I found this game looking over my husbands shoulder at what he was playing and as someone who had very brief racing game experience, this is one of the best games I have ever played and quickly became my favorite. It is easy for new comers but still helps you build skill. This game is peak.

Coming home from school and booting up nfs Underground used to be my ritual. Now it’s coming home from work and diving into tokyo xtreme racer and somehow, it feels just as right. I found this game by accident, buried in my Steam queue during one of those nights where nothing feels worth playing. It clicked. The quiet roads, the games soundtrack or even my own soundtrack (put on the song radio for a real hero by college and you're sorted), it's about the feeling. That late night calm, the focus, the flow. I’m tuning gear ratios, adjusting camber, toe and ride stiffness at 1am and loving every second of it. It’s early access, yeah, but it already brought me back to a part of myself I didn’t know I missed this much. It’s a vibe. A memory. A piece of something real. raw.

Just finished the main early access features of the game, took approx 11 hours of constant racing. Very well polished game for early access. Completely recommend someone buying this if they like racing games, the tokyo car scene and general love for JDM cars, and especially for those who enjoy Japanese arcade racing. On the surface the game is quite basic in its aim, which isn't a bad thing - it has a style, and it does that style very well. I was concerned at first that it was a little basic but there is actual depth to many elements of the game to consider in your gameplay journey. I completed the campaign using the starter Levin AE86 and continuously upgrading, apart from the last 2 races where I bought an RX-8 and tuned it out to the max as the 86 just didn't have the straight line power when tuned out to the max on current unlocks against AI.

I will break down this review in 3 categories; things I loved, things I do not currently like, suggestions.
Things I loved:
- Graphics on ultra with DLSS, game looks amazing. Some lighting issues at times, nothing major.
- Car progression system makes sense - well thought out.
- The devs have captured the tokyo car scene really well - all the iconic IRL parking spots, and the dialogues from the NPCs are actually fun with a huge variety in personalities.
- It can be difficult to build lore in racing games but there is a really nice approach in TXR - the rumour mill between NPCs, the interactions with wanderers and bosses, the unique styles each car club has - gives a great sense of community where everyone shares a passion for racing.
- I was unsure about the all of the progression systems at first but it does blend well the further you progress, although I think there is room for improvements.
- Handling system felt arcade-like which makes sense given the style of game, which concerned me at first as I wasn't sure on how dynamic it would be, but the handling tweaks you can do from tuning make a satisfying difference.
- A game where you can use your indicators/turning signals - huge plus for me.
- You can over-rev a bit in many cars in manual mode.
- AI behaviour is good, some are aggressive, some play by the rules. Nice mix.
- Car customisation is decent, decals/vinyl choice is excellent.
- Racers needing certain conditions to race, must have a 350z or a rotary engine car, or a specific reg plate location - nice touch to encourage players to expand their garage and try different cars.

Things I didn't like so much:
- The cam shake from 100mph onwards is a bit aggressive. I checked the settings, couldn't seem to stop it. I think I would prefer motion blur (which I turned off) over the cam shake. In tunnels with the lighting it is quite intense on the eyes.
- Cars bog and don't wheel spin from a standstill, even when trying to force it with a clutch dump or reversing and shifting in to first, or neutral redlining and then shifting in to first - would be a nice touch to realism.
- The credits system for money is okay, but for my playstyle I felt a little shoehorned in to sticking with the same car to give myself the edge with unlocks, instead of spending on other cars and having less upgrades. Personal playstyle choice on this though to be honest.
- All of my draws were due to the AI going a different path at junctions when I've been very close to winning and quite far ahead. Which lane the AI is in can almost bait the player as they sometimes switch last second - this is a little immersion breaking and doesn't make much sense in this style of racing game given the win conditions.

Suggestions:
- I would love a hard-cut limiter at redline to allow cars to rev-bounce. Similar to how Lexus do with their V8s IRL.
- I would love more variety in music in all menus and gameplay.
- Adding a category for adding neons to the entire car in one option, instead of having to select front, side and rear.
- Adding Honda in to the game, Prelude, EK9, S2K, DC2/DC5, FD2 etc.
- Cockpit view would be AMAZING.
- Spread out the limits for max credits - instead of 3m, 4m, 5m, 6m, 7m etc, I think with the current credit accumulation system, doing 3m, 5m, 7m, 9m, 11m, 13m, 15m etc is more appropriate.
- Very much looking forward to the leaderboard system - online play would be a great addition as well.