==================================== TOKYO EXTREME RACER ZERO: GAME GUIDE By Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Version: FINAL Completed: October 6, 2001 ==================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Cars Input from Others General Tips My Cars Wish List Contact ==================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ==================================== PERMISSIONS This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, gamesover.com, InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com, vgstrategies.com, ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com. Permission is granted to download and print one copy for personal use. ==================================== INTRODUCTION Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero is an intriguing game - similar to the PlayStation game Tokyo Highway Battle, but far more developed and with much more highway to explore. Also, the CPU-controlled Rivals are far more challenging and varied, employing a wider array of tactics in their own attempts to win each battle. One of the most interesting aspects of the game (to me) is that it shows the complexity of the highway system of a major urban area. The initial course is especially intriguing in this respect, and it is rather interesting to compare the game version of the highway to a map of Tokyo. ==================================== CARS At the beginning of the game, you will be forced to buy a car. The initial car choice is important, as it should be a vehicle with which you will feel very comfortable immediately. Specifically, choose a car type you are already familiar with from other driving games. In my case, I am rather adept with 4WD vehicles in the Gran Turismo series, so my first cars were 4WD vehicles (TYPE-CE9A and TYPE-CP9A6M). At the beginning of the game, a fairly powerful Class A car can beat just about anyone, even without modifications. However, do not buy the most expensive car you can afford. Instead, save a little money to buy parts. NOTE: If you buy a Class A car immediately, you will not be able to spend money on any significant parts at the same time due to the high cost of the initially-available cars. On the other hand, if you buy a Class B or Class C car, you can expect to buy a better car relatively soon in the game because you will not have a powerful-enough vehicle to compete with the Rivals - this, in essence, is a tremendous waste of money. However, if you buy a Class A car at the beginning, you can take that car A LOT further into the game before you need to buy a second car. The first parts you should buy are tires. ALWAYS buy the best possible tires you can afford. Better tires mean more traction, which means both less wheel spin (resulting in better acceleration) and better cornering at high speeds. Even if you are racing a higher-power car, if you have better tires, you can take advantage of corners to catch up and pass the Rival. As you progress through the game, if new sets of tires are made available to you (by beating certain Rivals), buy them immediately!!! Once you have bought a car and made any initial modifications, go to the Settings screen and make any adjustments necessary. Then leave Quest mode (save your game) and go to Free Run. Learn the initial course in both directions, so that you will not have any surprises when you go back to Quest mode and begin challenging other drivers. Using Free Run, you will also be able to discern if the Settings need to be adjusted, and you may begin to notice which new parts to buy next once you have enough money to do so. However, Free Run does not include ANY traffic on the highway, so if you need to make adjustments to your car, consider how the changes will affect handling when weaving in and out of traffic. When ready, go to Time Attack and complete a few rounds there on each course. While you may not necessarily be driving at top speed in Free Run, you WILL in Time Attack - after all, that IS the point of Time Attack. This will allow you to set a few records to start with, and will give you an idea of how the car handles at top speed. Especially note how to best use the car in cornering. If you want to tune your car (especially gear ratios), this is perhaps the best place to do it. Now go back to Quest mode and take on a few Rivals!!! Return to the Garage when necessary to add parts and change settings. Also, periodically (perhaps every 20-30 minutes) save your game (System menu), just in case the electricity goes out, little siblings squirt the console with a water gun, etc. ==================================== INPUT FROM OTHERS Concerning Wanderers, I have received A LOT of e-mails from many players. The following comes from J.D. (selsduk@aol.com), and is edited only for formatting purposes and minor language: From: SeLsDuk@aol.com Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 06:31:04 EDT Subject: