Game Guide - Guide for Tokyo Highway Battle

TOKYO HIGHWAY BATTLE: GAME GUIDE

by

Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford
[email protected]


Initial Version Completed: October 16, 2002
Version 1.0 Completed:     October 16, 2002

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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Starting the Game
Scenario
Cars
Unfair Advantage
Game Tips
Racing Tips: Braking
Racing Tips: Cornering
Speed Conversions
Diagrams
Contact

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SPACING AND LENGTH
For optimum readability, this driving guide should be
viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier.
Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers
and letters below line up:

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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PERMISSIONS
This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com,
PSXCodez.com, F1Gamers, Cheatcc.com, Absolute-
PlayStation.com, InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, gamesover.com,
CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru,
GameReactors.com, RobsGaming.com, cheatingplanet.com,
CheatHeaven, IGN, vgstrategies.com, hellzgate, Games Domain,
ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com.

Permission is granted to download and print one copy of this
game guide for personal use.

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INTRODUCTION
Tokyo Highway Battle is not necessarily a hidden gem on the
PlayStation/PSOne, but it IS an interesting game.  Unlike its
newer counterpart Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero on the
PlayStation2, advancement is fairly rapid, although the
highways themselves are a bit more challenging.  The graphics
admittedly are not state-of-the-art, but the gameplay itself
is very involving to make up for the graphical defects.

Please note that some information comes from my General
Racing/Driving Guide, with appropriate modifications.

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STARTING THE GAME
This may seen like an unusual place to start in discussing a
game, but there is one particular area of Options which needs
to be explained: Key Config.  Most players likely go to a
game's Options section and change the controller
configuration to their liking.  However, this is not truly a
straightforward or intuitive process in Tokyo Highway Battle.

Changing button assignments is a three-step process.  First,
once in the Key Config menu, the up and down keys on the D-
pad move between the button actions (Shift Up, Accelerate,
etc.).  Once a player has arrived at a button action, the
button assignment is changed by using the left and right keys
on the D-pad; this is the second step.  The final step, once
the correct button symbol matches the player's desire for a
given button action, is to CONFIRM, which is done by pressing
the 'X' button; most games do not require a confirmation for
each button change, so this can be easily forgotten or
overlooked.  Fortunately, once the controller has been
changed to the player's liking, it is unlikely to require
being changed again.

Once the game options have been set to the player's liking,
Practice should be explored.  Here, players can choose from
one of six cars and one of three circuits.  This gives
players a good sense of what gameplay will be like, except
that there are no rivals to race.  Once Practice has been
explored, players can go to Vs. CPU, which is essentially a
Single Race mode; a few races here will truly give the player
a sense of what the gameplay will be like in Scenario, where
the majority of gameplay is located.

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SCENARIO
Scenario is the equivalent of a Career mode in many other
racing games.  The point of Scenario is to race and defeat
numerous rivals to become the best highway racer in all of
Tokyo.

To begin this quest, a player must first choose a car.  Three
cars are initially available, and the car stats are shown.
Once a car has been chosen, the player has 5000 initial
points to spend on car parts to help the car perform better.

The selection of car parts is also non-conventional in Tokyo
Highway Battle.  First, players must use the up and down
arrows on the D-pad to move between categories of parts
(Engine, Tires, etc.).  Once the desired category has been
selected, the right arrow button must be pressed to actually
choose among the available parts in each category; once in
the actual parts menu, using the up and down keys on the D-
pad switches between parts, with each part highlighted as it
is selected.  The player can then purchase a part by pressing
the 'X' button; the tuning advisor will ask for confirmation.

However, parts have not yet been installed.  Pressing the
Triangle button twice returns to the Speed Shop menu; the
player must now select Install and then use the process
mentioned above to install each desired part.  Parts can also
be uninstalled in the same manner later.

When ready, the player can select a race venue, then head for
the Tokyo highways :-)   Regardless of whether or not the
player defeats the indicated rival, the player will receive a
given number of points (in part based upon performance in
each race) for simply completing a race.  The player should
expect to lose a lot initially, but points will accumulate,
and these points can be used to purchase car parts to improve
the car's performance.

Initially, players will not be able to buy many parts.
Perhaps the best parts to acquire immediately are the most
expensive tires a player can afford, plus Sport Brakes (2000
points).  Buying these parts will give the car better initial
pavement grip and better braking ability.

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CARS
There are several cars available in Tokyo Highway Battle.
Since none of the cars are licensed, these have very generic
names: Type-1, Type-2, Type-3, etc.  Initially, only three
cars are available; the next three are unlocked by winning at
all three initially-available tracks.

