The "I-Tried-To-Write-A-Complete-Game-Guide"
Guide to Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero
V1.0 - July 26, 2001
So, you bought yourself a new game didja? Congratulations.
Welcome to the world of addictive video gaming. Or, if you've already
been on this flight - welcome back. Its good to see you again, sit
down, have a drink, relax and tell me how you've been. By the way,
here's the controller and.... What? What? You don't want to talk anymore?
Oh all right... On with the guide.
Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero is perhaps the best racing video game to
date. Gran Turismo 3 has recently been released and so all the
comparisons are being made. Make no mistake, however, TXR0 is the best
racing game ever created. With more modifications, rivals, and
territory than any other game, you are in for MANY hours of fun.
This guide is intended to relate to you all the things I've
picked up out of the message boards for TXR0, the already existing FAQs
that are out there, and my experience playing the game. Now, I'm not
some freaky dude who has hundreds of hours to devote to this game. I
work full time and play a few hours when I can, so don't be concerned
over how much time you have to play. I have beaten the game all the way
through twice now and I think I'm about done. Besides that, I was just
disheartened that I had to comb the damn message boards looking for
answers when someone should have just written them all out in the
beginning.
THE BEGINNING
Everyone has a theory on which car is the best starter car and to
everyone out there who is solidly in favor of a single car I say, "Stop
sucking your tailpipe". My only advice is one of those things that I
feel is imperative to this game... so here it is:
CLASS A - CLASS A - CLASS A - CLASS A
Is that simple enough for you? Don't even bother with the lesser
classes until later - they're useless. Trust me just this once... Please.
Many people feel that you should take your car out for a spin first and
see if you like it. To this, I agree. I picked my first car at random,
got through about 10 races and realized it was a POS that I didn't
enjoy driving. (I personally recommend the Z15A, but that is hardly
firm.) Whichever car you ENJOY the most - use it. Period.
UPGRADES
Simply put - upgrade when you can. Here is the list of upgrades
in order of how I see their importance:
POWER UP TUNE / ENGINE
This upgrade increases everything cool about your car across the board.
DRIVE TRAIN TUNE / TIRE, BRAKES & WHEELS
This improves the handling of your car, if your engine is huge and your
tires are puny, what is going to keep your car attached to the road?
POWER UP TUNE / MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER
Improves your overall horsepower, das ist gewd.
DRIVE TRAIN TUNE / TRANSMISSION
The better the transmission, the faster you'll hit top speed.
DRIVE TRAIN TUNE / CLUTCH & DIFFERENTIAL
Works with your new transmission.
DRIVE TRAIN TUNE / SUSPENSION
Better overall handling and cornering for your car.
BODY TUNE
Increases the rigidity of your frame and durability of your car.
AERO TUNE
Makes your car lighter and makes it look sweeter. Hellz yeah.
DRESS UP TUNE
These are a few little things... very little.
Basically, if I were you I would upgrade these items one at a
time in the order shown. (Hell, it worked for me.) This way you
maintain a well-balanced and manageable car while at the same time
keeping up its ass-kicking ability.
A lot of people are asking about what levels of upgrades there
are... I've beaten the game twice now and here is the list of upgrades
that I have gotten both times. If I've missed anything, someone please
email me and let me know. I'll add your wisdom into the doc and we can
move on with our lives.
ENGINE: 7 levels*
MUFFLER: 8 levels*
TRANSMISSION: 4 levels
CLUTCH: 4 levels
SUSPENSION: 5 levels*
WHEELS: 9 levels
BODY TUNE: 5 levels
AERO TUNE
F. BUMPER 5 levels
HOOD 2 levels
MIRROR 2 levels
OVER FENDER 1 levels
SIDE SKIRT 5 levels
R. BUMBER 5 levels
R. SPOILER 5 levels
The idea with upgrades is not always necessarily to give you more
power or to dramatically improve your car in some way. Sometimes an
upgrade can simply be a way of shaving off some weight from your car.
As an example, there are many cars where the level 5 aero tune looks
the same as the stock configuration, the difference is that it probably
weighs about 1/3 less. But remember; shaving weight is not ALWAYS a
good thing. Some cars are simply too light for their own good and must
be weighted down to stay on the road.
* - Ok ok, here it is, the upgrades with the asterisks next to them are
achieved for only a SINGLE CAR when that car reaches 1864 miles on the
odometer. This is how I understand it and this is how it's done. *8)
THE FIRST HALF OF THE GAME
So, this is the simple part... There are clubs that travel on
certain parts of the highway system, beat all the members and you will
be challenged by the leader of that particular club. When you beat the
leader, you receive the option to use their decal on your car.
