Legendary Japanese Racing Sim Returns After 18 Years

2024-09-18 Nay Holland Genki, Racing, tokyo xtreme racer, video game

Earlier this week, Japanese developer Genki teased a countdown for August 22nd, 2024, which many assumed would be a revival of the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series. While no information relating to the dormant franchise was confirmed before the eventual announcement, Genki applied for a trademark for the IP in July 2024. A week later, it would release Devil Road Run!, a puzzle platformer that utilizes Tetromino-style blocks to make a path to the end of the level safely.

Once again, many fans assumed that this release was Genki “testing the waters” to gauge how Steam releases work. While a cute game, this was merely a placeholder for something big. One look through the reviews on the Steam store page painted that picture well. The game was released with positive reviews, asking fellow fans to support the developer in case this led to something bigger down the line.

tokyo-xtreme-racer-2025-1 — Daiba Route with the Tokyo skyline in the background approaching Rainbow Bridge.

Fortunately for us fans, we didn’t have to wait long. Tokyo Xtreme Racer was announced Thursday afternoon Japanese local time with a teaser trailer. The trailer begins with a brief timeline of the series, with the first two games of the series released on the Sega Dreamcast. The third and fourth games, Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero and 3 respectively, were released on the Sony PlayStation 2. While these were the only four games referenced, these aren’t the only games that make up the Tokyo Xtreme Racer franchise.

Originally known in Japan as Shutokou Battle, Genki’s Japanese racing sim led to the creation of the spin-off Kaidou Battle series. This series focused on mountain touge racing rather than the highway racing the main series was known for. In the United States, both series were released under the Tokyo Xtreme Racer umbrella, with Kaidou Battle being known as Drift.

tokyo-xtreme-racer-2025-2 — Inner Circular Route C1 approaching Ginza from Shiodome

There was one more Tokyo Xtreme Racer title that didn’t receive the Tokyo Xtreme Racer title, was released in the United States, and was the final main entry in the series. Shutokou Battle X was released for the Xbox 360 under the title Import Tuner Challenge as the Tokyo Xtreme Racer IP was owned by Crave Entertainment at the time. Import Tuner Challenge was published and localized by Ubisoft, fixing several questionable localization choices from the original Crave tetralogy.

Initially, I assumed that they didn’t include Import Tuner Challenge in the trailer because of trademark woes. Import Tuner was a once-serialized car magazine that eventually became Super Street Online, an online publication that is still featured on MotorTrend. The very same Super Street became the base for Super Street Racer. Entirely unrelated to Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Genki, but also a coincidence as two related car publications had released games using their branding in two different generations. However, the Japanese trailer showed a timeline of the same four games released under their Japanese titles; Shutokou Battle, Shutokou Battle 2, Shutokou Battle 0, and Shutokou Battle 01.

tokyo-xtreme-racer-2025-3 — Haneda Route (Unsure if it’s approaching C1 or leading into Yokohane. Hoping it’s the latter because it means it could be included)

Curiosities for the lack of an SB:X mention cast aside, the Steam page shows five promotional images of the iconic Shuto Expressway, already giving players a hint on what to expect. Historically, the series centered around the Inner Circular Route C1, a highway route that loops through the Tokyo metropolitan area. The second game expanded the map to include what was known as the “Shin Kanjou Route” or “New Ring Route.” In reality, it is made up of the Mukojima (6) and Fukogawa (9) routes to the North and the Haneda (1) and Daiba (11) routes to the South. Connecting both routes is a small strip of the Tokyo Wangan (B), specifically the Ariake Junction.

As the player progressed and defeated rivals, a larger portion of the Wangan-sen would become available, stretching to Yokohama’s Daikoku Pier. From Daikoku, the route merges into Yokohane (K1) which runs from Yokohama to Tokyo, back to Haneda, and eventually C1. Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 took this a step further by including Yokohama’s Minato Mirai, extending the K1 route into the Kariba K3 route, before merging back on the Wangan.

Hamazakibashi Junction. I wonder if Shinjuku and Shibuya will also make an appearance as they did in Import Tuner Challenge

Perhaps Import Tuner Challenge wasn’t included in the teaser because it offered a severely cut map, only including C1, Daiba, Fukogawa, and Ariake. While they also included Shibuya and Shinjuku as routes, if Genki wants to revive the franchise to its glory days, I expect the developers to go big. This leads to several speculations as the nature of the beast for a PC game is the topic of DLCs. If the entire Tokyo map isn’t available on launch, there may be a large chance that it will be included as DLC in the future. Cars, sticker emblems, and music from previous games could also be strong DLC options not to mention the potential of a strong modding scene.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer is expected to be a single-player game but it would be cool to see an online multiplayer aspect. With a new generation, decades of experience, and plenty of healthy competition in the racing game genre, 2025 looks to be just as healthy for fans as the rest of 2024 appears. Expect to see more Tokyo Xtreme Racer coverage as the game is slated for a 2025 release. Fans can wishlist the game on Steam right now.