The appeal of the "Shutoko Battle" series (known as "Tokyo Xtreme Racer" abroad) has always been the way it gives players a free pass to race through a digital representation of Tokyo. For car enthusiasts and armchair racers thirsting for the thrill of hitting Kasumigaseki at 150 kph, the lure of "Shutoko" is hard to resist. On Sega's Dreamcast and Sony's PlayStation consoles, the series has been a retail success.
Now developer Genki has ported the game to Sony's new PlayStation Portable handheld system.
The result? A waste of 4,500 yen.