Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix

[Kubrick]

http://www.genki.co.jp/games/rb/index.html

Got this yesterday and I'm very impressed so far. Best described as a fusion of elements from Genki's other games - It features both the highway racing from the Shutokou series, along with "drift attack" missions similar to Kaido Battle, only, this time they are circuit-based instead of taking place on Touge courses. Standard Gran Turismo-style races and time-attacks are also available, and a number of real-life Japanese circuits are featured.
The handling is somewhere inbetween "sim" & "arcade". The cars behave realistically, but with an arcadey feel that makes drifts easy to execute. Very similar to Kaido Battle 2.

The game structure is more-or-less the same as in Genki's other racing games. There's a number of "rivals" that have to be defeated, before later classes & tracks etc can be unlocked. Winning races/events also earns you credits, which can be used to purchase go-faster parts for your car, or even a new car altogether.

The tuning/modification options are staggering, and go way beyond what the likes of Gran Turismo can offer. Modifying & styling your car is almost as much fun as the racing itself.

The graphics are excellent. The car models are almost GT4-quality and everything is solid and fast @ 60fps. Music is mostly cheesy trance/techno, but there are some classy tracks in there as well. Particularly on menu screens etc, which are also very stylish.

Quite a bit of JPN text in the game (translation underway), but there's also a lot of English, so it's not that bad if you're up for a bit of trial and error.

In short, if you like Genki's other racers, you will love this.

[MonkeyWrench]

Copy and paste of my impressions from elsewhere:

I played it for an hour or so last night and I'm really enjoying it so far.

The Japanese text can be a bit of a hinderance (someone posted a menu guide on GameFAQs which came in very handy), but I'm slowly getting my head around it, it's just a pity it's not as language friendly as Kaido Battle 2. As for the racing, it's bloody superb, it definitely has that 'battle' magic that genki's previous games have had.

The game has three types of battle - RP, SP and DP. RP is a GT style racing with 6 cars, SP is the classic 'health bar' type one-on-one race, and DP is a drift battle. The SP battles also take place on either a circuit or part of the Tokyo highway. Basically you get five minutes to drive around and challenge any drivers you come across (using your horn instead of headlights to inniate battles as the racing takes place during daylight hours).

Started off with an RX-8 and still had some money left over for a few mods. I'm not all that far in my quest, but my car is already looking very cool. Going to mess with the EyeToy at the weekend and see if I can create some cool paint jobs

Handling is pretty similar to the Shutoko Battle games, it's very easy to set the car drifting and keep it there. It's definitely no sim.

**********

Been playing it a bit more this evening and I got to say it's fookin' excellent, probably the best 'battle' game so far. Did a time trial around around the Tokyo highway course and had a grin from ear-to-ear (it's also great to be able to race that course in daylight too ).

So what car did you go for Kubrick?

[Kubrick]

MR2 G Super Charger Just bought an S14 as well.

[MonkeyWrench]

Nice

Looking at buying a new car at the moment. Just reached C rank and found there's a few single make races (I think they're Drag races) that I can't enter, so I've got some spare cash to throw around so I might invest in a S2000.

So how far are you?

[Bassman]

Now if there was a Play-Asia coupon going I'd have ordered this. I like Genki's previous offerings and this looks worth getting.

[MonkeyWrench]

YC-HRK-EFS (expires 15 July)

Go! Go NOW!

[Bassman]

Thanks. Ordered. Ought to be here next weekend if it ships today.

If you want a coupon in return I ought to be getting one next Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am looking forward to playing this game (I have gone off Forza).

[MonkeyWrench]

Nice one!

Nah that's ok, you keep it, I have plenty to go around.

[Kubrick]

So how far are you?

Not as far as you I think. I've only defeated one "Master" - the Genki S2000, which I can now buy. Most of my time has been spent familiarising myself with the menus, and messing around with my car tbh.

Some nice things about the game I never mentioned before - the "speed lines" effect when you're going pretty fast, plus the "whiteout" when you exit a tunnel during daytime races. The same thing is in Wipeout Pure, but not as severe.

It's also pretty cool that you can "chain" rivals and take on more than one at a time.

[MonkeyWrench]

Yeah that effect is nice, especially when viewed from third person.

I had't realised you could chain rivals. Pity as all the rivals I've raced so far have been a piece of cake, taking on more than one wouldn't have been a problem.

[Zanza]

My copy arrived !! Wooohoo, had a quick blast, but I'm gonna hold out and wait untill I get my steering wheel from home tommorow! Definately feeling the love for it tho, more so than GT4 which bored me quite quickly.

[Bassman]

Mine has just shipped from Play-Asia so I ought to be playing this next week.

[Bassman]

I am impressed. Play-Asia have surpassed themselves (or at least the postal service) it arrived this morning. Put in a couple of hours or so. Seem to have stopped progressing. I started off with the Legacy B4 RSK which currently has 379 HP and weighs in at 1426 Kg. Seems to leave everything for dead. Some new cars are now available, I tried an NSX which was horrible in the handling department. A quick reset restored the 8,000,00 I paid out on it!!

I am still a little in the dark as to what I am doing. I just finished my first Drift competion... never was that good at drifting. The initial look back view when the drift starts is extremely off-putting. I seem to have raced all six Rolling Guys about 3 times so far so I am assuming there is something I need do to get beyond them.

Is the first option the Save one, as there are two that access the memory card.

I do hope someone can do a translation guide for this game. If necessary I can record the various menus via my DVD recorder if that would be of any help. I have no clue what the majority of the non-engine upgrades do (other than body kits and wheels).

[MonkeyWrench]

This helped me out no end when I started:

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=924416&topic=21255969

and yes, the first option is save.

Just keep plodding through the various SP, DP and RP battles and you'll unlock the next tier of races.

[Bassman]

I am up to B already. I now have the Stage 4 Weight Reduction. I have two cars, the Legacy (430 HP 1223 Kg) and an S15 Silvia which I have been using for drifting. I am now contemplating a third car (12,000,000+ in the bank).

I am rather tempted by some of the second hand machines that are ready partially-tuned, I haven't tried one yet though.

Edit...

After a fair amount of driving yesterday I have now unlocked the engine swap option.

My garage now consists of...

The full quota of three cars. My main car, the Subaru Legacy (not the current model) is now running a 3.6 Turbo Flat 6 with 950 HP weighing in at 1111 Kg. I need to adjust the gearing, by which time it ought to be good for about 230 mph while still leaving decent accelleration.

I bought a couple of high(ish) mileage "used" cars. I bought a Trueno/Levin (which had a rather nice custom paint job) with a number of tune up options fitted and maximum weight reduction. With a view to drifting I left the power the same as it came with (about 135 HP). I also bought a late model Honda Integra which is now fitted with a Turbo Rotary engine and has 600 HP (good for over 210 mph). I customised the paint colour and it is now a bright orange!!

Needless to say I have used the Refresh option on both the used cars and have used it on a number of occasions on the Legacy.

I have fitted the Legacy and Integra with the full selection of body areodynamic/dress-up options. Recently the option to do an engine swap came up which I quickly took advantage of to get a power boost on the Legacy and Integra, though there is only a limited number of engine upgrades then available.

My previous drift car a Nissan S15 Silvia is in the sub-garage. It did have getting on for 400 HP but due to some wet drift races I reverted it to the stock 250 HP though there are a fair number of mods fitted to the car.