History YMMV / TokyoXtremeRacer

* CheeseStrategy: An exploit exists in ''Zero', and ''Zero'' only, to rack up enough miles on the odometer to unlock the best possible upgrades. After a race, the player needs to stay on the post-race menu: since it's rendered in real time, the odometer will still run, even on autopilot. Keep in mind, however, that you risk both ruining the disk ''and'' overheating your console this way.

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate upgrades for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu; just stay on it for now. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrades, then regain control and exit the highway afterwards with your massively boosted mileage. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' attempts to [[ObviousRulePatch prevent this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage]], but this game also has a similar auto-drive exploit that requires removing the disc prior to selecting the "Free Run" option in the post-race menu.

*** True Slide, the second member of the 13 Devils the player will face. For starters, getting to him requires beating four teams, which will no doubt include the aforementioned Curving Edge and SS Limited. His custom Fairlady Z32, codenamed [=Z32XK=], has the second-best possible engine and chassis upgrades and the best possible suspenion upgrade at a point in the game where no other opponents even have a roll cage in their cars. Your best bet is to block him to get some breathing space, but if the road widens just enough, he ''will'' get through, period. As such, he's gained somewhat of a reputation to those aspiring to speedrun the game as a "run killer". Gloomy Angel and Depraved Blade, who show up right after him, are instead almost pushovers by comparison.

** A more straight-forward example is Rolling Guy. Yes, the [=AE86=] drivers' team. They appear in every single game of the series, spin-offs included, and are almost always the first team the player will face. As such, they are synonymous with the TXR series, to the point that they even got a ShoutOut in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''.
** Jintei, the leader of 13 Devils, stands out amongst the bosses of ''Zero'' to the point of Genki making him appear in ''Drift'' as a surprise turf boss (which can be unlocked via BBS mails). This escalated in ''Drift 2'' where most of the Ogre Generals (including Jintei himself, plus two members from Zodiacs/Twelve Holy Lords) return to form the new 13 Devils.
* {{Fanon}}: Whilst the chronology isn't exactly set in stone, some of the fandom may contradict the plots by having the games in different orders, such as putting ''Drift'' before ''2'' even though it's set between ''Zero'' and ''3'' officially. Then again, writers at Genki can also be an UnreliableNarrator.
* FriendlyFandoms: There is a major overlap between the series' fans and fans of ''Manga/WanganMidnight'', and even where there isn't, both sides tag along pretty well. It definitely helps that both focus on Japanese highway racing with an epic narrative, inside which hide some pretty dark and realistic subjects.
** There's a similar relationships between the fans of the ''Drift'' games and ''Manga/InitialD'', especially amongst ''Arcade Stage'' players. So much so, that both the mainline and spin-off games contain references and [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to Initial D.
* HarsherInHindsight: Uwe and Marc Gemballa made cameos in ''3'' as Wanderers. Seven years later, in 2010, Gemballa Senior would go missing and later be found murdered in South Africa, causing German authorities to seize Gemballa and oust the family that founded it. Gemballa Junior would be forced to start an entirely different company as a result, completely disaffiliated from the one his father founded.

** In some games, the other drivers' professions are mentioned in their bios. Turns out, one of them is a UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce member!
** In the third ''Drift'' game, after you beat "Foot Break" Tatsuya Marukawa in Aso, he will write on the BBS the following day, saying that he should stay clear of battles until a new generation of the Honda NSX came out. It would take a ''decade'' until Honda released the second-generation of the NSX.
** UNKNOWN's car in ''C1 Grand Prix'' is a new spin on his signature [=S30Z=], having the former's front end grafted to a more contemporary Z33. It's... not great looking. In 2022, Nissan would actually use the [=S30Z=] as a design base for the new [=RZ34=], with much better results.
* ItsEasySoItSucks / TheyChangedItNowItSucks : ''Import Tuner Challenge'' gets some flack for a variety of reasons. For starters, it's by far the easiest game in the series, especially compared to the brutal ''TXR: Zero''. Making matters worse is that a good chunk of the map was removed, mostly leaving the Kanjo Loop and the New Belt Line untouched, and with it a lot of historic teams, bosses and Wanderers, with others instead being replaced by ones far less charming. The cherry on top was the car roster being brutally axed compared to previous entries, leading to a lot of repetition. Genki's low budget, and contemporarily a massive rise in licensing costs to cars and changing IP laws contributed to atleast some of these issues.
* MorePopularSpinoff: Arguably, the ''Drift'' series as a whole gets more attention compared to the mainline games, in part because of the different subject -- mountain pass racing -- which is also found in the widely popular Manga/InitialD. The keyword here is "''arguably''", as the opposite appears to be true in Japan, where the mainline highway racing series seems to be the more well-remembered of the two.
* {{Narm}}: Another Heaven has a rather nightmarish, gothic imagery going on, down to its' drivers street name. What does Tatsuya Oze, former second-in-command of Double Mind and now leader of Another Heaven, go by? ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice Brown Satan]]''. To be fair, it was his street name even back when he was in Double Mind... but still...

