I believe for players familiar with millennium-era console games,"Shutokou Battle" is certainly not an unfamiliar name—in that market environment where the gaming industry was not yet mature, developers were often more concerned with whether their game was "special" enough to stand out among similar products than with technological innovation. The "Shutokou Battle" series from GENKI, a veteran Japanese game developer, is a product of this development environment.
AsPlayStation, almost every manufacturer wanted a piece of the "racing" pie. On the other hand, the market at that time featured Namco's "Ridge Racer" and later CAPCOM's "Auto Modellista," meaning competing with major publishers on technology alone would put us at a disadvantage.
And "Shutokou Battle" is exactly such a"unconventional" "racing" game. In fact, while the Chinese title "Shutokou Battle" is easy to understand, it doesn't fully capture the essence. The Japanese title is "Shutokou Battle," which is less like "racing" and more appropriately translated as "duel"—it condenses real-life JDM culture into a unique worldview, and even the gameplay is specifically crafted for this design concept.
In the game, players must do more than just"beating other characters in racing," but also "suppressing opponents in battle." It is this unique gameplay that allowed "Shutokou Battle" to survive in fierce market competition, once bringing a new perspective to the "racing" genre. The seamlessly connected Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway, drivers freely cruising on the highway, and vehicle duels testing mental strength and driving skills have become indispensable iconic elements of this series. In addition to its own "Shutokou Battle," GENKI also followed up with derivative works like "Street Racing" and "Saisoku Racing."
But as we know today, that was basically Japan'sgolden age of "racing" games. In the following years, not only did Japanese racing games decline, but the once-popular "racing" genre itself gradually became a "niche specialty" in the video game industry. The former "Shutokou Battle" also completely submerged during several bold transformations.
This situation changed last year with the release of the latest entry, "Shutokou Battle." This long-awaited return not only altered thethe predicament of "no more Nissan racing games," but also broke the curse that "old IPs are hard to revive in the modern market."
Therefore, we reached out to the "Shutokou Battle" development team, hoping to gain deeper insights into the story behind the successful revival of this title through an interview.
Below is the original text of this interview:
Q:The previous entry in the series, "Shutokou Battle X" was released nearlytwentyyears, during which many players were quite pessimistic about whether the series would see a sequel—May I ask,Why did you choose to revive the"Shutokou Battle"series?
A:revival"Shutokou Battle" series, we did consider it. However, we firmly believed that if we were to return with a new title, we had to firmly preservethe "Shutokou Battle flavor" while making it a game that truly stands up to current standards.
During the long hiatus, the name "Shutokou Battle" remained in the memories of many people. In recent years, Japanese car culture, represented by Japanese cars and tuning culture, has received increasing attention both domestically and internationally, which gave us great motivation.
Various conditions converged, leading us to conclude that "in this era, it is meaningful to bring "Shutokou Battle" back to today's players," ultimately促成ing this revival. Rather than saying it revived because twenty years had passed, it was precisely because so much time had elapsed that we found the right moment to showcase the unique qualities of "Shutokou Battle" again.
Q:As a long-established Japanese manufacturer, before this titleGENKIhas not been involved in premium buy-to-play or console games for many years. Did this gap in product lineup create difficulties and challenges for the development of this title from technical and market perspectives?
A:Both technically and commercially, the long hiatus presented real difficulties.
Technically, during the years we stepped away from premium buy-to-play and console games, the development environment, technology itself, and player expectations for game quality underwent huge changes. Therefore, while leveraging the experience accumulated from developing the "Shutokou Battle" series in the past, we also had to catch up with the concepts and technologies required for modern game development.
Changes in the market were equally significant. Not only have game sales methods changed, but marketing techniques themselves have been renewed—social networks, live streaming, influencers, and player communities have diversified the ways works reach players.
In addition to longtime fans who have waited years for the series, another key challenge we seriously reconsidered and focused on solving was how to convey the charm of the work to younger generations and overseas players experiencing "Shutokou Battle" for the first time.
In this sense, adapting to the drastically changed development environment and market of the past twenty years to create a brand-new "Shutokou Battle" was itself one of the biggest challenges of this project.
