After recently unveiling the first official gameplay footage for the reboot of the Shutokō Battle series, known as Tokyo Xtreme Racer in Western markets, Genki has announced that the first new installment in 18 years will arrive on Steam far sooner than expected, on January 23rd. However, there’s a catch.
The game will debut on Steam in Early Access and is expected to remain in that state for at least four months, according to Genki. This news has left me feeling apprehensive. Over the years, we’ve seen countless Early Access releases that bombed and were subsequently abandoned.
While I doubt Genki would let this happen, the idea of paying for an unfinished game is a tough pill to swallow, especially for longtime fans of the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.
There have been great success stories of Early Access titles flourishing with supportive updates, such as last year’s release of PocketPair’s Palworld. However, numerous other open-world survival crafting games have lingered in Early Access for years.
Notable examples include Valheim and 7 Days to Die. The latter, after a decade in development, recently exited Early Access, yet its developers, The Fun Pimps, have largely failed to provide meaningful updates, with the game receiving barely one update a year, if even that.
Genki’s decision to release Tokyo Xtreme Racer early is intended to gather player feedback and make adjustments during the Early Access phase. However, the content will be incomplete at launch, with about half of the game’s story absent upon its January 23rd release. Still, even in this unfinished state, the game is expected to offer over ten hours of gameplay.
The familiar SP (Spirit Point) battle system will return, a signature element of the series set across Japan’s iconic highway network. Players aim to become the fastest racer in the region, using strategy to deplete opponents’ SP gauges by maintaining the lead and forcing mistakes. However, collisions with walls, barriers, or other vehicles will significantly reduce the player’s SP, making precise high-speed driving essential.
The game will feature over 200 unique rivals, 50 playable cars, and over 180 kilometers of Shuto Expressway to race on at full release. Player skill progression, a new addition to the franchise, will also be present in Early Access.
Despite these features, the new installment falls short when compared to Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3, which boasted 600 rivals and 114 playable vehicles. Even Import Tuner Challenge from 2006 offered over 400 rivals, though it featured just 30 licensed vehicles.
Genki recommends an Intel Core i7-13700, 16GB of RAM, and either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or RTX 4060 to run Tokyo Xtreme Racer at 1080p with high settings. For those aiming for “Ultra” graphics, the RTX 4060 or a more powerful GPU will be necessary. On the lower end, the game’s minimum requirements suggest that an Intel Core i7-7700 paired with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti should handle 1080p at the lowest preset.
While these system requirements aren’t unreasonable for a modern title, requiring an RTX 3060 for 1080p High at an assumed 60 FPS doesn’t set any new benchmarks in optimization, given that this is a restrictive racing game it’s actually somewhat poor. On a positive note, the game demands only 12GB of storage, making it extremely lightweight for today’s standards.
If this type of game appeals to you, it might be wise to wait for the Early Access launch and gauge the reactions of content creators who will undoubtedly stream and review it. Early Access titles often debut at a slightly discounted price, and Genki has hinted they may raise the price upon the game’s full release.