Periodically, as you defeat rivals, you will earn the right to purchase
either their custom model car or the stock (original) model. Once you
have defeated the club on a given highway segment, move on. After every
club boss you beat (or sometimes every other) you will be challenged by
a member of the 13Devils club. They are sometimes tough and sometimes
pushovers. When you have worked your way through every available club
boss and thereby all but one of the 13Devils, you will be challenged by
Speed King.
I'll tell you right now, his speed is retarded. No matter what
car you are using you will be no match for him. He will blow by you
like a coked-up bat out of Watts during the riots. Like many of your
biggest challenges, you must defeat him through a combination of two
simple things: (1) Don't make stupid mistakes. (2) Wait for him to make
a stupid mistake.
Oh, BTW... After you beat Speed King you're going to get some game
text and then the credits... THE GAME IS NOT OVER. Don't worry. *8) Just
keep reading.
THE SECOND HALF OF THE GAME
Once you've defeated Speed King, you will earn the right to buy
his car. This is not a stock original but his customized version. DO
IT. BUY THAT SUCKER AND RUN. I have yet to find a better car in this
game. (I call it the Mirage, since that's what the sticker says.) Once
you have the Mirage, don't sell your first car. You may need it. You've
learned the handling of that car and your inexperience with the Mirage
may hurt you in some races.
THE MAP
Ok, so everyone asks about the map in TXR0. "How many areas are
there?" "How can I unlock more tracks?" Here is the answer as I have
come to know it. There are three main sections of the track:
1) Kanjyo
INNER
OUTER
2) Shinkanjyo
CW (clockwise)
CCW (counter-clockwise)
3) Wangan/Yokohane
North bound
South bound
That's it.
Get used to it. The rest of the areas are closed off and are not
accessible to you. Believe me, this is enough track for anyone to lose
himself or herself in. You have areas of all types and temperaments
that will test you driving ability to the max. So, in other words,
don't get greedy. *8)
THE SECOND HALF OF THE GAME (CONT.)
Now, you've defeated everyone on the road and knocked off the
head honcho of the highways... Not quite. Once you defeat Speed King, a
new band of clubs will be out and about ready to challenge you with
their cars and technique. Even with Speed King's car, you must be at
the top of your game to defeat them all. So, for now, I will assume
that you ARE at the top of your game and that you WILL defeat them all.
If you are looking for clues to beat a specific member of a
specific club, I'm sorry, you won't find that here. Every member has a
weakness. Race them again and again, lure them into areas you know
particularly well, or race them over and over looking for a flaw. You
WILL find it if you persevere. I promise you.
If you don't find it - you're not trying hard enough.
As you defeat club bosses, you will be challenged by members of
The Zodiac club. There are 12 members, so sometimes when you defeat one
another one will challenge you right away. Don't be afraid, just rip
through each one as they come at you.
At the end of the Zodiac club is White Charisma. This rival is
the equivalent of Speed King on anabolic steroids. What does that mean
exactly? Well, he's faster and stronger... But dumb to boot. Beating
White Charisma is as simple as waiting for him to make a mistake. No
big deal. And if it takes a while for him to screw up (10 races or
more) don't feel bad. *8)
Again, more of those stupid credits. The game is STILL NOT OVER.
Stop crying.
THE END OF THE GAME
So, you've defeated White Charisma. You've won an ass-load of
money and you're itching for some real competition. Sorry, you wont
have it for a while.
Next on my list of "Things to do" is to go out and beat somebody
and then let your car go on auto-pilot. Now, put down the controller.
That's right, lay it right there on the floor at your feet. Now go to
bed. That's right, go.
..
Good morning.
Take your car off of auto-pilot and look at your odometer. If its not
over 1864 miles, beat someone else and let it go back to driving
itself. Leave it like that until you DO pass 1864 miles. Come back and
start reading when you're done.
..
Welcome back.
Now, go back to your garage. Pressing the L2 and R2 buttons while in
the garage will give you a read-out of some of your statistics. Press
R2 once and a list titled USER INFORMATION should come up. Second to
the bottom will be DISTANCE. This is the amount of miles traveled WHILE
IN RACES. Get it? This number needs to be above 1864 as well. So... Go
race. Again, come back and read when you've accomplished this.
..
Hiya.
