Wangan Midnight

Wangan Midnight is just the type of hellish racing game that would make the Traffic Police see red. Based on a popular Japanese manga and animation series inspired by real-life events, the game features lots of reckless speeding on a Tokyo expressway colloquically called Wangan (literally, Bseide The Bay). For a huge part of the game, you drive as hero Akio Asakura in his notorious car called the Demonic Z - a lethal Nissan Fairlady Z with a history of turning its ownersn into road kills. The main event is the Story mode, where you need to win races in order to unlock the chapters in the life of Akio and other supporting characters with their own souped-up cars including a Porsche. (There are other models including online races on the PlayStation Network).This mode plays like a role-playing game-cum-soap opera, as you are put in the driver's seat to experience the key manga storylines. Even the opponents are racing fanatics with different motivations for burning rubber - a far cry from the anonymous challengers in other titles. This melodramatic background shifts the game one gear up against the likes of Ridge Race and MotorStorm.

Winning a particular stage - each stage offers between two and five races that run all over the complex Wangan Expressway system - unlocks virtual trading cards. Use these to improve the performance of the in-game vehicles. After the initial straightforward races, the difficulty ramps up mid-way as fast and furious opponents with more powerful cars show up for longer races over twisted routes. So, replaying the earlier stages to earn more powerful trading cards to "mod" or tune up your car becomes a necessity. What makes races dramatic is the fact that the engine can blow from overheating, so some strategic driving is required instead of mindless breakneck speeds all the way. The drab graphics (just night scenes because most races take place at night) puts a brake on full enjoyment of the game, as do the unpolished racing engine and PS2-like presentation visuals. but the sheer strength of Wangan Midnight's engaging story and interesting characters, make it worth hitching a ride on.