* ReplacementScrappy: The PHANTOM NINE from ''Import Tuner Challenge'', who replaced the much beloved 13 Devils, who had been part of the franchise since ''the very first game'', as the QuirkyMinibossSquad. Needless to say, they don't get half the love of their predecessors, with some finding their leader, Snake Eyes, downright whiny. It doesn't help that they're the reason why ''many'' of the original teams disbanded or broke up is because of their campaign to dominate the Tokyo Expressway.
** Most of the new teams from ''Import Tuner Challenge'' are this. In particular, Speed Planet[[note]]who replace Galaxy Racers as the college-based team[[/note]], Red Pollution[[note]]who replace Highway Outlaw as the TokenEvilTeammate gaijin team[[/note]], Asian Ages[[note]]who replace Lightning Dragoon as the all-Viper, Asian diaspora team, down to having the same leader[[/note]], who are all rehashes of previous teams with none of the history or charm.

** '''''HOKKAIDO'''''. The last main course to be unlocked in ''Drift 2'', based off of the real-life rally course, it is ''entirely'' made out of dirt, with very short tarmac sections. FWD cars will understeer into the hills on the sides, whilst RWD cars will spin in circles, making AWD or 4WD near-mandatory. And it's not like those handle that much better. To make matters worse, the penalty for hitting the side of the road is far more pronounced than on other courses, meaning that grinding against the hills is not an option. What makes it all the absolute ''worse'' is that Hokkaido is downright ''mandatory'' to progress, even on other courses. [[spoiler:It's also where you take on Jintei and Kaido President, to boot]]. It is a veritable killer, capable of making even experienced racers give up.

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate upgrades for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu; just stay on it for now. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrades, then regain control and exit the highway afterwards with your massively boosted mileage. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' [[ObviousRulePatch prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage]].

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate upgrades for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu; just stay on it for now. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrades, then exit the highway afterwards with your massively boosted mileage. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' [[ObviousRulePatch prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage]].

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate upgrades for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu; just stay on it for now. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrades, then exit the highway afterwards with your massively boosted mileage. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage.

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate upgrades for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrades. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage.

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate engine upgrade for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrarily precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrade. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage.

* CheeseStrategy: Want to easily get the ultimate engine upgrade for your car in ''Zero''? Race and beat any opponent, but don't exit out of the post-race menu. Since distance auto-driven on this menu counts towards your car's odometer, you can then just leave the game running overnight to reach the 1,864 miles[[note]]Or 3,000 km, hence the seemingly arbitrary precise number of miles[[/note]] needed for the upgrade. (And if you want to save wear and tear on the disc and the [=PS2=], you can remove the disc; the game will still run, it just won't load any graphical or soundtrack data.) ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' prevents this by requiring you to be in control of your car to earn mileage.

* HarsherInHindsight: Uwe Gemballa made a cameo in ''3'' as one of the Wanderers. Seven years later, in 2010, Gemballa himself would go missing and later be found murdered in South Africa, causing German authorities to seize Gemballa and oust the family that founded it.

** Marc Gemballa, the son of Uwe Gemballa, made a cameo in ''3'' as one of the Wanderers. In 2020s, Marc started a completely independent company using his own name, with no affiliation to the (restructured) Gemballa company.

