is a series of racing games created by

Yutaka Kaminaga Yutaka is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yutaka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *豊, "bountiful" *裕, "affluence" *穣, "fertile" *温, "warmth" The name can also be written in hiragana ゆた ...

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 ...

, which started in 1991 with the PC Engine title ''Zero4 Champ''. The series would transfer to the Kaminaga-founded WorkJam with 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 ...

title ''Zero4 Champ Series: Drift Champ'', codeveloped by Tamsoft and published by

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

, along with the mobile phone ''Go! Zero4 Champ'' developed by Profire, both of which were released in late 2002.

Conception

In Japan,

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 ...

sometimes occurs on long straights in industrial areas, which are used for drag races. These races are known as or "04", short for "0-400 meters", ヨン being Japanese for the number four. Japanese drag racing is noted for its flair, featuring various sport-grade Japanese cars such as the Toyota MR2-GT (SW20), Mazda RX-7 Type RS (FD3S),

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Lancer Evolution VI (CP9A),

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

Impreza WRX STi (GDB), the

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

Skyline GT-R V-Spec (BNR34), and Honda NSX Type-S Zero (NA2), all import scene classics.

Summary

The series is something of a predecessor to works like ''

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ''ta ...

'' and '' Wangan Midnight'', with its

touge racing 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 migr ...

, aero parts tuning, and anime-style "Story Mode". It has also

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

and simulation gameplay which was succeeded by the

Shutokou Battle ''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 ...

titles ''Kattobi Tune'' and ''Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix''.

History

* 1991.03.08: ''Zero4 Champ'' (ゼロヨンチャンプ), PC Engine * 1993.05.03: ''Zero4 Champ II'' (ゼロヨンチャンプII), PC Engine Super CD-ROM² * 1994.07.22: ''

Zero4 Champ RR is a 1994 racing life simulation video game developed and published by Media Rings for the Super Famicom. The game is about an 18-year-old race car driver who must chase his dreams of drag racing after being turned down for university and becomin ...

'' (ゼロヨンチャンプダブルアール), Super Famicom * 1995.11.25: '' Zero4 Champ RR-Z'' (ゼロヨンチャンプダブルアール・ヅィー), Super Famicom * 1997.06.20: '' Zero4 Champ DooZy-J'' (ゼロヨンチャンプドゥーヅィージェイ),

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 ...

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 ...

(subtitled ''Type-R'' / タイプアール for the latter console) * 2002.11.21: ''Zero4 Champ Series: Drift Champ'' (ゼロヨンチャンプシリーズドリフトチャンプ),

(

) *{{flagicon, Japan 2002.12.24: ''Go! Zero4 Champ'' (GO!04チャンプ), Mobile phone i-mode 504i (Hudson Soft / Profire)

Zero4 Extreme

In June 2005, a fan-made flash game ''Zero4 Extreme'' (ゼロヨンエクストリーム) was released by Kuruma,Zero4 Extreme official website
/ref> though it is currently a dead link.

Notes

External links

''Drift Champ'' official website''Go! Zero4 Champ'' press release
1991 video games 1992 video games 1993 video games 1994 video games 1995 video games 1997 video games 2002 video games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games Racing video games Sega Saturn games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games TurboGrafx-16 games TurboGrafx-16-only games TurboGrafx-CD games TurboGrafx-CD-only games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1991