Q:This time, "Shutokou Battle" adopts the"Early Access"method onSteam platform for early release, why did you decide to adopt this special launch format?
A:After all, this is the first "Shutokou Battle" in about twenty years, and we wanted players to actually play the game to verify whether our understanding of the "Shutokou Battle flavor" would be accepted by today's players.
Especially this time, in addition to players familiar with previous entries, there will be many young people and overseas players experiencing "Shutokou Battle" for the first time. We believe it is highly valuable to understand the reactions and feedback of a broad range of players during the "Early Access" phase and use them to improve the full release.
In fact, after launching the "Early Access" phase, we received a large volume of feedback on issues difficult for the development team to identify alone, such as game balance, control feel, and various systems.
It was precisely to reference this feedback to refine the work and improve the completion level of the full release that we chose the "Early Access" format this time.
Q:As an iconic element of the series, this title also fully depicts the C1 Inner Circular Route (C1) surroundings were fully depicted, and the game even features"Tokyo Skytree" —May I ask,Which point in time does the cityscape in this title represent? When constructing the cityscape, what did you prioritize mostorwas the most headache-inducing part?
A:The cityscape in this title is not a faithful recreation of Tokyo from any specific era—to be honest, chronologically, it is more of a "composite."
For the roads themselves, we faithfully recreated the real Shutoko within the included areas as much as possible. However, the surrounding landscapes are not just composed of what currently exists in Tokyo, but incorporate elements from various eras.
What we prioritized most was how to承载 the unique atmosphere of "Shutokou Battle" on top of making the roads as realistic as possible.
"Shutokou Battle" does not depict the real Tokyo: speeding along the Shutoko at night, encountering various opponents, and starting a duel with a flash of headlights—these experiences, combined with Tokyo's nightscape, have crystallized into the "Shutoko that feels like Shutokou Battle" in the minds of players over the series' long history.
Therefore, the most difficult aspect was precisely this: how to make both "the persuasiveness of real Tokyo" and "the scenery and atmosphere of 'Shutokou Battle' in players' memories" coexist.
We did not attempt to fully recreate Tokyo from a specific era. Instead, using the real Shutoko as a base, we aimed to let every player feel their own "Shutokou Battle Night"—this was the core concept we cherished most when creating the city environment this time.
Q:This title includes a large number of real-world brand vehicles, with Honda making amade a long-awaited return.May I ask,Do you have unique criteria when selecting vehicles for the game? Were there any memorable moments during negotiations with car brands like Honda?
A:When selecting cars, we don't simply include popular sports cars in order of popularity.
Iconic cars from the series and vehicles fans expect are, of course, very important. But to construct the world of "Shutokou Battle," these alone are not enough.
In this series, the car itself is an important element in expressing the opponent's personality. We consider combinations such as "why does this character drive this car" and "it's impressive precisely because this car appears."
Therefore,In addition to classic Japanese classics and contemporary sports cars, we also include kei cars (K-car) includedsomewhat unexpected models into the lineup. It is this breadth that constitutes a trueof"Shutokou Battle" world.
Regarding negotiations with Honda and other manufacturers, rather than having one particular memorable anecdote, it was more due toGENKI has been producing car-themed games for many years, maintaining ongoing relationships with various automakers. The previous "Shutokou Battle" series has always received assistance from numerous manufacturers.
This time, too, it was thanks to relationships and achievements accumulated over many years that we gained understanding and cooperation from numerous manufacturers. Among them, being able to re-include Honda cars, which many old players had been hoping for, was a significant event for us.
Q:In addition to the Wangan Line and Haneda Line, which are highlights in this title, past entries in the"Shutokou Battle"series also included multiple highway routes. Regarding,How did you initially decide which routes to include? Are there plans to add other routes in the future? Especially those in reality that have been,the Yaesu Line of the Shutoko, which closed last year.
A:For this route selection, we started from the question: "Which areas are needed to let players fully experience the Shutokou Battle flavor?"
Various routes have appeared in past entries, but as this is a new release after about twenty years, we didn't include every route from the start. Instead, we determined the scope of inclusion by carefully balancing the overall game size and development scale.