* HarsherInHindsight: Uwe and Marc Gemballa made cameos in ''3'' as Wanderers. Seven years later, in 2010, Gemballa Senior would go missing and later be found murdered in South Africa, causing German authorities to seize Gemballa and oust the family that founded it.

* HarsherInHindsight: Uwe and Marc Gemballa made a cameo in ''3'' as Wanderers. Nine years later, in 2010, Gemballa Senior would go missing and later be found murdered in South Africa, causing German authorities to seize Gemballa and oust the family that founded it.

* HarsherInHindsight: Uwe Gemballa appeared in ''3'' (romanized from his Japanese name as "Ube Genbara") as one of the Wanderers. In 2010, the real Uwe Gemballa was murdered during a business trip in South Africa, leading to his company Gemballa's restructuring.

** Jintei, the leader of Thirteen Devils, stands out amongst the bosses of ''Zero'' to the point of Genki making him appear in ''Drift'' as a turf boss. This escalated in ''Drift 2'' where most of the Ogre Generals (including Jintei himself, plus two members from Zodiacs/Twelve Holy Lords) return to form the new Thirteen Devils.

** A more straight-forward example is Rolling Guy. Yes, the [=AE86=] drivers' team. They appear in every single game of the series, spin-offs included, and are almost always the first team the player will face. As such, they are synonymous with the TXR series, to the point that they even got a ShoutOut in GTA V.

* BreatherBoss: Jintei, in the first ''Drift'' game, is not as big of a challenge as he is in any other game he appears in. He's made even easier if you have access to the Special Cars, with a noteworthy mention going to Shutokou Leader's [=MCR R34=]. Possibly Justified, if the first ''Drift'' game is chronologically the first to take place, as hinted through bios and speculated by many.

* {{Fanon}}: Whilst the chronology isn't exactly set in stone, some portions of the Japanese fandom believes the first ''Drift'' game to have taken place before ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2''. Which would mean that both ''2'' and ''Zero'' were released before the former had even been thought of!

* BreatherBoss: Jintei, in the first ''Drift'' game, is not as big of a challenge as he is in any other game he appears in. He's made even easier if you have access to the Special Cars, with a noteworthy mention going to Shutokou Leader's [=MCR R34=]. Possibly Justified, since Jintei has to get a new car for touge roads instead despite his LivingLegend status, due to his [=R34=] not being fit for those courses.

* BreatherBoss: Jintei, in the first ''Drift'' game, is not as big of a challenge as he is in any other game he appears in. He's made even easier if you have access to the Special Cars, with a noteworthy mention going to Shutokou Leader's [=MCR R34=]. Possibly Justified, since Jintei has to get a new car for touge roads instead, due to his [=R34=] not being fit for those courses.

* BreatherBoss: Jintei, in the first ''Drift'' game, is not as big of a challenge as he is in any other game he appears in. He's made even easier if you have access to the Special Cars, with a noteworthy mention going to Shutokou Leader's [=MCR R34=]. Possibly Justified, if the first ''Drift'' game is chronologically the first to take place, as some have speculated.

** The Toyota Supra A70 in ''Import Tuner Challenge'' can be bought rather early on. With a relatively light body, good handling, and almost 300 HP in stock form, more than double that once tuned to its fullest potential, it can handily beat just about anyone on the Expressway. [[spoilers: Including Jintei and UNKNOWN.]]

