Did you know that this "Tokyo" is a real place? Furthermore, believe it or not, "Xtreme Racing" through this "Tokyo" is a real practice. According to IGNDC foreign correspondent Colin Williamson, Tokyo Highway, overcrowded means of transit by day, turns into a raceway at night as Tokyo's most Xtreme racers show off their souped up import cars (well, actually domestic cars in Japan) for some of the most do or die diehard racing ever seen. Apparently, the law looks the other way. Only in Japan....
I, unfortunately, haven't had the chance to be a part of real Xtreme racing just yet (due to a very robust train system, you can gain access to much of Tokyo without getting into a car). The next best thing would have to be Crave and Genki's Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2, the US version of the title known in Japan as Shutoku Battle 2. This sequel improves upon the original in every way, at least enough to end up being the most enjoyable racing experience on a system that's flooded with racers. If you can't go to Tokyo to experience the real thing, or if you can but want to avoid the risks associated with driving 100+ MPH on a road with specific instructions against exceeding 50 MPH, you must pick up this game.

The sequel is based on the same premise as the original: use a paltry initial allotment of funds to purchase a cheap-o car, then head out to the streets of the Tokyo Highway for a night of Xtreme Racing. You can drive around the expansive highway for as long as you want, but the real fun comes when you encounter a rival vehicle. Flash your high beams at the opponent (or the other way around, as a new feature in the sequel), and if he accepts the proposal, the two of you race, right then and there. Racing is done like a fighting game, with each car holding an energy meter. The energy meter of the car that's trailing drains slowly, and the first one to lose all his energy loses the race. By winning races, you earn credits which can be used for buying new cars or making modifications, from adding parts, getting a new paint job, buying new car stickers - over one hundred modifications in all. Once you've finished the race, you continue on your drive until you've found the next opponent, and so on and so forth.

This so-called quest mode is the heart of the game, although there are a few other modes as well. You'll find a time attack mode in which you can pick a section of the Tokyo Highway and race around that area improving your time, a network mode that we assume will at some point allow you to download extra car modifications like in the Japanese version, a free run mode in which you race around the highway freely, and a quick race mode in which you race against a series of rival cars, each stronger than the last. Sadly, there's no multiplayer support what-so-ever - this game is meant for one and one player alone.

But that's okay. Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 works just fine as a fully single player experience because the quest mode will keep you busy for days. As with the original, due to the way in which the quest mode is set up, with your racing around the highway non-stop, searching for your next opponent, a single game session will end up taking hours. No complaints, though, especially from someone who's managed to spend hours working non-stop at a single track in other racing titles. There's something amazingly relaxing about being able to drive of your own free will through the highway - in some cases I actually found myself hoping that an opponent would end up being far away from my car, so I'd have to chase him down. Of course, once you've actually initiated a race, the game becomes as intense as can be.

The quest mode benefits heavily from the new additions made to the sequel by Genki - in fact, other than the improved graphics over the original, most changes to the game were made in the free quest mode alone. You're still limited to the one track, unfortunately, but it's much longer, with more varied landscapes and more interconnecting paths. Expect to find tight stretches with numerous twists and turns, as well as flat stretches, where the road grows wide, and where you can see the true sensation of speed given to us by this beast of a game engine.

As a whole, the game has an improved sense of rewards over the original. By defeating rivals, you unlock new cars, which can be purchased, if you have the money. Thankfully, cars and parts are cheaper and your actual earned income is greater than in the Japanese version, meaning you'll have a much better chance of trying out a good number of cars and modifications. Actually defeating all opponents gives a greater feeling of accomplishment, as some of the rivals tend to reject you should you plea for a race. You'll also unlock new sections of the track only by defeating a few very special opponents encountered here and there. It will take you plenty of play time to get past the few initial sections, but you'll be having fun all the way through.

There are only a couple of downsides to the experience. The driving model, once again, ends up feeling more based on luck than skill too often, although the actual feel of the cars has improved dramatically. The interface has been made a bit too slow, with a lengthy loading time when previewing a car and an even lengthier load time when heading out to the highway - perhaps such is the cost of having a realtime preview of your car on the road when selecting your vehicle.

The biggest offender, of course, involves the odd premise of the game itself; driving around a single raceway and searching for opponents may not be for everyone - if you simply hated the original, you may want to ignore this, and if you're not sure, you may want to rent it first.

Chances are, though, you'll find Xtreme racing through Tokyo to be an experience worthy of being called this year's best Dreamcast racing game.