ABOUT the WANDeRERS To: FEATHER7@ix.netcom.com Yeah I've been having a BIG <<>> PROB with that. I've been trying a lot of things but sometimes it'll work and sometimes it wont. Here are my suggestions: 1) Race a WANDERER with a STOCK CAR. Sometimes, they'll race you and keep on your pace. 2) Go in front of the WANDERER to see if they HIGHBEAM. If they don't sometimes it means that they don't wanna race you if you highbeam them. 3) Trial and Error. This is what me and probably anyone else who has been playing TOKYO RACER 2 (DC) or TOKYO RACER 0 (PS2). I raced a couple of KANJO-INNER WANDERERS with my PORSCHE 930 TURBO A CLASS CAR 2 951HP seeing that they dont wanna race my C CLASS 164 HP car. Its weird. I can definitely confirm J.D.'s second point, and his third point is what most players probably try by defaultS which makes them frustrated, and then they e-mail me!!! As for the first point concerning a stock car, how fast can you (the player) accumulate A LOT of money for stock car and parts??? For specific information on the Wanderers, see "Wanderer's Requirement(s) FAQ" - translated and written by HIKARU2001, Wataru, and Reiko - on GameFAQs (and probably also posted elsewhere). Also, some advice concerning the pressure-sensitive PS2 DualShock2 controller: From: "Scott Edwards" To: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Subject: Your tokyo extreme racer FAQ Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 23:49:29 Because the X button on the PS2 controller is pressure sensitive, you can find yourself losing a lot of your acceleration and speed because you can't hold the button down that hard constantly. One option to fix this is to go into the settings in the garage and change the sensitivity of the accerlation. Alternatively, if you just use a PS1 controller without analog functions, you can effectively hold it down ALL THE WAY all the time. With appropriate modifications, Scott's tip may also be applicable to other games. Of course, you may also wish to make use of the services of Chet (the slightly-insane gaming coach) from the recent Blockbuster Video advertising campaign, and specifically work on increasing your thumb strength and endurance. Here is some information on a 'child-safety feature:' From: "Kyle Morse" To: feather7@ix.netcom.com Subject: TXRZ Child Safety Feature Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 00:59:34 -0400 Tokyo Extreme Racer: Zero has a child safety feature. You know that little sibling, the one that watches you play. Well I'm sure you don't want him/her to play while you're temporarily gone. You know their going to play any way so i have found that if you pause the game in Quest mode, then press SELECT,SQUARE,TRIAGLE,AND CIRCLE at the same time. This causes the game to lock and the game is unable to to be messed with thru the controller. When you come back to unlock the game press and hold SELECT, THEN PRESS SQUARE, TRIANGLE, AND CIRCLE. Remember don't let the rugrats mess up the gig man! Also, concerning how muffler choice affects horsepower and torque, Jeremy Jones has made a rather interesting observation: Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 21:41:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeremy Jones Subject: About your FAQ To: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM When I first upgraded the car, I thought it was odd how the horsepower goes down with certain higher mufflers. But I then noticed another thing, the number of engine upgrade corresponds to the number of the muffler. For example: Say I have a level 4 engine, well, the best bet would be to go with the level 4 muffler, not only is the horsepower the highest there, but so is the torque. And if I had a level 2 engine, I'd get a level 2 muffler. If you go over the number of your engine upgrade, you will (in most cases) lose horsepower and torque. Understand? I thought that was interesting that they chose to go that way. ==================================== GENERAL TIPS First, most CPU-controlled Rivals have trouble cornering. Therefore, it is generally a good idea to tune a car for quick acceleration and to have the best possible tires. This also means that a car tuned in this manner will do fairly well on the initial course, but - unless you have a car with a MASSIVE horsepower output - very poorly on long, straight stretches of highway. To the extent possible, strategically pick the starting point for each battle, even if it means tailing a Rival for several kilometers until you reach a section with many corners (such as the northern tunnels of the initial course). If necessary, return to garage, then re-enter the competition in or just before an area with a lot of curves. In a battle, the car in the lead dictates the direction of the battle; if you are trailing and take a different route than the leader at a fork in the highway, the battle ends in an instant draw. Very rarely has a CPU-controlled