*** Time Attack Collision (TAC) and Cornering Artist Target (CAT) Battles, the latter of which has been described as "the essence of evil" on ''atleast'' one guide to ''Drift 2''. The former are your typical beat-the-clock battles... with the SP bar of normal battles, which will drain drastically if you as much touch the walls. The latter, instead, require you to get a minimum of points ''per corner'', no ifs or buts. If you're one point off in one single corner, you'll have to start all over again.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Quite a few, depending on the game:
** The Ford GT in ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' can be either unlocked by [[HarderThanHard beating Osaka's DARTS]]... or, far more simply, defeating Tokyo's A.P.S, which becomes far easier if you bother pulling their leader, Yokohane Heavy Jet Fighter, towards the C1 Loop before challenging him. The GT is good enough to be your crutch for the remainder of the game, even though other cars outclass it.
** The [=DeTomaso=] Pantera can be unlocked early on in Osaka, by defeating [=EIC@MSR=]. A [[JackOfAllStats well-rounded, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive sports coupè]], it also has enormous tuning potential, and is capable of holding its' own even in the game's late stages. It's a bit expensive, though, meaning that it might end up being the only car you can maintain until the point where only the Wanderers are left to defeat.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Like the above...
** ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' introduces the Engine Swap mechanic, where after accumulating 1249 miles on your car's odometer, you can install a new, even different engine. This will give quite a few cars far, ''far'' more tuning potential, and put them on par with some higher-end cars... but it's possible to clear the campaign without even ''hitting'' 1249 miles, something that takes hours upon hours of wandering.
** The ''Drift'' series, instead, gives you a downright minuscule chance of befriending ''any'' opponent you end up facing, low enough it's probably in the "zero point" percentage. Why's that, though? Opponents whom you have befriended will let you loan their cars. ''Including'' the Slashers, the 13 Devils and the Kingdom Twelve and their one-of-a-kind variants. Some cars, such as Dream Wraith, are so powerful they border on undrivable, but for the brave few who manage to actually learn to control them, it lets them mop the vast majority of opponents.

** Steel Heart, Dying Star and Grief Pluto in ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' are far more approachable than their fellow 13 Devils members before or after them. This is in part because their cars are clearly tuned with the more straightforward Wangan in mind, and yet they challenge the player on the C1 Loop and New Belt Line, where beyond the straight that links to the Wangan, they won't really find a point where their raw power can beat sheer handling.

*** Likewise, Curving Edge can be downright frustrating for first time players. Even though they are the starter team of the Kanjo Outer Loop, their cars have more power ''and'' better handling than their Inner Loop counterparts.
*** Betrayal Jack Knife is the ''very first boss of the game'', and yet he ''will'' mop the floor with most players. His S13 is likely to have atleast twice the horsepower of your car by that point, and his erratic driving style makes him very good at blocking. The one saving grace is that atleast that very same driving style makes him crash-prone enough to hand you a merciful win...
*** True Slide, on the other hand, doesn't give the player an easy way out. For starters, getting to him requires beating four teams, which will no doubt include the aforementioned Curving Edge and SS Limited. His custom Fairlady Z32, codenamed [=Z32XK=], has the second-best possible engine and chassis upgrades and the best possible suspenion upgrade at a point in the game where no other opponents even have a roll cage in their cars. Your best bet is to block him to get some breathing space, but if the road widens just enough, he ''will'' get through, period. As such, he's gained somewhat of a reputation to those aspiring to speedrun the game as a "run killer".

** Looking up some rivals' profiles and you will get what jobs they're working at. One of them is a UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce member!
** In the third ''Drift'' game, after you beat "Foot Break" Tatsuya Marukawa in Aso, he will write on the BBS the following day that he should stay clear of battles until a new generation of the Honda NSX came out. It would take a ''decade'' until Honda actually went ahead and did just that.

* TheScrappy: The [[Creator/{{Genki}} Genki Racing Project]]-branded Toyota [=HiAces=] from ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'', which replaces the more varied traffic car roster from the previous entries. They are ludicruosly heavy, and [[HitboxDissonance have deceptively large hitboxes that stretch all the way to the very tip of their side mirrors]], which will cause you to slow to a crawl if you happen to as much as sideswipe them by mistake. [[GoddamnedBats What makes it worse is that they spawn ''en masse'']], especially near bottle necks such as toll booths. Very much the equivalent of the Namco-branded trucks in the ''Maximum Tune'' series.

** Osaka's DARTS deserve a particular mention. Not the first four members, those being Mountain Kaneko, Fire Shinshiro, Woods Ōishi, and Wind Kubota, who are fair fights at this point in the game, but the other five members. Much like D3, Humanity Kawasaki, Earth Tadokoro, and Heaven Nagai need to be beaten sequentially without break or losing, else you'll need to restart from the beginning. Unlike D3, they can't be cheesed because they'll only spawn in high-speed sections of the Hanshin Expressway. Worse than D3, they all drive Skyline [=GTRs=] -- An R32, an R33 and an R34, respectively. Let's not even get started on God's Estuary and his Ford GT...

