Japanese Street Racing Games

[Johnny]

As a huge fan of the Initial D games and similar arcade racers like the Ridge Racer and Outrun series, I'm looking for some more "drifting" racers.

The games that have caught my eye so far are:

Battle Gear 3 (PS2)
Kaido Battle 2 (PS2)
Shotokou Battle 01 (PS2) and the PSP version aswell.

Basically just wanting to know if any of these top the games I mentioned initially and if there are any major language barriers if I was to import.
They seem to be fairly cheap on eBay and the like but I don't want to buy them to play for an hour and never go back too.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[Kubrick]

All of those games are very good and it sounds like you would like them. If I had to pick one though, it would be Kaido Battle 2.

Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix is also another good one. Menu Translation for this Here

Of those you listed, Battle Gear 3 is probably the least import-friendly but it's pretty popular so there are menu translations available. The Genki games have plenty of Engrish in them and are fairly easy to understand.

I feel the PSP version of Shutokou Battle 01 is pretty poor though so I wouldn't recommend that.

[Scarface]

Does Kaido Battle 2 work with the Driving Force Pro wheel (the one that spins 900 degrees)?

I'm considering to buy the PAL version soon (Kaido Racer).

[Kubrick]

I think the Japanese game came out before the 900 degree wheel was released, so it only claims to be compatible with the GT-FORCE.

Anyway, just tried it with the PRO wheel and it does appear to work, but it isn't 100% compatible - You can't use the +/- gearstick or the paddles behind the wheel to change gears, so you have to use the other buttons on the face.

Wheel otherwise works fine for steering, braking and acceleration. Maybe they'll make it fully-compatible for the PAL version.

[Neo Zeed]

"I feel the PSP version of Shutokou Battle 01 is pretty poor though so I wouldn't recommend that."

No it's brilliant,it really is!!

Seriously i thought it was good,visually impressive!

[Kubrick]

visually impressive!

Yeah...untill you see it moving. Dodgy framerate kills it for me.

[gossi the dog]

Kaido Battle 2 has been released in Europe as Kaido Racer. It has a 60 Hz mode and is great so seek it out

[MikeRox]

"I feel the PSP version of Shutokou Battle 01 is pretty poor though so I wouldn't recommend that."

No it's brilliant,it really is!!

Seriously i thought it was good,visually impressive!

I didn't get on with it too well, it had a Western Release as Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 in the US personally sad as it sounds I prefer Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero tho don't get the PAL version, dogged by huge borders and no 60hz mode. Can be gotten cheap from the US though.

Tokyo Road Race is the PAL (60hz and Driving Force Compatible) Battle Gear 2 which is actually an excellent game despite it's dated graphics. Of course the finest "drift" racer on the PS2 however, is Sega Rally 1995

[Geezer]

These are the ones I can think of:

Battle Gear 2 (Tokyo Road Race EU)
Battle Gear 3
Initial D
Kaido Battle (Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift US)
Kaido Battle 2 (Kaido Racer EU)
Kaido Battle: Touge no Densetsu (Kaido Racer 2 EU??)
Shutokou Battle 0 (Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero US, Tokyo Xtreme Racer EU)
Shutokou Battle 01 (Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3)
Wangan Midnight

If you have BG3 is it worth getting BG2?
Has anybody played Wangan Midnight? I can only find small snippets of info, apparently it's built on the Shutokou engine. Is it worth buying alongside a Shutokou game?

Geezer

[Shinebi]

Anyone knows of a store selling Touge R (ATLUS) for the Xbox really cheap??
I had the previous installments on Saturn, was not that good, but for a quick play it "should" be okay on the Xbox (already seen the pics, i know ).

Also, Shutoku Highway Battle on the DC is VERY good in my opinion...
(PS2 version of ZERO also suffer from MPH, be warned)

[Kubrick]

These are the ones I can think of:

Battle Gear 2 (Tokyo Road Race EU)
Battle Gear 3
Initial D
Kaido Battle (Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift US)
Kaido Battle 2 (Kaido Racer EU)
Kaido Battle: Touge no Densetsu (Kaido Racer 2 EU??)
Shutokou Battle 0 (Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero US, Tokyo Xtreme Racer EU)
Shutokou Battle 01 (Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3)
Wangan Midnight

Plus there's these, although I dunno what they're like.

Drift Champ
D1 Grand Prix
D1 Grand Prix 2005 (there's also a US version of this)

Has anybody played Wangan Midnight? I can only find small snippets of info, apparently it's built on the Shutokou engine. Is it worth buying alongside a Shutokou game?

Yeah, it's basically just like a Shutokou Battle game with the WM licence tacked-on so it has "story" screens etc like Initial D. I haven't played it much and when I did it was ages ago but I don't remember it being all that great. Maybe worth a punt if it's cheap but I think it's actually quite hard to find.

[Johnny]

Yeah, it's basically just like a Shutokou Battle game with the WM licence tacked-on so it has "story" screens etc like Initial D. I haven't played it much and when I did it was ages ago but I don't remember it being all that great. Maybe worth a punt if it's cheap but I think it's actually quite hard to find.

I was actually gonna ask about this game. I found it reasonably cheap and was gonna buy it - so it plays more like Shutokou than, say, Initial D?

[Kubrick]

Yeah, it's a highway racing game rather than a touge drifter. Think it's actually based on Shutokou Battle 0.

[dvdx2]

For me the best 'Shutokou' game was probably the DC version (Part 2). Even today, it looks stunning in VGA. The PS2 version (essentally the same with more) is Shutoku Battle 0 which i also love.

The Battle Gear games are also excellent 2/3 - especially 2! (and i recently played 4 in the arcade which was nice)

Wangan Midnight is essentially an 'arcadey' version of SB0, but its great.

[Johnny]

Yeah, it's a highway racing game rather than a touge drifter. Think it's actually based on Shutokou Battle 0.

I think I'll check it out. I've read a bit of the manga so maybe I'll be familiar with some of the characters - the Porsche is in there, right?

Also, isn't the music supposed to be great too? Is it Eurobeat like Initial D or just general dance? I've heard people say it has both.