Tokyo Xtreme Racer Early Access Review

Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a PlayStation 2 game. Now, years of YouTube comments from cynical types who were likely still jostling around inside an ovary at the dawn of the millennium may have taught you that ‘PS2’ is a pejorative – a one-size-fits-all put-down wielded against anything that doesn’t melt the multiprocessors off a graphics card. But it doesn’t have to be. The PS2 was an incredible console, brimming with great, approachable games that achieved exactly what they set out to do, were hopelessly addictive, and completely unburdened by microtransactions and live-service malarkey. This succinctly describes Genki’s 2025 Tokyo Xtreme Racer reboot, which recently arrived in early access on Steam: a fantastically moreish blast from the past that’s simple on the surface, steeped in high-speed thrills, and (for now, at least) unapologetically single-player. That’s what makes it a game in the grand style of the PS2 and, for that, I already love it.

For clarity, I’m aware that the overall lineage of this series dates back to 1994’s Shutokou Battle on SNES, and the Tokyo Xtreme Racer name itself can be traced back to the series Dreamcast debut (and sequel) in the US. However, in PAL territories those carried different titles, and that’s why I’m waxing romantic about the PS2: because 2001’s Tokyo Xtreme Racer on Sony’s all-conquering console was my first exposure to the series, and I admire how closely Genki has stuck to its enduring format well over two decades later.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series focuses strictly on highway street racing, taking a heavy dose of inspiration from the real-life underground racing scene that peaked on Tokyo’s expressways back in the ’90s. (This was made infamous by the likes of the highly secretive Mid Night Club – an allegedly disbanded racing community still shrouded in mystery today thanks to anonymity amongst its members and its strict, low-profile policies).

After choosing an on-ramp to enter the freeway system (which faithfully recreates Tokyo’s actual Shuto Expressway network) the aim is to cruise and hunt down rival racers to challenge. Races are triggered on the fly by flashing your headlights behind potential rivals, and won unconventionally. There are no finish lines here; instead, their “Spirit Point” bar will drain to empty as they drop further and further behind you, collide with members of the public, or graze the walls. It’s part racing game, part fighting game, and it still works as well as it ever did.

Wisely, Genki hasn’t tampered with any of this, and it remains the structure of Tokyo Xtreme Racer’s early access revival in 2025. The graphics have received a handsome enough modern makeover but otherwise it’s a staunchly old-school experience. The result is terrific, and I’m hooked once more.

Duelling against one opponent at a time and slicing through late-night freeway traffic in a single direction may sound limited and repetitive. In a way, I guess it is. And yet it’s utterly absorbing. Even in early access, Tokyo Xtreme Racer features over 200 named opponents to seek, stalk, and destroy. Some are boss characters that will only emerge after you encounter the rest of their race team members and leave them for dust. Some can only be found and raced under certain circumstances or if you perform specific tasks, the clues for which you can glean from conversations with rivals in parking areas. The writing in these conversations tends to be a bit overwrought (and the story itself leans a little too melodramatic for my tastes) but there is a goofy charm to it I can stomach.

The difference in difficulty between some of these opponents can be stark at times, so I will say that my experience has been a little uneven. One moment I’ll be beating every buster I find, and the next some mystery hot shot is simply galloping away. Races that are very evenly matched and decided by tactical slipstreaming (or goading your opponent into an obstacle) are the most fun, but they’re a little too uncommon.

This has the potential to create the occasional logjam in your progression, because a lot of the upgrade paths are gated behind meeting certain criteria. Needing to beat specific racers in order to earn the ability to purchase better parts might be a sore spot if you’re already spinning your wheels trying to lure out and beat those racers in the first place. It’s a bit of a catch-22, and it’s probably the primary reason I’m not a huge fan of these sorts of roadblocks in racing games. I’m generally of the opinion that, if you have the credits, you should just be able to buy any cars and parts within your means. At any rate, this is the sort of early access feedback that, with any luck, should provide Genki the data to smooth out bumps in its progression road.

Despite the occasional frustrating session, I’m still thoroughly addicted to vanquishing every rival I find. Being able to now spot where opponents are on the map (and allowing that to dictate where you enter the expressway) is a sensible, modern touch. Each time you leave the garage represents the start of an in-game night, which concludes when you choose to return to the garage to spend your credits – or simply head straight out again for the next evening. Just one more night, I tell myself for the tenth time before heading back out onto the expressways in search of prey. It’s hard to quit – and not just because the option to actually do so from the garage is buried in a hidden menu I initially had no idea how to reach. You can’t do it from your controller, in case you’re wondering; you have to hit tab on your keyboard.

In more ways than just that the menu system does need refinement, as it also lacks quick D-pad support and requires us to use an analogue stick as a mouse. It’d also benefit from some kind of global BACK button shortcut, so returning to the main garage screen from elsewhere – like the tuning menus – wouldn’t require opening the menu bar and manually moving the cursor. Little tweaks like that would significantly sharpen up the process of menu navigation.

Car handling, though, already has a slick, arcade feel that’s nicely tuned for smooth steering on a controller at high speed. That said, the chase view does lack the kind of looseness I crave in this sort of racing game, so even minor steering adjustments are amplified to jarring yaws by the time they reach the trailing camera. This feels like something that could be tuned, or potentially supplemented with an additional chase camera that isn’t so stiff. For now, it’s far easier to drive smoothly using bonnet cam.

The list of cars whose bonnets you can see from there is a good start, and features just under 50 Japanese models at launch. Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Daihatsu, and Suzuki are all in there. (Honda remains conspicuously absent, though.) The cars look fine without being showstopping, but they don’t pick up damage or boast a level of detail as lavish as the vehicles featured in racing genre heavy hitters like Gran Turismo 7. However, the bigger issue at the moment is how they sound. Right now Tokyo Xtreme Racer isn’t so much “extreme” as it is tinny and toothless compared to any one of its arcade racing peers, like Forza Horizon, Need for Speed, or even Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. It’s the one part of this retro game I wish wasn’t stuck in the past.

Anyway, in broad terms, a lot of the usual suspects are already on these streets. The Mk3 and Mk4 Supra. Five generations of Imprezas. The R32, R33, and R34. The RX-7 and RX-8. The best Evo and the final Evo. There’s certainly plenty of room for it to grow and, looking at the car list for 2003’s Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3, I’m sure I could make some fairly educated guesses regarding what may join the garage. What I will say, however, is I’d love to be more regularly surprised going forward. That is, some Japanese cars that get little to no love in video games would be perfect. Give us a Datsun 620. A 910 Bluebird wagon. Hell, what about a Mazda Roadpacer? I’m sure dropping in a custom four-rotor would solve its acceleration problems. Let’s go nuts.