We are aware that many players hope to race again on routes that appeared in previous titles, including the Yaesu Line. At present, we have no specific details to announce regarding the addition of new routes in the future. However, when considering how to expand the world of "Shutokou Battle" going forward, we will explore various possibilities.
Q:As a racing game, this title features hundreds of opponent characters with diverse personalities, some of whom can only be described as"eccentric". What did you prioritize most when designing these characters, and how did you accurately reflect their personalities in their driving styles?
A:The opponents in "Shutokou Battle" are not just simple racing rivals; each has their own name, history, affiliated team, vehicle, and even unique driving styles.
When designing characters, we first establish their image and background, then deduce from "what car would this person choose and how would they drive," reflecting these personality traits in the AI's driving tendencies and behaviors.
For example, some opponents aggressively attack, others constantly pressure the player, and some deliberately block lines, each with their own distinct characteristics.
With hundreds of opponents appearing, it was crucial to avoid making them all feel the same. We wanted players to truly sense "this is what kind of person this opponent is" not just from their profiles and cars, but from their actual driving style during races.
Q:Regarding this game's"PERK"system feels more like a role-playing game (RPG)——What made you decide to introduce such a brand-new system?
A:The PERK system is one of the new elements added this time.
Tokyo Xtreme Racer originally had a growth line where players modify their beloved cars and advance the story through continuous battles. This time, we wanted to add another "axis of growth" alongside this, which is the main reason for introducing the PERK system.
By earning BP through continuous battles and unlocking PERKs, players can gradually access new parts and features, always having a next goal to strive for.
As you said, its design concept does resemble an RPG skill tree. However, its purpose isn't to make the player character progressively stronger, but rather to add a new growth trajectory to the gameplay progression of Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
On the other hand, some players might feel that designs like part unlock conditions restrict modification freedom. Therefore, regarding how to balance the fun of phased growth with the joy of free customization, we will continue to closely monitor player feedback and carefully refine the experience.
Q:By the way, let me askone that many newcomersplayersA question many are curious about early in the game——Why are the taxis in the game so much faster than other regular vehicles?
A:Firstly, the car models used for taxis are inherently high-performance vehicles (laughs).
Additionally, within the world of Tokyo Xtreme Racer, all vehicles on the Metropolitan Expressway, including regular cars, are there for racing. In fact, these taxis aren't operating normally either—according to the setting, they carry passengers in the back seat who are there to watch the races.
So, in a sense, it's "reasonable" that those taxis are fast (laughs).
Q:Compared to the late last century to2000the heyday of the early 2000s, we have seen almost no Japanese-producedracing games. How do you view today's racing game market? On the other hand, Tokyo Xtreme Racer has received positive reviews from various sectors since its release. What do you think was the most critical reason for this?
A:As you mentioned, the current racing game market has many highly polished titles, so the barrier to entry for new participants is certainly high. However, we also feel that as long as we don't simply copy existing successful games but instead offer titles with distinct personalities, there is still ample potential in this market.
One important reason why Tokyo Xtreme Racer has been accepted by so many people this time is that we didn't change the "Tokyo Xtreme Racer flavor."
The stage of the Metropolitan Expressway, SP battles, distinctive opponents, duels initiated by flashing lights, and the gameplay loop of modifying your car while advancing the story—these iconic features from about twenty years ago have now become unique traits not found in other racing games today.
Additionally, despite the long hiatus, the name "Tokyo Xtreme Racer" itself has remained in the memories of many people. The growing interest in Japanese cars and tuning culture overseas has also been an important factor.
Marketing efforts that convey the game's appeal and this underlying perception not only to fans of the previous titles but also to younger generations and overseas players were another key factor supporting this success.
The game's own unique personality, combined with accurately delivering it to those who need it—these two factors fitting together perfectly led to this result.
Q:Finally,development teamIs there anything else you'd like to say to Chinese players?
A:First of all, we are truly delighted to see so many Chinese players enjoying Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
We believe there are many fans of Japanese cars and tuning culture, and we hope everyone can use Tokyo Xtreme Racer to build their dream cars, race on the Metropolitan Expressway at night, and enjoy battles against various opponents.
If this work serves as an opportunity to spark greater interest in Japanese automobiles and car culture, we would be very happy.
Please continue to look forward to future developments in Tokyo Xtreme Racer.