Ok, so, now everything is set for you to finish off all of the
Wanderers in TKR0. You've faced a few of them from time to time and
they may have been a challenge, but if you've been faithfully upgrading
your car like I told you (don't forget about the new upgrades you just
got) then they should be no match. Follow the instructions in the
Wanderers FAQ that should be available and kill off the ones that you
need to. Some of them have requirements that are a bitch, but you just
have to suck it up, spend the money and do it.
WANDERERS NOTES:
Some of the Wanderers require you drive a certain car. This can be
altered a little bit because you can usually get the B class version of
the required car and they will still race you.
DO NOT attempt to race the Wanderers in the order they are listed. This
is simply stupid and does not work. Fulfill all the requirements you
can for each one and do not worry if you have to skip down the list.
If a Wanderer does not appear on a day when you think he/she should,
don't despair, they WILL show up eventually in the area that the FAQ
says they should. Some of the "calc 4" cars listed in the FAQ wouldn't
show up when they were supposed to, but eventually would come calling.
THE LAST DUDE
Ok, everyone on the message boards has been making a huge deal
over this guy. Don't sweat him. Seriously. He is driving a car that
goes so fast it could escape a black hole, but its handling is for
crap. Just wait a few races and he'll screw it all up. Trust me. I got
lucky and it only took two races for him to blow it both times I got to
him. NO SWEAT!
AS I UNDERSTAND IT...
There is no way to earn more money from your wins against Speed King
and White Charisma. Just deal with it. Besides, what you get is MORE
then enough for the rest of the game. No problem.
There are no more secret hidden portions of track left to be found.
Deal with it.
There are no codes you can do with your controller to do ANYTHING. The
game was simply not made with any secret codes. Deal with it.
The Wanderer "Final Flight" is listed in a FAQ as requiring a Battle
Speed of 249mph. Just for the record, I encountered and raced (and
defeated) him with a battle speed of just 237mph.
For those of you who do not think of it immediately (I didn't either),
the Wanderers who require a Real Time of some sort can be fooled by
simply resetting the time on your PS2 console. (Just don't forget to
set it back.) *8)
GEAR RATIOS
This is a HUGE topic on the message boards. I mean gargantuan.
Wow. People everywhere want LISTS of the best ratios for the best cars.
Now that's just lame IMHO. I mean come on, what's the fun in that? What
I will do for those of you who are curious to know what they do and
interested to learn how best to figure it out for yourself is give you
a bit of knowledge.
First, take your car and change the ratios to the maximum high
point. Now go to the Time Attack mode and select the full oval race.
While doing this race, watch your gear readouts and your tachometer.
-If when you start the race, first gear drops very low and it take a
long time to build any speed, then change the first gear setting lower.
-If when you are racing you hit top speed in 5th gear not 6th, then begin
lowering your ratios so your acceleration is more evenly distributed
between the gears.
-Try to get a quick, evenly spaced, up-shift tempo as your car is
accelerating. The smoother the better.
Now, switch from the full oval to the 400m dash and run your car.
Look at the completion time and begin tinkering with the ratios to see
what set of timing is best for your car. I understand that this is
vague in the extreme, but I do not believe in whole lists of ratios
being given out online. It rather defeats the purpose of the feature
even being in there.
As a last note on ratios, a person could go through this game
never once touching anything having to do with their car's ratios and
still do perfectly well in the game. The ratios are there so that if a
person WANTS they can make their car perform above and beyond the
stock/custom level. It is not a requirement, but a feature.
THE CLOSING CREDITS
Don't get all worked up - that's just what I'm calling this section.
So, after all is said and done you've finally finished the game.
Congratulations.
Now the goal as I see it is to perfect your Time Attack runs on all the
courses so you can blow your friends out of the water when you start
playing in Versus mode with them. *8)
Ok, the Wanderers Requirements FAQ is available from the same page you
got this... Or at least it should be. If not, go to:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/30433.html
It's a damn good FAQ that's had a lot of time put into it.
Heed it well, young jedi.
-CONTACT AND CRAP-
I am available at:
[email protected]
Additions, corrections, spelling errors, and grammatical suggestions.
Thanks to Ru-Dogg. Play it up, pal.
THIS DOCUMENT IS COPYRIGHT JON CHARTRAND (2001) AND MAY NOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN OR EXPRESSED
CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. AS OF NOW, GAMEFAQS.COM IS THE ONLY PLACE IT
SHOULD BE POSTED. DEAL WITH IT. *8)
