''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'' is an

arcade racing Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series created by

Genki Genki may refer to: *Genki (company), a Japanese video game company *Genki (era), a Japanese era name *Genki (given name) Genki (written: 元気, 元喜, 元基, 元規, 源気 or 源基) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with th ...

and inspired by

street racing Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is ...

on the

Shuto Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Its first installment, ''Shutokō Battle '94: Drift King'', released in 1994 for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

. In 2017, Genki released the latest installment of the series, ''Shutokou Battle Xtreme'', for iOS and Android devices. While the series was most commonly localized under the name ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'', when published by

Crave Entertainment Crave Entertainment was an American video game publisher founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi. Its headquarters was in Newport Beach, California. It was acquired by Handleman Company in 2005 in a deal valued up to $95,000,000 but was then sold to Fil ...

, other publishers have given certain installments entirely different names, such as ''

Tokyo Highway Battle ''Tokyo Highway Battle'' is a video game developed by Genki and published by Jaleco in 1996 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was released in Japan as ''Shutokou Battle: Drift King'' for the Playstation, and ''Drift King: Shutokou Battle '97 ...

'' when published by Jaleco & THQ International; ''

Import Tuner Challenge ''Import Tuner Challenge'' is the international title for ''Shutokō Battle X'' (or Shutokou Battle X) (首都高バトル X), a racing game published by Ubisoft and developed by Genki for the Xbox 360. It is the final main installment in the dec ...

'' by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

; and even '' Street Supremacy'' when released by

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

History

Franchise

The series was originally subtitled "Drift King", after the trademark nickname of street racing and professional racing driver

Keiichi Tsuchiya is a Japanese professional race car driver. He is known as the for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. In professional racing, he is a two-time 24 Hours of Le ...

who is featured in the first ''Shuto Kousoku Trial'' episodes and endorsed the game with, then team manager, Masaki Bandoh of Bandoh Racing Project.

Sega Saturn spin-offs

During the 1990s Genki produced a highway drift/adult content (omitted in the localization ''Highway 2000'') oriented ''Shutokou Battle'' spin-off series for the Sega Saturn, ''Wangan Dead Heat'', and a circuit/tune edition unique episode for the PlayStation, ''Kattobi Tune'', which oriented the ''Shutokou Battle'' series through a new direction, leading to the Dreamcast version and its worldwide recognition and distribution. "Kattobi Tune" was compiled under the supervision of Rev Speed, a popular Japanese car tuning magazine and features seven licensed professional tuners,

RE Amemiya is an automotive tuning company from Tomisato, Chiba Prefecture, Japan founded by Isami Amemiya. Amemiya has made a name for himself tuning rotary engines since 1974 and has become a pioneer in tuning rotary-powered Mazdas. Thirty years later, ...

Spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for ...

, Mine's, Trial, "RS Yamamoto", Garage Saurus and

JUN Auto JUN, or JUN Auto, is a Japanese tuning shop. JUN began as the research facility of Tanaka Industrial Co. Ltd. Originally focused on disassembling and improving engines. It now manufactures high performance car parts. Products JUN manufactures af ...

, appearing years later in '' Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'' and also in the influential '' Gran Turismo'' series by

Polyphony Digital Polyphony Digital is an internal Japanese first-party video game development studio for PlayStation Studios. Originally a development group within Sony Computer Entertainment known as Polys Entertainment, after the success of '' Gran Turismo'' i ...

Chronology of ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'' Console Games

Though the entire

Shutokou Battle series ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'' is an arcade racing video game series created by Genki and inspired by street racing on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Its first installment, ''Shutokō Battle '94: Drift King'', released in 1994 for the Super Famicom. In 20 ...

has been referred to as the "Tokyo Xtreme Racer" series in the west, only a subset of games had an official "Tokyo Xtreme Racer" title attached. The games also received different names in different regions, adding to confusion.

''Kaidō Battle''

''Kaidō Battle'' (街道バトル) is a spin-off series for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

created by Genki. They are focused on

Touge A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migrati ...

racing and heavily centered on drifting. The franchise currently has three games, with two of them being released in North America under the Tokyo Xtreme Racer banner by