Car selection is extremely important.  Once a player has
chosen a car, that is the ONLY car which can be modified.
Further, as soon as the player selects another car, all other
cars the player has unlocked lose any parts
acquired/installed by the player and revert to their stock
(original) configurations... which effectively means that all
the time and points spent on modifying other cars is
immediately lost forever.  (This can be 'prevented' by saving
game progress to different slots on the memory card instead
of constantly overwriting the same game progress file.)

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UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
The CPU-controlled cars DEFINITELY have an unfair advantage
in this game.  The main unfair advantage is in the area of
collisions.  Colliding with other cars and/or barriers causes
the car to bounce away from the obstacle and also take a
severe reduction in speed.  However, CPU-controlled cars,
should they have a collision, are NOT as hindered by these
collision effects as players.  Therefore, it should be no
surprise that if the CPU-controlled car is close to the
player, the player can expect to get rammed... and thus
suffer the ('player-only') dire consequences >:-(

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GAME TIPS
When waiting for a race to begin, DO NOT simply stand on the
accelerator button.  This may be a quasi-arcade game, but
standing on the accelerator button at the beginning of a race
will simply result in excessive wheelspin once the race truly
begins.  It is best to not touch ANY of the buttons until the
race begins; even then, there will be slight initial
wheelspin, so it is best to quickly pump the accelerator
button until the wheelspin dissipates, then begin racing
normally.

For those playing using Automatic Transmission, it is
important to note that the transmission is not truly
'automatic.'  While the game will indeed take over the
shifting duties, the player can still upshift and downshift
at will.  However, should the player's chosen gear not match
the RPM revband for that gear, the game will automatically
return back to the previous gear.  It is important to keep
this 'glitch' in mind, as the game will sometimes not upshift
at optimum times, especially when climbing hills, so the
player can essentially force the car into an earlier upshift.
During severe braking, it may also be a good idea to
downshift one or more gears before using the accelerator
again.

Vehicles not involved in races tend to change lanes fairly
often; trucks and busses seem especially prone to sudden lane
changes.  Note that in areas of highway with a solid white
line, vehicles are not supposed to change lanes; however,
this does not stop the uninvolved traffic from changing lanes
at whim.

As more points are accumulated and spent on parts, tires and
brakes should receive serious consideration.  More horsepower
is great for making the car go faster, but the horsepower is
wasted if the car is unable to hold the road while cornering
and/or slow quickly to prepare for cornering.

Should the player's car collide with any obstacle (a barrier,
or another vehicle), the car will bounce back and slow
significantly.  Therefore, it is imperative that the player
NEVER become trapped between two vehicles or between a
vehicle and a barrier; in either scenario, the player's car
will essentially become the ball in a ping-pong match, and
the player will be virtually unable to do anything to control
the car until the player's car has slowed enough to escape
the unwanted predicament.  By this time, any lead the player
may have enjoyed is certainly lost; if the player had been
trailing the rival, the rival's lead is extended
exponentially.

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RACING TIPS: BRAKING
The first step in driving fast is knowing when, where, and
how much to slow down (braking).  The braking zone will
differ somewhat for each car depending upon its strengths and
weaknesses.  It certainly helps for the player to try a
Practice run to truly learn the circuits - including the
braking zones - before engaging in the actual events.

When looking for braking zones, try to find a particular
stationary object near the entry of each corner; it helps
tremendously if this object is far enough away from the
circuit that it will not be knocked over during a race.  To
begin, try using the brakes when the front of the car is
parallel with the chosen stationary object.  If this does not
slow the car enough before corner entry or if the car slows
too much before reaching the corner, pick another stationary
object on the following lap and try again.

Cars with a higher horsepower output will inherently attain
faster speeds, and will therefore require a longer braking
zone than cars with a lower horsepower output.

A final note on braking: To the extent possible, ALWAYS brake
in a straight line.  If braking only occurs when cornering,
the car will likely be carrying too much speed for the
corner, resulting in the car sliding and/or spinning (a slide
or spin can mean the difference between winning and ending up
in last position at the end of a race.)

If nothing else, players should strive to become one of the
best 'breakers' they possibly can.  This will essentially
force a player to become a better racer/driver in general
once the player has overcome the urge to constantly run at
top speed at all times with no regard for damages to self or
others.  Also, slowing the car appropriately will make other
aspects of racing/driving easier, especially in J-turns,
hairpin corners, and chicanes.

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RACING TIPS: CORNERING
Ideally, the best way to approach a corner is from the
outside of the turn, braking well before entering the corner.
At the apex (the midpoint of the corner), the car should be
right up against the edge of the pavement.  On corner exit,
the car drifts back to the outside of the pavement and speeds
off down the straightaway.  So, for a right-hand turn of
about ninety degrees, enter the corner from the left, come to
the right to hit the apex, and drift back to the left on
corner exit.  See the Diagrams section at the end of this
guide for a sample standard corner.

