Reviving a Racing Legend: The Return of a Cult Classic After 18 Long Years

The beloved cult classic racing series Tokyo Xtreme Racer has triumphantly returned after nearly two decades of inactivity, and this latest installment is already a major success among racing enthusiasts. Just days following its Early Access release, it has received a plethora of outstanding reviews from Steam players.

This new Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a single-player experience whose main premise you can likely guess from the title: it’s an arcade-style racer set against the backdrop of Tokyo’s streets. Since its Early Access launch on January 23, Steam user feedback has highlighted the driving pace, the variety of content, and the absence of microtransactions.

Within just a few days, Tokyo Xtreme Racer has accumulated 4,814 user reviews on Steam, with 95% of them being favorable. According to the Steam 250 ranking algorithm, this places it as the fourth-best game of 2025 thus far, right behind underground hits such as My Summer Car and Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist.

Moreover, the Early Access launch indicates that the game will only improve from here. At present, players can only access up to the midpoint of the story, and the developers plan to incorporate player feedback gathered over the next four months leading up to the official 1.0 release.

“Given that this is the first time in over 18 years that Tokyo Xtreme Racer is making a comeback, we believed it was essential to release the game in Early Access to honor the franchise,” the developers express on the Steam page. “Much has evolved in the genre since the heyday of Tokyo Xtreme Racer, and we think it’s critical to gather insights not only from the loyal fans of the franchise but also from the broader racing game community.”

The legacy of Tokyo Xtreme Racer actually dates back to the SNES era, although an official English-language release did not emerge until Tokyo Highway Battle.