. The series, like the main ''Shutokou Battle'' games, includes licensed cars and authentic Japanese mountain roads as courses. In Conquest Mode, the player competes during the day in drift contests, earning more points for holding a drift longer or for a quick combination of drifts, but earns no points if the player bumps against the wall or a guard rail. Doing this, the player earns money to buy new cars and modifications. Daytime racing also features racing for sponsors, which includes a kind of racing challenge determined by the sponsor. Beating a sponsor challenge earns the player a sponsor. Sponsors give the player better parts and extra bonuses for winning drift contests. At night, the player can challenge rivals in the parking lot, and race them in a vein similar to ''Shutokou Battle''/''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'': the first one to have their life bar depleted loses; however, the first racer to cross the finish line will win the race. Through the night, the player will face the "Tricksters", a type of mini-bosses in the course. After all the Tricksters have been beaten, the main boss of the course (called the "Slasher") will challenge the player through an in-game BBS system. After the Slasher has been beaten, the player may advance to the next stage. The final boss in the last course is called the "Emotional King." The story unfolds in ''Kaido Battle'' when Hiroki Koukami challenges and defeat all Slashers, including Motoya Iwasaki, the Speed King from ''Shutokou Battle'', until he challenges Hamagaki, the Kaido President & 1st Emotional King in his yellow Pantera GTS at Irohazaka. By doing so, Koukami becomes the new Emotional King, while Hamagaki becomes a Trickster. In ''Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction'', Tatsu Zoushigaya arrives at the age of just 18. Like Koukami, he beats all Slashers and eventually Koukami himself in his Lancer Evolution 3 at Aso, Hamagaki in his Genki S2000 Turbo, as well as the secret rival Ground Zero Kazioka in his Skyline GT-R. But since he was defeated, Koukami moves away to Hokkaido and the Kaido Circuit spirals into chaos. To fix it, in ''Kaido: Tōge no Densetsu'', Zoushigaya becomes the Miracles Summit and now drives a black Subaru Impreza Prototype Rally Car and Kyoichi Imaizumi, Zao's Slasher, becomes the Absolute Emperor and drives a white Renault Clio V6 Phase 2. These drivers are now the fastest on the Kaido Circuit. Meanwhile, the 13 Devils from Tokyo led by Iwasaki come to the Kaido Circuit and have the intention to conquer it. In order to protect the circuit from the Devils, they create another team: The Kingdom Twelve. At the beginning, their leader's identity is unknown. This time, the hero is also unknown and is able to beat everyone, even Imaizumi and Zoushigaya. By beating them, he is able to defeat the members of the Kingdom Twelve & the 13 Devils. By e-mails, the Kingdom Twelve's leader's identity is known after he beats Timberslash: Hamagaki. After beating him and Iwasaki, the hero battles Koukami and beats him. And after these events, the truth is revealed: Hamagaki was still angry since he lost his title as the Emotional King. Thus, in ''Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction'', he challenged every rival and eventually challenged Koukami again at Aso. But Koukami won again, making Hamagaki angrier than ever. Eventually, since Iwasaki became depressed, Hamagaki cajoled him to race into the Kaido Circuit, but by doing so, he manipulated him, and lies to everyone saying that his team protects the Circuit from the Devils, while the Devils didn't know his real goal: to found the fastest Rally Team and Highway Team. ; Games in the Kaidō Battle sub-series * '' Kaidō Battle'' (2003). Released in North America as ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift'' in 2006. * '' Kaidō Battle 2: Chain Reaction'' (2004). Released in Europe as ''Kaido Racer'' in 2005. Not released in North America. * '' Kaidō Battle: Legend of the Mountain Pass'' (2005). Released in North America as ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift 2'' in 2007, released in Europe as ''Kaido Racer 2'' in 2006.

Drifting

The

D1 Grand Prix The , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled ''Professional Drift'', is a production car drifting (motorsport), drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Daijiro Inada, founder of ''Option (car magazine), O ...

drifting championship inspired the new series ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'', released in 2005 and remembering the 1997 drift circuit based ''Shutokou Battle Gaiden'' and the continuation of the "Shutokou Battle circuit + RPG" concept introduced in ''Kattobi Tune'', a genre close to the ''

Zero4 Champ is a series of racing games created by Yutaka Kaminaga at Media Rings, which started in 1991 with the PC Engine title ''Zero4 Champ''. The series would transfer to the Kaminaga-founded WorkJam with the PlayStation 2 title ''Zero4 Champ Series: ...

'' series by

Media Rings was a Japanese music, video game, and software publishing company located in Akasaka, Tokyo. Founded in October 1989 as a music and video packaging firm, it since became a distributor and producer of electronic entertainment. The company has bee ...

. The first and only episode has the tagline "C1 Grand Prix", which is a double reference to the D1 GP and the Route C1, the latter being the

Inner Circular Route The , signed as Route C1, is one of the routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the central part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a complete loop around the central Tokyo wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, with a total length ...

of the Shuto Expressway and the circuit for most episodes of the ''Shutokō Battle'' series.

List of All Games in Shutokō Battle Series

;1994 *05/27: Shutokō Battle '94 Keichii Tsuchiya Drift King (Bullet-Proof Software,

) ;1995 *02/24: Shutokō Battle 2: Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya & Masaaki Bandoh (Bullet-Proof Software,

) ;1996 *03/22: Tōge Densetsu: Saisoku Battle (Bullet-Proof Software,

) *05/03: Shutokō Battle: Drift King Keichii Tsuchiya & Masaaki Bandoh (Bullet-Proof Software/Genki,

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

) ** 1996/07/16: Tokyo Highway Battle (Jaleco) ** 1996/09/30: Tokyo Highway Battle (Jaleco/THQ International) *12/20: Shutokō Battle Gaiden: Super Technic Challenge - Road To Drift King (Media Quest,

