The money that you earn from defeating the other cars on the expressway will generally go into improving the car that you already have, because some of the later, more powerful class-A cars are only available for exorbitant amounts of money. The control of the cars is bang on, and each setting - from shocks to brakes to transmission - can be tweaked to perfection. The game has fine sound effects and an appropriate techno audio track, but there's nothing here that makes it stand out from other racing games. Considering that the entire game is set in a night environment, you'd think that having the roadway light up would have been an obvious additional feature. For some reason, flashing your headlights only illuminates the other cars on the road, and not the roadway itself. The visuals are very impressive, though the game does suffer a drop in frame rate when several cars are on the screen at once. Scheming gamers will find that most cars can be defeated somewhat easily, even the boss cars. With that in mind, it's also possible for you to tail a rival car endlessly until it enters a section of road that your car is good at - say, a straightaway - and then start the race by flashing your lights. This aspect of the game makes it unique, as there are no set start or finish lines. Collisions can cost you speed points (the greater the impact, the greater the loss), so it's entirely possible to be winning the race, literally by miles, only to crash into something and lose the whole thing. The race is over when one car's meter is empty, or when either your car or the CPU's car throws the race by taking an offramp, which would result in a draw. So, the further ahead the lead car gets, the faster the losing car's life bar decreases. The car that is losing the race gradually has its life meter (measured in speed points) diminished.

The idea is to outdistance your opponent. Both you and your CPU competitor (this is a one-player-only game) then tear off down the freeway, avoiding traffic, taking off-ramps, and generally burning rubber. If the race is a go, the CPU briefly takes over and shows a cutscene of the two cars jockeying for position, and then you're back in control. You then flash your headlights at it, and the rival will choose to either accept or reject your challenge, depending on your current status. You choose your car and cruise around the expressways until you find a rival, a car marked in blue on your map.

The basis of the game is similar to a fighting game. There are more cars to choose from (more than 100, though initially only about 16 are available), miles of digitized expressway, several modes of play, and a replay value that is through the roof. Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 takes the formula that worked somewhat well for it in the original game and expands it.

Tokyo xtreme racer 2