In this top down racing game you compete against 3 CPU cars.
You start out in the first town, Steel City (on the Japanese version), where you have to win a race, then you can move to another city on the world map and have to win a number of races there to advance again.
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GameFAQs guide
Longplay
While racing, there is a certain number of cash pickups (randomized positions), each giving you 5 cash.
A vertical wall somewhere on the race track will be blinking, giving you a powerup when touching it:
- REPAIR (Sets damage to 0)
- FIRE!
- POCKET MONEY
- 2 POINT UP
- ENEMY STOP (Enemies won't move for about 7 seconds)
- WARP! (Switch position with another player randomly)
- NITRO (Refills nitros to maximum)
- SUPERSONIC !! (Will give you permanent high speed and you are allowed to move through enemy cars without collision)
The wall that will be blinking will have a randomized set of possible positionings.
After picking up SUPERSONIC, it seems there will be no more blinking walls after that.
The best strategy for TAS is to manipulate the powerup wall as early as possible in the track, then manipulate for SUPERSONIC to end the race as early as possible.
After each race:
- Points will be added to your total for the races in that city, determining if you win or lose after all races are over.
1st player gets 6 points,
2nd player gets 4,
3rd player gets 2,
4th player gets 1
- You lose 1 grip, if you didn't upgrade grip previous race
- Spare nitros change to cash (1 nitro = 1 cash)
- You can buy enhancements in the shop
Extra Accel: 50 cash
Engine tune: 100 cash
Tires: 30 cash
Larger nitro: 100 cash (10 more max nitro)
Damage repair: Reduces damage to 0, each damage point subtracts 1 cash
Cash should be invested in tires (allows for faster turning?) and in engine (max speed increase?). Extra accel. and repair aren't needed in TAS.
The powerup you can get when touching a powerup wall can be somewhat manipulated by different movement. Perhaps it's related to different sounds getting produced.
After winning in the cities with a cup icon, a street to a grand prix event is unlocked at the top of the world map.
When finishing the game at the hardest difficulty there will be a cutscene. The other difficulty levels will tell you to try a higher difficulty.
You start out with
| Easy | Hard | Expert |
| Money | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Damage | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Max Nitro | 60 | 40 | 20 |
| Grip | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Accel. | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Max Veloc. | 130 | 130 | 130 |
Grip
Turning speed will be the same on all four possible values (0, 1, 2 and 3).
However, when turning, you will be somewhat sliding across the floor on lower values.
Editing the WRAM address for grip ($00C5) mid-race will not change how grip behaves in that race.
Grip is reduced by 1 after a race if you didn't upgrade grip after the previous race.
Best worldmap route
You only have to complete the towns that have a cup icon.
Since Blood Lake only has 1 race and N.Hearn City has 3 races, it is best to go this route:
STEEL CITY → JOKER'S TOWN → STEEL CITY → BLOOD LAKE → BAYTON VILLAGE → MAGNUM LAKE → S.HEARN CITY → MAGNUM LAKE → MATLOCK TOWN → E.ASSIZ CITY → TAILSLIDE MOOR → W.ASSIZ CITY → KARTON VALLEY → PARADISE CITY
