"In Juiced, you'll get to meet them all. But you'll need to do more than just win. You'll need to impress them with all your tricked out automobiles. Challenge them for ownership, entertain them with slick maneuvers and cool style. And win the best-looking machines for yourself."
—Introduction
Juiced is a racing game series developed by British studio Juice Games, consisting of two games, plus one portable-exclusive one.
The first game, Juiced, was released by THQ for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and mobile phones in 2005.note The game offers different gameplay modes, including career and arcade, each presenting the player with challenges of increasing difficulty. In addition, the game allows the player to customise the car to their style and unlock new ones in arcade mode, and features nitrous boosts, similar to that of other racing games.
In 2007, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights was released, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3,note as well as for Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and Microsoft Windows. The game was developed in collaboration with auto show Hot Import Nights (with the game featuring a loose version of said show) and utilizes more advanced car modification methods in comparison to its predecessor.
In between those two games, in 2006 Juiced Games and THQ also released Juiced: Eliminator, exclusively for the PlayStation Portable and for mobile phones (as Juiced 3D), featuring a plot similar to the first game.
The Juiced games contain examples of the following tropes:
- Artistic License – Cars:
- Juiced 2 claims to have the BMW M3 GTR, but the car featured in the game has the exhaust position wrong, two seats (and thus doesn't have the large tube where the passenger seat should be, which the actual M3 GTR has) and no roll cage. Simply put, the interior of the M3 GTR in this game is the same of what you'll typically find in an ordinary M3 road car.
- Also in Juiced 2, the exhausts of the TVR Sagaris
◊ are not in their correct angle as they are supposed to be◊.
- Berserk Button: The rivals in Juiced hates their cars getting damaged by you, so it's best not to trade paint. Do so and you will lose respect.
- Badass Crew: You can choose to hire crew members, as some events are crew races, encouraging you to work together to win as a whole.
- Character Customization: Introduced in Juiced 2, allows you to create your own avatar. You can modify and alter your face and choose some of the most unique clothings the game has to offer.
- Drives Like Crazy: The sole premise of "Showoff", where you try to do awesome stunts and slick maneuvers. J-turns, high speeds, donuts, drifts, bootleg turns and other wicked moves.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: The "French Revolution" drift track revolves around the pillars of the Eiffel Tower. And some Rome tracks go past through the Colosseum. Even the Australian drift tracks are placed too close to the Sydney Opera House.
- French Jerk: Nicholas Jamet in Juiced 2 plays a Downplayed example. Place a bet on him, and he'll say that "this race will give 'em a good show".Nicholas; French, but don't hate. He's got old school Euro-style that makes him the man on and off the track.
- The Gambler: That's right. Bobby Sawyer in Juiced 2, as he indeed is the trope called "The Gambler" as he speaks. A raver with mad skills and knows all the odds when it comes to betting. He's the only driver who doubles down the bet too.
- Hollywood California: The setting of Juiced takes place in Angel City, a fictional town based on Los Angeles.
- Improbably Cool Car: Juiced 2 features a car that will rarely be featured in any other video game, the Melling Hellcat. It was a concept car designed to be the fastest street legal car in the world, introduced in 2007 (the same year the game was released) and scheduled to come out in 2012, but ultimately didn't go into production, presumed cancelled.
- Instant-Win Condition: Last Man Standing, which is race where a single rub of paint on the barriers means instant elimination. You can choose to finish the race normally... or spook all the opponents where they lose control and likely hit barriers and instantly give you the win.
- Large-Ham Announcer: In Juiced 2. Yes, complete with puns. For example, when he welcomes a track...Announcer: [on Black Ice] Welcome to Black Ice! Where the ice is black and it never cracks!
Announcer: [on The Phantom] It's the Phantom! Hope the driver never get too spooked! -
Nintendo Hard: In Juiced 2, the ultimate upgrades for each class have to be unlocked by winning a lap against a far superior vehicle. Some are easier, as the faster vehicle has poor handling, whereas others are frustratingly hard. The best power upgrade challenge pits you against a nitro-equipped Pagani Zonda F on a track with two long straights and two hairpins. Yeah... no. - Nitro Boost: Both games feature nitrous, but its use differs in each game. In Juiced, you have to buy nitrous for a car to use it, and you have limited usage of it during a race. In Juiced 2, nitrous is available in all cars from the start, and it is rechargable by drifting, or in the case of "Extreme Nitrous" events, rechargeable overtime, but it depletes when you hit barriers.
- Pit Girls: Lots... and lots of them in Juiced 2, with many having well-endowed bosoms.
- Product Placement: Not just aftermarket decals, but also you get licensed mobile phones you can buy like Sharp, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
- Reaction Shot: Overtaking or being overtaken by an opponent, hitting their car spooking them, or getting eliminated shows a live video of the opponent's reaction.
- Rubber-Band A.I.: Admit it. Even if you have your tricked out ride with all the upgrades, it's not gonna stop the AI from catching you up.
- Shows Damage: Both games feature damage models of varying degrees. In Juiced it will affect performance, like a damaged turbo or leaked nitrous. Juiced 2, on the other hand, also shows damage, but it's only cosmetic.
- Show Within a Show: Juiced 2 takes place in an in-universe Hot Import Nights live TV channel.
- A Taste of Power: As soon as you start your career, you'll try out some of the sickest whips you can get:
- T.K. is so nice to loan you some set of wheels... and that is a pimped-out Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, just for this one race. Just don't damage it or you're getting the repair bill.
- In Juiced 2, you're offered a nice looking Nissan Silvia S15 for both a circuit race and test you might in its drift event.
- Vanity License Plate: Juiced 2 features the potential for one, featuring US (California), Australia, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy license plates.
- The Wildcats: One street racing crew in the first Juiced is named, you guessed it, The Wildcats.
- World Tour: Juiced 2 Takes place in 7 locations: German Alps, Tokyo, Paris, Sydney, San Francisco, Rome and London.