** '''HOKKAIDO'''. The last main course to be unlocked in ''Drift 2'', based off of the real-life rally course, it is ''entirely'' made out of dirt, with very short tarmac sections. FWD cars will understeer into the hills on the sides, whilst RWD cars will spin in circles, making AWD or 4WD near-mandatory. And it's not like those handle that much better. To make matters worse, the penalty for hitting the side of the road is far more pronounced than on other courses, meaning that grinding against the hills is not an option. What makes it all the absolute ''worse'' is that Hokkaido is downright ''mandatory'' to progress, even on other courses. [[spoiler:It's also where you take on Jintei and Kaido President, to boot]]. It is a veritable killer, capable of making even experienced racers give up.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/TokyoXtremeRacer The whole series has a plethora of it]].
* BreatherBoss: Speed King in ''Drift'' is not as challenging as he was in other games. With his Impreza being weak at that time, you can easily beat it with any Special Cars. [=MCR R34=], which was used by Shutokou Leader in TXR 3 and Drift, comes to mind.
* DifficultySpike: SS Limited are pretty much like more challenging than Rolling Guy and Fine Drive combined, since they have better cornering skills and their sedans have significantly more powerful engines.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Out of every Wanderer in the series, Z.E.R.O. managed to become the most popular one. (He was part of "[[QuirkyMiniBossSquad The Four Devils]]" in the first TXR game.)
** Rolling Guy (aka Downhill Guy in ''Kaido Battle'' or Racing Guy in ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'') for being the very first team the player faces in almost every game, and for being comprised of [=AE86=] drivers. Subverted in ''Kaido'' series though.
** Motoya Iwasaki AKA "Jintei" or "Speed King" is this among all of the bosses since ''Zero'', to the point Genki even made him appear in ''Drift''.
* FriendlyFandoms: They tag along pretty well with the ''Manga/WanganMidnight'' fanbase.
** Meanwhile the ''Kaido Battle'' subseries is earning a noticeable amount of attention from ''Manga/InitialD'' fans out there, especially due to the games featuring the fan-favorite [[EnsembleDarkhorse Toyota [=AE86=] Sprinter Trueno]] as featured from the latter.
* GameBreaker: In ''[=TXR3=]'', if you have acculumated 1249 miles on your car's odometer, engine swaps will become available and you could max your car out with one of these fully-tuned engines.
** In a lesser extent, the [=DeTomaso=] [[JackOfAllStats Pantera [=GTS=]]] in ''3'' falls into this thanks to its well-rounded grip, agility, speed and its engine hardly overheats for straight line racing (unless if you overrev it) until the end of "Quest Mode". But the problem is: [[spoiler: [[DifficultButAwesome Can you handle it]]?]]
** ''Drift'' has some Special Cars that count as this when unlocked. [=MCR R34=] and Orido's RIDOX Supra being ones of them. However, [[MyRulesArenotYourRules you cannot use them on some rivals that gamble parts.]] Surprisingly, [[BreatherBoss with most bosses being easy to beat]], [=MCR R34=] could beat them all without losing.
** Also in ''Drift'', the Subaru Impreza [=22B-STi=] ([=GC8=]) deserve a special mention due to its outstanding acceleration and handling (plus, [[DiskOneNuke the fact that it becomes available to purchase after unlocking Haruna]]) which can help the player to keep on their toes against other rivals until the endgame. With a proper setup, [[NoSell it's hardly affected by the grip loss once the tires are worn out]] (especially in a "Cornering Artist" event) and can give the [[InfinityPlusOneSword [=MCR=] R34 GT-R]] a run for its money.
* HilariousInHindsight: Looking up some rivals' profiles and you will get what jobs they're working at. One of them is actually a UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce member.
** In ''Kaido Battle 3'', after you beat Tatsuya Murakawa (Foot Break) in Aso and look up in one of his BBS mails in the next day, he will mention that he should "stay clear of battles until a next-generation of NSX comes out". In 2012, a second generation Honda NSX (or [[MarketBasedTitle Acura NSX if you live in North America]]) was unveiled before entering production in 2016 with over ''573 horsepower!'' Guess the poor guy had a 12-year long hiatus from racing...
** The final opponent in ''C1 Grand Prix'' is a modified [=350Z (Z33)=] with an [=S30Z's=] front end bolted on it. In 2022, Nissan used the [=S30Z=] (yes, the first-generation Z-Car) as one of the design basis for a new Z-Car, which in fact is a modified UpdatedRerelease of the preceding [=Z34 370Z=], with the new car given the internal designation [=RZ34=].
* ItsEasySoItSucks / TheyChangedItNowItSucks : ''Import Tuner Challenge'' gets flack for being the easiest game in the series. It's even possible to beat the entire game without losing to a single opponent. Also, the game cut down the Yokohane Route and Wangan, leaving just only C1 and New Belt Line (plus a few mini-routes). Also, the car rosters are frustratingly limited, even the base cars of the custom cars (such as Rolling Guy's [=AE86=]) aren't available. This is likely due to Genki's budget cuts during the development and half of the Wangan Line being blocked off from Yokohane, Daikoku and Haneda for repairs hence why the said routes have been omitted.
* MorePopularSpinoff: While the main ''Shutokou Battle'' series is fairly popular, ''Drift 2'' (''Touge no Densetsu''/''Kaido Racer 2'') seems to be the most-popular out of it, due to the rivals' colorful characterization, rich post-game content and the aforementioned ''Initial D'' association.
