Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3

Strangely, this game becomes personal and you get to relate to each rivals, especially ones who gave you hard time.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3... The very first thing I noticed was the graphic. The first impression was that it ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE HIGHWAYS IN TOKYO. One of my Japanese coworkers took me to Japan couple years ago to show me Shutokou Highway after we were fervently discussing about the game(actual highway where game battle takes place). The funny thing is that I didn't think first two TXR games looked anything like actual highway, of course, it looked similar. However, when I was playing TXR 3, it just came to me naturally that this really does look like actual highway. Game looks very identical not only in details (now there's oncoming traffic) but most importantly the scale wise. Feels like actually racing in the highways of Tokyo.

Moreover, they have balanced whole battle system. You could sort of bump into walls and cars and still manage to maintain your speed, however, it wasn't the case with TXR3. Even if you are ahead of your rival, you could still lose EASILY, WHICH FORCES YOU TO MAINTAIN THAT INTENSITY, CONCENTRATON TILL THE END OF RACE. If you just scratch your car or bump into something, then not only you lose speed but also considerable amount of your 'health bar'. This game rewards those players who play with precision, taking game driving as if they were driving a real car. You wouldn't bump into anything if you were to drive your own car in real life while racing someone, would you? No, this game really rewards those who drive realistically. I think that was another great improvement over the previous games. Furthermore, they have tweaked whole physic, where you just can't blindly make a turn without being understeer, which could result in partial spinning..and there goes your victory. They have managed this 'up grade' aspect in a way it literally felt like playing a RPG. It was more like playing Dragon Warrior, where you are fighting to make money to buy better weapon/armor without feeling bored but rather anticipated for better equipment. I felt exactly same way as I was playing this game. One time I was racing against the ring leader, and when that leader was losing, the battle turned into this three-way battle; the leader was trying to drive away while the second team member tried to block me- Wow, I was just blown away!

Yes, this game does finally accommodate real licensing cars- however, they missed few crucial car makers like Honda/Accura. Having this license aspect does help with fun factor obviously despite of its short numbered licensing availability. This game also implemented weather change (raining) which seriously limit your visibility and that's another great addition.

You know, this game does have its own faults here and there.. but trust me, it does not interfere with your game in anyway because, for instance, you would be concentrating on driving, either trying go get ahead of your opponent or preventing them from gettting ahead of you, and I do not think you would notice any serious popups (and if you do, you must be a confident racer, not like me). One more thing I need to mention is that the difficulty has been lowered considerably in my opinion compare to previous two games. So if you were looking for something with more challenge, then this might not work for you. And for those who thought the previous games were way too hard, then this might be the one for you.

I guess if you are reading this game then you must be either new to the series or veterans who want to check out if they are buying another same old games- and rest asure because this is not a same game- (may be I could make a comparison between original Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission, which was the remake however it felt like a totally new game while attaining the original formula). Trust me, it's not about just having enhanced graphic here and there, changed menu and interface here and there.. they made substantial changes for you to not only enjoy the game but also appreciate the changes (especially for those who've played previous two games and were wondering if this is worth your money and time)...

AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO BUY AND PLAY THIS GAME ANYWAY IF YOU'VE PLAYED THE FIRST TWO GAMES, RIGHT?

So if you are making comparison with games like Gran Turismo or other games and decide not to buy this game (for whatever unreasonable reason), HEY, IT'S YOUR LOSS, SERIOUSLY. Gran Turismo is a great game, no question about it. However, there's some aspects from Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3, WHICH CANNOT BE REPLICATED ANYWHERE, EVEN WITH GRAN TURISMO 3 (AND PROLUGUE OF GT4), BUT IN TXR ONLY, PERIOD.

Tremendously enjoy this game like I have.