I thought I’d do something low effort fun this time around with an article, but I’ve got a fair amount of trepidation sharing it. When it comes to something like this (what I recommend you play/watch if you’re specifically waiting for Forza Horizon 6 set in Japan), I think I might have some people sad that I didn’t recommend a few other titles.
In the end this is just a mix of games I love, like Need For Speed Underground 2, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix, F&F Tokyo Drift and so on.
I’m so excited for Horizon 6. I get the impression it’ll be like the previous few: I go into it hyped and then after a month I realize it has the same format as all the others. But the idea of drifting without a care is keeping me happy for the release.
SO, if you wanna see my recommendations for what to check out before FH6 comes out, check my article out:
Everyone should check out Need for Speed: Underground 2 Last Breath. This is a completely modded version including high resolution texture replacement while keeping the vanilla look of the game but increases the quality along with an upscaled HUD.
I really wish I could be hyped for FH6, but I doubt the bland corporate-approved Horizon series will do justice to the cool Japanese racing aesthetic. Part of the fun, IMO, is the thrill of night-time illegal races with cheap sportscars.
Your other recommendations rock, though! I’m not a huge fun of the F&F series but I like the first few movies, and Initial D is a lot of fun. I’m going through the manga and I’m in love with the aesthetic. It’s been a hot minute since I last played NfSU2 but I remember it was incredible for its time.
I’ll also add an OG recommendation here: Racing Lagoon. It’s an old Square Soft PS1 racing RPG (a rather unique blend) that released exclusively in Japan, but has received a fanmade translation a few years ago. It’s really dumb, but it’s fun.
I’ll add in Tokyo Xtreme Racer to your list. While it’s limited to Tokyo’s expressways, it does those very very well. And it features some delightful japanese jank too. Top notch game.
Also worth mentioning are the touge battles in the original GRID. Though, dissapointingly, I couldn’t find this one for sale anywhere - you might have to source it on the seven seas.
Oh, I was actually talking about the original Race Driver: Grid, it’s super fun. Got confused by their naming scheme though, I’ve never even played the 2019 one
@PerfectDark Those are some really good choices. I think I loved NFS: Underground 2 the most of those by far. I really loved the customization aspect of it, but also it gave a sort of semi-open world where you could just drive around the city doing what you wanted and just enjoying the custom vehicle in general without timers and etc.
A friend of mine was telling me about this game the other day. I’m not a car guy, but driving around Japan does sound kinda fun. I’m out on the Xbox Series tho and doubt my PC could run it.
There’s gotta be plenty of other games set in a semi-realistic Japan, right? I’d be curious to hear recs, racing or not.
Even without being a car person, nfsu2 is a really fun casual game, it isn’t overly difficult, the AI is competent enough to be fun but not be unfair, customization let’s you just play with every part of it visually, while performance stuff keeps quite simple (stage 1, 2 or 3, and then you go to Dyno for more if you want to dive there).
Also the game is in depth enough to have quite a lot to do in it
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Recently rode the tram and saw an older guy in his fifties wearing a NFSU2 cap. Judging from wear and tear, it was probably an original
Everyone should check out Need for Speed: Underground 2 Last Breath. This is a completely modded version including high resolution texture replacement while keeping the vanilla look of the game but increases the quality along with an upscaled HUD.
‘Assetto Corsa’ players run a lot of multiplayer servers with street cars driving on Japanese expressways.
Shit I forgot to buy FH5
There was a demo of unreal engine fan remake of NFSU2, maybe try that?
Recommending NFSU2 is a recipe for disaster. You are starting at peak, its always going to be downhill from there.
I really wish I could be hyped for FH6, but I doubt the bland corporate-approved Horizon series will do justice to the cool Japanese racing aesthetic. Part of the fun, IMO, is the thrill of night-time illegal races with cheap sportscars.
Your other recommendations rock, though! I’m not a huge fun of the F&F series but I like the first few movies, and Initial D is a lot of fun. I’m going through the manga and I’m in love with the aesthetic. It’s been a hot minute since I last played NfSU2 but I remember it was incredible for its time.
I’ll also add an OG recommendation here: Racing Lagoon. It’s an old Square Soft PS1 racing RPG (a rather unique blend) that released exclusively in Japan, but has received a fanmade translation a few years ago. It’s really dumb, but it’s fun.
They announced official Steam OS support, freaking amazing.
I’ll add in Tokyo Xtreme Racer to your list. While it’s limited to Tokyo’s expressways, it does those very very well. And it features some delightful japanese jank too. Top notch game.
Also worth mentioning are the touge battles in the original GRID. Though, dissapointingly, I couldn’t find this one for sale anywhere - you might have to source it on the seven seas.
GRID Autosport!
Grid is great! And it had Japanese stages too
Was so disappointed in GRID (2019) after how fun 2 and Autosport were (never played the original).
Oh, I was actually talking about the original Race Driver: Grid, it’s super fun. Got confused by their naming scheme though, I’ve never even played the 2019 one
@PerfectDark Those are some really good choices. I think I loved NFS: Underground 2 the most of those by far. I really loved the customization aspect of it, but also it gave a sort of semi-open world where you could just drive around the city doing what you wanted and just enjoying the custom vehicle in general without timers and etc.
It always ends up being between NFSU2 and Midnight Club 3 for people, I find!
It is crazy how these two always get the votes!
Thunderbolt (1995) is a fun racing movie if you haven’t seen it before.
Also I love the Tokyo levels in Metropolis Street Racer and the Project Gotham Racing series so recommended those too.
As for Forza I don’t particularly care for the series anymore so won’t bother with the new one.
A friend of mine was telling me about this game the other day. I’m not a car guy, but driving around Japan does sound kinda fun. I’m out on the Xbox Series tho and doubt my PC could run it.
There’s gotta be plenty of other games set in a semi-realistic Japan, right? I’d be curious to hear recs, racing or not.
Even without being a car person, nfsu2 is a really fun casual game, it isn’t overly difficult, the AI is competent enough to be fun but not be unfair, customization let’s you just play with every part of it visually, while performance stuff keeps quite simple (stage 1, 2 or 3, and then you go to Dyno for more if you want to dive there). Also the game is in depth enough to have quite a lot to do in it
Don’t forget the soundtrack, which absolutely slaps.
A b s o l u t e l y
I blame my entire music taste on NFSU2 soundtrack, it is just that good
Luckily the entire soundtrack album is hosted on Internet Archive! 25 songs, and 992.3mb in total (FLAC)
https://archive.org/details/need-for-speed-underground-2-original-soundtrack
One of my favourite parts of gaming was the Tokyo level in Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. You’ll need a retro setup to run it haha
PCSX2 has pretty low requirements, and finding a totally legal ‘backup .ISO’ is very easy if you want to emulate it :)