For corners that are less than ninety degrees, it may be
possible to just barely tap the brakes - if at all - and be
able to clear such corners successfully.  However, the same
principles of cornering apply: approach from the outside of
the turn, hit the apex, and drift back outside on corner
exit.

For corners more than ninety degrees but well less than 180
degrees, braking will certainly be required.  However, for
these 'J-turns,' the apex of the corner is not the midpoint,
but a point approximately two-thirds of the way around the
corner.  J-turns require great familiarity to know when to
begin diving toward the inside of the corner and when to
power to the outside on corner exit.  See the Diagrams
section at the end of this guide for a sample J-turn.

Hairpin corners are turns of approximately 180 degrees.
Braking is certainly required before corner entry, and the
cornering process is the same as for standard corners:
Approach from the outside, drift inside to hit the apex
(located at halfway around the corner, or after turning
ninety degrees), and drifting back to the outside on corner
exit.  See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for
a sample hairpin corner.

If there are two corners of approximately ninety degrees each
AND both corners turn in the same direction AND there is only
a VERY brief straightaway between the two corners, they may
be able to be treated like an extended hairpin corner.
Sometimes, however, these 'U-turns' have a straightaway
between the corners that is long enough to prohibit a
hairpin-like treatment; in this case, drifting to the outside
on exiting the first of the two corners will automatically
set up the approach to the next turn.  See the Diagrams
section at the end of this guide for a sample U-turn.

FIA (the governing body of F1 racing, World Rally
Championship, and other forms of international motorsport)
seems to love chicanes.  One common type of chicane is
essentially a 'quick-flick,' where the circuit quickly edges
off in one direction then realigns itself in a path parallel
to the original stretch of pavement, as in the examples in
the Diagrams section at the end of this guide.  Here, the
object is to approach the first corner from the outside, hit
BOTH apexes, and drift to the outside of the second turn.

FIA also seems to like the 'Bus Stop' chicane, which is
essentially just a pair of quick-flicks, with the second
forming the mirror image of the first, as shown in the
Diagrams section at the end of this guide.  Perhaps the most
famous Bus Stop chicane is the chicane (which is actually
called the 'Bus Stop Chicane') at Pit Entry at Spa-
Francorchamps, the home of the annual Grand Prix of Belgium
(F1 racing) and the host of The 24 Hours of Spa (for
endurance racing).

Virtually every other type of corner or corner combination
encountered in racing (primarily in road racing) combines
elements of the corners presented above.  These complex
corners and chicanes can be challenging, such as the Ascari
chicane at Monza.  See the Diagrams section for an idea of
the formation of Ascari.

However, in illegal street/highway racing, the positioning of
traffic can 'create' the various corners and corner
combinations mentioned here.  For example, weaving in and out
of traffic creates a virtual bus stop chicane (see the
Diagrams section at the end of this guide).  Slowing may be
necessary - it often is - depending on the distance between
the vehicles.  See the Sample Circuit Using Some of the Above
Corner Types Combines in the Diagrams section at the end of
this guide; note that this is a diagram for a very technical
circuit.

At some race venues, 'artificial chicanes' may be created by
placing cones and/or (concrete) barriers in the middle of a
straightaway.  This situation exists at numerous circuits in
Tokyo.

One thing which can change the approach to cornering is the
available vision.  Blind and semi-blind corners require
ABSOLUTE knowledge of such corners.  Here is where gamers
have an advantage over real-world drivers:  Gamers can
(usually) change their viewpoint (camera position), which can
sometimes provide a wider, clearer view of the circuit, which
can be especially important when approaching semi-blind
corners; real-world drivers are obviously inhibited by the
design of their cars and racing helmets.

Also important to cornering - especially with long, extended
corners - is the corner's radius.  Most corners use an
identical radius throughout their length.  However, some are
increasing-radius corners or decreasing-radius corners.
These corners may require shifting the apex point of a
corner, and almost always result in a change of speed.
Decreasing-radius corners are perhaps the trickiest, because
the angle of the corner becomes sharper, thus generally
requiring more braking as well as more turning of the
steering wheel.  Increasing-radius corners are corners for
which the angle becomes more and more gentle as the corner
progresses; this means that drivers will generally accelerate
more, harder, or faster, but such an extra burst of speed can
backfire and require more braking.  See the Diagrams section
at the end of this guide for sample images of a decreasing-
radius corner and an increasing-radius corner.