* {{Narm}}: Everyone from Another Heaven has some pretty disturbing names. What name does their leader go by? [[CrossesTheLineTwice Brown Satan]].
** The opening intros to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka in ''3'' try to make the player feel that racing is the act of a fierce battle, but due to [[BadExportForYou the rushed translation in the NTSC-U release]], it ends up sounding like complete jargon.
* TheScrappy: The [[Creator/{{Genki}} Genki Racing Project]]-branded Toyota Hiace from ''3'' (which replaces the regular traffic vehicles from the previous games because of licensing issues) is loathed by the playerbase [[GoddamnedBats for being an absolute nuissance during the races]], mainly due to its weight that will cause the players' cars to come to a full stop, swerving in front of them in certain parts such as the tollbooths in Yokohane or Wangan Line and [[HitboxDissonance having a huge hitbox within the side mirrors]], costing the former's victory especially when racing against a ThatOneBoss.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7A7ik_ksJw Be Alert]]" from ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer'' sounds pretty similar to Dave Rodgers' "[[Manga/InitialD Beat of the Rising Sun]]".
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYS7m8o7UfM Battle of the Empire]]" from ''3'' has a noticeable tone in a similar vein to Akio's theme from ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight R'' (also developed by Genki), as well "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkW-K5RQdzo& Feuer Frei]]" by Music/{{Rammstein}}.
** In ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'', compare "[[https://youtu.be/QuO0aIW9UP0 Synthonic Theory]]" with DJ Quicksilver's remix of "[[https://youtu.be/ab405Cx_nL0 Sunstroke]]" by Chicane.
** Also, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E09RqB3W6Ug Rhythmical City]]" from ''Tokyo Highway Battle'' is very reminiscent of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIsIIQpkQbw Full Throttle]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeSIpVjvHv0 Voodoo People]]" by Music/TheProdigy.
* ThatOneBoss: D3 from ''TXR 3'' are absolute hell to beat. Not only do you have to race all three of them, but you have to do it all in '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck one attempt]]'''.
** As for most of the games, the SuperBoss "???/Unknown" (which drives a dark blue [=S30Z=]) can really catch unprepared players off-guard due to its brutal acceleration.
** Betrayal Jack Knife and Dejected Angel in ''Zero'' are fairly difficult due to their cars ranging from 400 to 500 horsepower. If your driving a car that isn't competitive enough, you will forfeit in a blink of an eye. During their boss battle, you'll have to be careful dodging them while they're braking ([[SpitefulAI or attempt to brake check you]]) and [[HoldTheLine try blocking until their SP bar runs out]] even though it's not an easy task to do so.
* ThatOneLevel: The Wangan Line is this ''2''. Not because it is too challenging of a course, but due to the fact is literally a straight road that stretches on for miles without a single turn. What makes it ThatOneLevel is that races are strictly based on the performance of your car. If your car is not fast enough, you will lose a lot of races in that area. Tollbooths introduced since ''Zero'' and ''3'' in the later parts of this expressway can be a {{troll}} to many unweary racers specially for new players. [[SarcasmMode Good luck bumping into tolls.]]
** Nagoya in ''3'' takes a step further for mostly consisting in straightaways and having a small number of corners and chicanes while giving the Wangan Line a run for its money. Plus, its Stage 2 layout is downright claustrophobia-inducing due to some of the road sections being very tight. It can give you a nasty surprise if you're driving at 230 MPH against a tough rival/boss like D3 mentioned above only to get caught off-guard by the traffic due to the draw distance especially in bad weather.
** Nikko A and Irohazaka (Nikko B) in ''Drift'' can be a rude awakening for new players as the courses introduce a plethora of hairpins and tight corners that give them less room to breathe. If it's not bad enough, the game's SpitefulAI will be waiting, giving you a nasty surprise [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard by pushing you off the road while negating the understeer]] even if you're using a GameBreaker like the [=22B=] or [=MCR=] R34 GT-R mentioned above.
** Any rival with both time and drift score requirements (TAC and CAT battles). If you have a fast-enough car and you can beat the drift score within a certain time limit, you're good to go, otherwise, try again. Any of these with gambling requirements are ''worse'', with you giving your money, parts or even ''cars'' if you fail to meet both the requirements. To note that, Tatsuya "MCR" Matsumoto is the worst offender of all, even with that prize car being the LastDiscMagic in the first ''Drift''.
** Hokkaido in ''Drift 2''. A dirt track with occasional tarmac sections, based on the Rally Japan round that the WRC had when the game was released. If you cannot handle it, you will be thrown out in the dust.
** From the same game, we have Record Tour. NoFairCheating applies here: Gliding (or "wall-riding") or hitting the walls gives you a '''TIME PENALTY'''.
* TheWoobie: Every member of Wind Stars has [[DarkAndTroubledPast went through some kind of harsh struggle]] that you can't help but feel sorry for them.