) ;1997 *02/28: Shutokō Battle '97: Drift King Keichii Tsuchiya & Masaaki Bandoh - New Limited Ver.97 (Imagineer SPD2/Genki,

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

) *04/25: Shutokō Battle R (Genki,

) ;1998 *04/23: Kattobi Tune (Spin-off) (Genki,

) ;1999 *06/24: Shutokō Battle (Genki,

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

) ** 1999/09/09: Tokyo Xtreme Racer (Crave Entertainment) ** 1999/10/14: Tokyo Highway Challenge (Crave Entertainment, Ubi Soft) ;2000 *06/22: Shutokō Battle 2 (Genki,

) ** 2000/09/27: Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 (Crave Entertainment) ** 2000/12/14: Tokyo Highway Challenge 2 (Crave Entertainment, Ubi Soft) ;2001 *03/15: Shutokō Battle 0 (Genki,

) ** 2001/06/09: Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero (Crave Entertainment) ** 2001/05/28: Tokyo Xtreme Racer (Crave Entertainment, Ubi Soft). ''Not to be confused with earlier game titled "Tokyo Xtreme Racer" released in North America on

in 1999.'' *XX/XX: Shutokō Battle H" (Genki Mobile, Feel H" Mobile) ;2002 *02/XX: Shutokō Battle I (J) (Genki Mobile, i-mode Mobile) *02/XX: Shutokō Battle EZ (Genki Mobile, EZweb Mobile) *XX/XX: Shutokō Battle (Genki Mobile, Vodavone Live! Mobile) *03/28: Wangan Midnight (Genki,

). Officially a different game and series, but in terms of mechanics and assets is a Shutokō Battle / Tokyo Xtreme Racer game. ;2003 *01/09: Shutokō Battle Online (Genki Racing Project,

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

) *02/27: Kaidō Battle: Nikko, Haruna, Rokko, Hakone (Genki Racing Project,

) ** 2006/04/18: Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift (Crave Entertainment) *07/24: Shutokō Battle 01 (Genki Racing Project,

) ** 2003/11/19:

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' (known in Japan as ''Shutokou Battle 01'') is a racing game for the PlayStation 2 and the follow-up to the 2001 game ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero''. The game was also released in North America, and unlike the series' previo ...

(Crave Entertainment) *08/06: Shutokō Battle Online Special Pack "SpeedMaster" (DigiCube/Genki Racing Project,

) ;2004 *02/26: Kaidō Battle 2: Chain Reaction (Genki Racing Project,

) ** 2005/11/16: Kaido Racer (Konami) ;2005 *XX/XX: Kaidō Battle Cross Action FIRST STAGE (Genki Mobile, ?) *04/04: Shutokō Battle Evolution (Genki Mobile, i-mode Mobile) *04/20: Tokyo Xtreme Racer Advance, developed by "David A. Palmer Productions" in UK and published by Crave Entertainment (Game Boy Advance) *04/21: Shutokō Battle (Genki Racing Project, PSP) CERO+12 ** 2006/02/28: Street Supremacy (Konami)Street Supremacy Release Information for PSP - GameFAQs
/ref> ** 2006/09/29: Street Supremacy (Konami) *05/26: Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix (Genki Racing Project,

) *07/28: Kaidō Battle: Tōge no Densetsu (Genki Racing Project,

) ** 2006/12/01: Kaido Racer 2 (Konami) ** 2007/04/17: Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift 2 (Crave Entertainment) *09/06: Shutokō Battle Evolution Plus (2) (Genki Mobile, i-mode Mobile) ;2006 *01/26: Shutokō Battle Evolution (Genki Mobile, EZweb Mobile) *06/05: Kaidō Battle Cross Action SECOND STAGE (Genki Mobile, i-mode Mobile) *07/27: Shutokō Battle Ten (or Shutokou Battle X) (Genki Racing Project,

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

) ** 2006/09/27:

(Ubisoft) ** 2006/10/06:

(Ubisoft) ;2007 *03/22:Shutokō Battle Car Sensor Version (Genki Mobile, i-mode Mobile) *07/26:Wangan Midnight (Genki,

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

) *09/27:Wangan Midnight Portable (Genki, PSP) CERO+12 ;2008 09/18: Shutokō Battle Neo (Genki Mobile, EZweb Mobile) ;2011 *XX/XX:Shutokō Battle A (Genki Mobile, Android) *11/01:Shutokō Battle (Genki,

Mobage is a portal and social network for games, owned by DeNA. The service had 30 million users, who largely play on feature phones. On February 14, 2011, DeNA announced renaming Mobage Town service name to Mobage, which also merged the Plus+ Plus+ ...

) (shut down as of June 29, 2012) ;2017 *01/26:Shutokō Battle Xtreme (Genki, Android & iOS Japan only) ;Cancelled *2003/11/XX:The Fast and the Furious (Genki, Vivendi Universal Games, PlayStation 2 & Xbox)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shutoko Battle series Street racing video games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1994