seven opponents, you travel the Tokyo highway at night, nomad style, in search of opponents. It's all about the street racing. You flash your high beams (not a metaphor) at a rival gang member, then wait and watch as the camera swoops around both cars, showing off their sparkly exteriors.
What ensues is a novel and one-on-one race. You both have an energy bar,
a la Streetfighter, and whoever lags behind will lose energy. The further
behind, the more energy lost until one car's energy is depleted. Then
it's payday and one racer will be rewarded cash, based on certain criteria:
how much energy he has left; how tough the opponent was; how long the
street race took (in seconds) and how many kilometres were covered.
Also, not all opponents will be cruising the streets straight off the
bat. Some require you to have a certain win/loss ratio; others only come
out after three months of racing and some will only race early-model cars.
It's very funky and is the closest thing yet to a vehicle-based RPG.
It may sound a bit insipid, but in all fairness, this is one of the best
driving games of the 128-bit era. It's a big call, but hey, I've just
made it. The racing model is great and as you upgrade your car you'll
notice small nuances in the car's handling and response. In tandem, these
two aspects help create one mother of a bad-ass game.
Steering will become noticeably tighter after you lower the car and add
bracing, stiffen the springs and fiddle with the compression damping.
Adding to traction and responsiveness are heaps of aero upgrades - like
massive spoilers, side skirts and front bumpers. These also create unique
cars that look like no other. Ever seen a Subaru WRX with two reversed
bonnet scoops?
Acceleration and top-speed will be mind-blowing after you add huge 5"
straight through exhaust systems, new air filters, intercoolers, turbochargers
and superchargers. You can even hear distinct blow-off valve noises in
different turbo-ed cars, too. In all, there are about 120 upgrades per
car to be made plus some parts can be re-tuned, such as suspension, gear
ratios and turbo boost.
It hurts me to say that after playing the game for the best part of three
weeks, I still haven't finished it. Every time you beat a new opponent
you unlock the corresponding car, and so far I have unlocked about 70
- though rumour is there are more than 100 cars on offer. These include
the Japanese models - Supras, Skylines, Lancers, NSXs, IS200s, FTOs and
plenty of other lesser knowns too. But on top of this are a few Euro and
Yankee cars, such as Porsches, Dodges, BMWs and what not.
Cripes, all this and no mention of the visuals? The Ed's gonna kill me
for going over the word limit… Suffice to say, this is easily one of the
best-looking racers on the Dreamcast and, at present, on any platform.
Sure, GT3 A-spec looks a little better, but that's not out yet, so it
doesn't count.
Each car is immaculately detailed to the nth degree. They look brilliant
with curved edges, chrome mapping and surface beveling. The road, traffic
and even trackside details (like the Tokyo city buildings) all have great
depth and detail.
For all its gaming goodness, tasty vehicle upgrading aspects and street
racing, the game doesn't have the broad appeal of a title like Sega Rally
2. It is set entirely at night, can take many moons to master, has the
propensity to get monotonous and things such as the collision detection
are rather suspect. Hit a wall at 280km and you'll simply bounce. Hah!
Crumple zones aside, Tokyo Highway Challenge 2 (aka Tokyo Extreme Racer
2) is a magnificent game. It's up there with the best racers on the DC
and its novel premise is a welcome change in a rather staid genre. If
you have even a slight interest in cars and, more importantly, tooling
around with them, check this out. You won't regret it.
ORIGINALITY 95%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 85%
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