** In a lesser extent, the =DeTomaso [[JackOfAllStats Pantera [=GTS=]]] in ''3'' falls into this thanks to its well-rounded grip, agility, speed and its engine hardly overheats for straight line racing (unless if you overrev it) until the end of "Quest Mode". But the problem is: [[spoiler: [[DifficultButAwesome Can you handle it]]?]]

** In a lesser extent, the [[RareVehicles [=DeTomaso=]]] [[JackOfAllStats Pantera [=GTS=]]] in ''3'' falls into this thanks to its well-rounded grip, agility, speed and its engine hardly overheats for straight line racing (unless if you overrev it) until the end of "Quest Mode". But the problem is: [[spoiler: [[DifficultButAwesome Can you handle it]]?]]

** Also in ''Drift'', the [[RareVehicles Subaru Impreza [=22B-STi=] ([=GC8=])]] deserve a special mention due to its outstanding acceleration and handling (plus, [[DiskOneNuke the fact that it becomes available to purchase after unlocking Haruna]]) which can help the player to keep on their toes against other rivals until the endgame. With a proper setup, [[NoSell it's hardly affected by the grip loss once the tires are worn out]] (especially in a "Cornering Artist" event) and can give the [[InfinityPlusOneSword [=MCR=] R34 GT-R]] a run for its money.

** Nagoya in ''3'' [[UpToEleven takes a step further]] for mostly consisting in straightaways and having a small number of corners and chicanes while giving the Wangan Line a run for its money. Plus, its Stage 2 layout is downright claustrophobia-inducing due to some of the road sections being very tight. It can give you a nasty surprise if you're driving at 230 MPH against a tough rival/boss like D3 mentioned above only to get caught off-guard by the traffic due to the draw distance especially in bad weather.