Rival taken a different route than I took when I was in the lead, so this can be used to your advantage if you are leading. Best of all, if one of the forks leads to an area of the course which you personally prefer due to better performance AND you are in the lead, take it!!! Rivals DO occasionally make mistakes: ramming other vehicles, overcorrecting, hitting toll booth barriers, etc. Be constantly aware, and be ready to take advantage of such situations if you are trailing the Rival. Especially if you are approaching the toll booths, don't tail your Rival too closely - or try to give as wide a berth as possible - in case she/he suddenly rams a toll booth barrier and bounces back at you; the same applies for the concrete lane barriers underneath the bridges in CI Inner/Outer. Do not be afraid to use 'dirty tactics' (blocking, sideswiping an opponent into a barrier or the back of another vehicle) to win. In some cases, the Rivals will use dirty tactics to stay ahead of you. In many cases as you progress through the game, you will NEED to use dirty tactics to gain and retain the lead. Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero is very richly done in terms of the visuals. It is quite easy to get lost in the realism of the game, from the traffic to the airplanes taking off and landing overhead. However, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE ROAD, ESPECIALLY IN A BATTLE!!!!! The distant lights along the highway are rather blurry and can easily trick you as you race along at top speed, especially in the long, straight sections of highway out west. It does help a little to look as far ahead as possible and note the upcoming corners by the positioning of the streetlamps, but the red taillights are often too blurry until you are practically in another vehicle's back bumper. One of the best sections to master is Yaesu. The lower, tunnel section of Yaesu is relatively straight compared to the upper, open-air section. However, the open-air section has a number of tight, two-lane, right-angle corners. Mastering Yaesu will definitely work to your advantage in most cases, as Rivals rarely ever go through Yaesu willingly and generally cannot keep up through its nasty corners. Further, due to the narrowness of the highway in Yaesu compared with the tight corners, it will be difficult for a Rival to pass you if you are in the lead; of course, if you are trailing the Rival, YOU will have difficulty passing. Also, Wanderers will occasionally sit at one of the Yaesu on- ramps and wait for you; look for the stationary blue dot on the map to find these Wanderers. The western highways are generally conducive to high-speed runs, due to long straightaways, multiple and wider lanes (especially in the tunnels), and generally thinner traffic. However, at the extremely high top-end speeds which are usually achieved in this area, even a light brushing with a barrier or another vehicle can reduce your speed just enough for you to lose your lead and/or lose all chance of catching your opponent. As you unlock new courses, go to Free Run to explore, and use Time Attack to hone your top-speed skills in these newly- opened areas. For the full-circuit Time Attack challenge, allow at least 30 minutes, especially with a slow Class C car. Whenever you encounter and challenge a Wanderer, he/she will often turn you down, and that can get to be QUITE frustrating. The Wanderers will come to challenge you on their own schedule. For a few potential tips, see the e-mail I received from J.D., included in the INPUT FROM OTHERS section above. For specific information on each of the Wanderers, see "Wanderer's Requirement(s) FAQ" - translated and written by HIKARU2001, Wataru, and Reiko - on GameFAQs (and likely also posted elsewhere). Be careful when buying parts if you are concerned about getting the most horsepower for your money. I happened to notice that the most expensive muffler, for example, does NOT always give the best horsepower. For example, if there are six mufflers to choose from, the fourth muffler may give a better horsepower rating than the sixth and most expensive muffler. In this regard, this game is unlike most racing games which include buying parts for upgrades. Just something to keep in mind, especially if you find yourself racing a car with very similar set-up and abilities to yours. There ARE cops in this game, located in eight different areas of the highway circuit (once all highways are opened). Never did I actually see the police car; I only heard the sirens as I sped by a highway on-ramp (where the police were probably hiding). You don't actually get pulled over; instead, when you return to garage to end the night, you are presented with the "Over Speed Penalty!!" screen, which lists the infractions and fines incurred in the session, and the appropriate amount is then deducted from your total remaining money. This is so impersonal, and I was