I am cruising along the C1 Inner Loop of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway in a black-and-red Sprinter Trueno. I near a rival driver and flash my headlights. I issue a challenge and a warning. On these streets, anyone is fair game. A drag race commences. Not long after, the onyx Mazda Savanna RX-7 Infini’s headlights fade away like fireflies in my rear-view mirror. My high turns to arrogance. A capital mistake soon punished by the next opponent, K-uick’s Team Leader Electric Lightning Stinger. My initial overtake succeeds, but soon thereafter their yellow-jacketed Suzuki Alto Works kisses me into a concrete wall. Seconds later, their car disappears as if it were a DeLorean time machine. Time for plan B: save up for the streets’ tuner ideal, a midnight purple Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Type ’97.

This is Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025), Genki‘s latest ode to Japanese illegal driving culture. Dating back to 1994, and aside from a mobile release, the series went dormant in the mid-noughties – albeit that Japan’s urban expressways also form the backdrop of Genki’s manga adaptation “Wangan Midnight.” Two decades later, the series’ reboot leans into that era’s arcade sensibilities. And graphical limitations and lack of licenses aside, “Shutokou Battle ‘94: Drift King” already held the series’ substance at its core, featuring Tokyo’s loopway and a Trueno look-alike.

Having evolved little, Tokyo Xtreme Racer may appear as racing Hyakuren Jituko, “mastery through repetition.” Not unlike the train simulator line “Densha De Go!”, Genki embraced a highly niche subject and chose to expand it incrementally, keeping its core mechanics the same. You drive, flash your lights and challenge. You win or lose, and in the former case, spend your earnings toward upgrades, a process which, given its intimate roster of manufacturers, rewards car loyalty. You’ll get accustomed to the streets enveloping Tokyo’s central wards, their twists and turns and straights for overtaking. Players engage in a mantra of speed set under a moonlit sky.

Despite the game’s smaller scope and (initial) slow pacing, Genki’s commitment and devotion to Tokyo’s highway system is infectious. Beyond serving as a neon background for racing, however, this setting’s lasting appeal lies in its mundanity. At a minimum, it offers a virtual revisit of a city I adored from a different vantage point. At most, however, it foresees a scenario that, while fantastical in the now, remains sufficiently plausible in the future. And though I am unlikely to engage in illegal car battling myself, if I do ever take on these city’s streets by car, I’ll know its toll points and exits by heart.