For traditional road racing circuits, increasing-radius and
decreasing-radius corners may not be too much of a problem;
after several laps around one of these circuits, a driver
will know where the braking and acceleration points are as
well as the shifted apex point (should a shift be required).
However, for stage-based rally racing, where the roads are
virtually unknown and the driver knows what is ahead only
because of the navigator's instructions (which - based upon
notes - may or may not be absolutely correct), the unknown
can cause drivers to brake more often and/or more heavily.
This need for 'extra' braking is also tempered by the fact
that in much of rally racing, corners are either blind or
semi-blind, due to trees, buildings, and other obstacles to
clear vision all the way around a corner.

One particularly interesting aspect of cornering is one which
I honestly do not know if it works in reality (I am not a
real-world racer, although I would certainly LOVE the chance
to attend a racing school!!!), but which works in numerous
racing/driving games I have played over the years.  This
aspect is to use the accelerator to help with quickly and
safely navigating sharp corners.  This works by first BRAKING
AS USUAL IN ADVANCE OF THE CORNER, then - once in the corner
itself - rapidly pumping the brakes for the duration of the
corner (or at least until well past the apex of the corner).
The action of rapidly pumping the accelerator appears to
cause the drive wheels to catch the pavement just enough to
help stop or slow a sliding car, causing the non-drive wheels
to continue slipping and the entire car to turn just a little
faster.  Using this rapid-pumping technique with the
accelerator does take a little practice initially, and seems
to work best with FR cars; however, once perfected, this
technique can pay dividends, especially with REALLY sharp
hairpin corners, such as several in London.

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SPEED CONVERSIONS
Tokyo Highway Battle, not surprisingly, uses kilometers per
hour to indicate speed; this cannot be changed in the game's
Options menu.  For an indication of just how fast this is in
miles per hour (for those living in places where the metric
system is not in use), here are the conversions (numbers
rounded):

   KPH = MPH          KPH = MPH          KPH = MPH
   ---------          ---------          ---------
     5 =   3          105 =  66          205 = 128
    10 =   6          110 =  69          210 = 131
    15 =   9          115 =  72          215 = 134
    20 =  13          120 =  75          220 = 138
    25 =  16          125 =  78          225 = 141
    30 =  19          130 =  81          230 = 144
    35 =  22          135 =  84          235 = 147
    40 =  25          140 =  88          240 = 150
    45 =  28          145 =  91          245 = 153
    50 =  31          150 =  94          250 = 156
    55 =  34          155 =  97          255 = 159
    60 =  38          160 = 100          260 = 163
    65 =  41          165 = 103          265 = 166
    70 =  44          170 = 106          270 = 169
    75 =  47          175 = 109          275 = 172
    80 =  50          180 = 113          280 = 175
    85 =  53          185 = 116          285 = 178
    90 =  56          190 = 119          290 = 181
    95 =  59          195 = 122          295 = 184
   100 =  63          200 = 125          300 = 188

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DIAGRAMS
This section contains the diagrams referred to earlier in the
guide.

Ascari Chicane (at Monza):
   *
    *
     *
      *
       *
        ***
           *
            *****************

Bus Stop Chicane (Variant I - Wide Chicane):
   *******************           *******************
                      *         *
                       *********

Bus Stop Chicane (Variant II - Narrow Chicane):
   *******************           *******************
                      ***********

Decreasing-radius Corner:
   ->*******************
                          *
                             *
                               *
                                *
                                *
                               *
   <-*************************

Hairpin Corner:
   ->*****************
                      *
   <-*****************

Increasing-radius Corner:
   ->**********************
                            *
                             *
                             *
                            *
                          *
   <-*******************

J-turn
   *******************
                      *
                     *
                    *
                   *

Quick-flicks (Variant I - Wide Chicane):
   *************
                *
                 *************

Quick-flicks (Variant II - Narrow Chicane):
   *************
                **************

Sample Circuit Using Some of the Above Corner Types Combined:
    ******|******       *****
   *      |->    *     *     *
    *          **   ***     *
     *        *   **        *
    *         *  *    *     *
   *         *  *    * *     ****
   *          **    *   *        *
   *               *     ********
    *******       *
           *******

Standard Corner:
   *******************
                      *
                      *
                      *
                      *
                      *
                      *
                      *
                      *

U-turn:
   ->*****************
                      *
                      *
                      *
   <-*****************

Virtual Bus Stop Chicane:
   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                     Car #1   ->->->->->->   Car #3
   Player Path: ->->->->->->->   Car #2   ->->->->->->->
   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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CONTACT
For rants, raves, etc., contact me at [email protected];
also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has
been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small
donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above
e-mail address.

To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2
game guides, visit FeatherGuides at
http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/

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