REALLY hoping to be arrested by Miyuki and Natsumi!!!!! Specific to Speed King, expect to be extremely frustrated for a while - perhaps even several days. The best thing to do is to keep racing Rivals you have already beaten (if necessary) to gain enough money to sell off all but your cheapest Class C car (you must always have at least one car in your garage) to buy a powerful Class A car, plus the parts necessary to tune it for the section(s) which best suit your driving style. Then go back to the highways, race and beat a Rival again, and try to end that race in an area where you believe you will have the best chance of success as Speed King challenges you once again. Periodically (perhaps every 20-30 minutes) save your game (System menu), just in case the electricity goes out, little siblings squirt the console with a water gun, etc. Also, as you return to the garage, look to the top of the report screen to see if you have achieved new parts or new levels of parts (by beating specific Rivals) and if so, seriously consider acquiring some upgrades before returning to the highways. ==================================== MY CARS These are the cars and settings I have used in the game. My first car: TYPE-CE9A (Class A, 4WD, 2714lbs, 490HP, 1997cc)* Initial Cost: $14,750 Steer: +11 Acceleration: +12 Braking: +11 Brake Balance: +7 (biased to the rear) Ride Height: -15 front AND rear (lowest possible setting) Gear Ratio: Default, except Final set to 2.78 Spring Rate: -8 front and rear Damper: +4 front AND rear Turbo Boost: 1.40 (fairly high) My second car (Class A, acquired after opening the long western sections of highway): TYPE-CP9A6M (4WD, 2797lbs, 561HP, 1997cc)* Initial Cost: $28,480 Steer: +11 Acceleration: +12 Braking: +12 Brake Balance: +8 (biased to the rear) Ride Height: -15 front AND rear (lowest possible setting) Gear Ratio: Default Spring Rate: +5 front, +6 rear Damper: -7 front AND rear Turbo Boost: 1.39 (fairly high) My third car (Class A, acquired specifically to beat Speed King): TYPE-RPT7 (MR, 2764lbs, 446HP, 3560cc)** Initial Cost: $ Steer: +7 Acceleration: +12 Braking: +14 Brake Balance: +8 (biased to the rear) Ride Height: N/A Gear Ratio: 1st : 3.71 2nd : 2.61 3rd : 1.93 4th : 1.58 5th : 1.28 6th : 0.96 Final: 3.03 Spring Rate: N/A Damper: N/A Turbo Boost: N/A My current car (Class A, the Speed King car): TYPE-R34RKK (4WD, 3230lbs, 788HP, 2876cc)* Initial Cost: $525,500 Steer: +7 Acceleration: +12 Braking: +13 Brake Balance: +7 (biased to the rear) Ride Height: -15 front AND rear (lowest possible setting) Gear Ratio: 1st : 4.96 2nd : 3.29 3rd : 2.28 4th : 1.87 5th : 1.45 6th : 1.06 Final: 2.71 Spring Rate: +10 front, +11 rear Damper: -12 front AND rear Turbo Boost: 1.31 (fairly high) * Weight, horsepower, and cc based on highest possible levels of available parts (except mufflers, where highest possible horsepower muffler was selected). ** Weight, horsepower, and cc based on the following parts: Engine Level 5; Muffler and Air Cleaner Level 6; Transmission Level 3; Clutch and Differential Level 4; and Tires, Brakes, and Wheels Level 8. Also, after several days of frustration trying to beat Speed King with a number of other cars, I was successful beating Speed King the first time I tried with this car. ==================================== WISH LIST This is what I would like to see added to future incarnations of the game: MUCH more traffic on the opposite side of the highway. It is rather rare to see a vehicle on the other side of the median barrier, which is very unrealistic, even in the middle of the night. While there is usually a significant difference in elevation between the two directions of traffic, there are a few areas where the two directions of traffic are at the same elevation (especially on the western highways), so there really SHOULD be more traffic on the other side of the highway. More vehicle types please!!! Add some motorcycles, emergency vehicles, tour busses, etc. This is only a minor issue, but allowing racing on more highways and possibly even some major streets would be a great addition to the game. As it is, despite the massive 'world' of Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero, the loading times are insanely fast (perhaps Genki could teach something to the developers of CART Fury!?!?!), so the addition of more race- able territory would not greatly unbalance the loading times, and definitely WOULD add to the gameplay. ==================================== CONTACT For rants, raves, etc., contact me at FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. However, due to extremely limited time, I am relinquishing any further work on this guide to focus on the newly-released F1 games, and on classwork. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2 game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/ ==================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================