Awesome Music / Tokyo Xtreme Racer

With me from here to the place that shines

So do not stop the burning heart

Let me go! Feel the moment!

— Let Me Go by K-UNIT & Mika Matsuzaki

A veritable Cult Classic amongst racing game fans that is slowly getting Vindicated by History, the Shutokou Battle franchise, known under the Tokyo Xtreme Racer moniker outside Japan, has had an incredible soundtrack through-out its twenty-plus years of existence. We at TV Tropes advise you do not listen to it whilst driving on the highway, least you accidentally floor the throttle.

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Pre-Dreamcast

• "Wing" from Tokyo Highway Battle conveys a good amount of energy as you choose a car to race down the Tokyo Expressway.
• Are you a fan of Shutokou Battle and hardcore techno? Rejoice! "Rythmical City" got you covered, a fast-paced track for head-to-head battles that both samples Kraftwerk and feels like a love letter to The Prodigy.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer / Shutokou Battle

• "Cross Road" is a relaxed House Music track, first heard as you begin roaming the C1 Loop, seeking fellow drivers to challenge. It feels like a Dreamcast-era track, one that wouldn't sound out of place in Sonic Adventure.
• "Alpine Glow", a soothing DnB track that sounds like it came straight out of Isamu Ohira's catalogue, is the Results screen theme, fittingly being the calm after the storm.
• Fittingly for a racing game based in Japan, the soundtrack has some notable Eurobeat influences, such as "Let Me Go", a high-energy, high key leitmotif that sounds incredibly similar to "Wings of Fire" from the Initial D soundtrack. It was later given a remake in Zero, with a longer opening build-up and sharper instrumental, as well as an alternative vocal version.
• "Be Alert", the other noteworthy Eurobeat-inspired track, plays during the Final Battle against UNKNOWN. Although not exactly tone-matching, it still manages to get you pumped enough for what is the last battle before joining the legends of the Tokyo expressway. It, too, received a very energetic remake with better instruments in Zero.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 / Shutokou Battle 2

• "Clever Drive", as the name itself implies, is a very calm techno track, heard playing on the menu. It was remixed in Zero, with more compression compared to the original version.
• "Cool Bad Wheels", a great piece of Industrial music that fits to a T as one races down the Wangan Line battling against an especially tough opponent.
• "Eien No Justice" by Snake Hip Shakes, an obscure piece of turn-of-the-millennium J-Rock. What, you say this never plays in-game? That's because the vocal version only plays during specific Replays; you most definitely heard the remixed version during battles, though, which is essentially chopped-and-screwed instrumental J-Rock, switching out the powerful vocals with some sick shredding on the guitar.
• "Dead or Alive", the credits theme, is the closest possible thing to a victory fanfare for your success on the Tokyo Expressway, after having defeated UNKNOWN. So much so, that it reappears in Zero in remastered form.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero / Shutokou Battle 0

• "PERVERSE WEAPON", the boss theme of Betrayal Jack Knife and and Bloodhound, sounds both somewhat deranged, as if laughing at you, and triumphant, as if reminding you that no, this is their part of the Expressway you're treading on. With its synthetizer solos, it wouldn't sound out of place in Yakuza 0 either!
• "Red Beast", the battle theme of some late-game Wanderers, most notably Z.E.R.O. With fast-paced drums, the song just screams at you to floor the throttle and go... lest you get left behind in the dust, with no chance of recovery.
• "Departure From ZERO", the boss theme of Jintei and White Charisma. A crescendo of instruments and volume, growing louder and more complex the longer it goes on, perfectly encapsulating the feeling of battling against the strongest drivers on the Expressway.
• "A Starting Point" is a frantic, yet bombastic, Eighties-esque track. In spite of the title, it plays during the True Final Boss fight against UNKNOWN.
• "Epilogue III" is the good kind of Tear Jerker: a low, soft track as you reflect over your success, having conquered the Tokyo Expressway at what is arguably its golden age.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 / Shutokou Battle 01

It wouldn't be unfair to say that the entire soundtrack of 3 classifies...

• For starters, being the first (and only) game to feature expressways beyond Tokyo's, 3 gave each city a clear-cut identity through their corresponding OST. Nagoya has more cold, electronic-based songs, matching the industrial atmosphere of Toyota's hometown, whilst Osaka has chaotic, fast-paced guitars, fitting the "loud and rough" reputation the city carries through-out the Japanese archipelago.
• "Blue Explosion", the City Selection theme, is a bombastic theme with samples from what sound like old speeches in the background harmonized to the groove. It does a very good job at getting players hyped up at the mere prospect of picking their next "battleground".
• "Blue Smoke", heard as one modifies their car's settings, fits the mood as you think hard on what would be the most fitting approach for upcoming battles... or are trying to pry your face away from the palms of your hands, as you try yet another set-up in the hopes that this time, it will work.
• The groovy "Crying", a bombastic piece featuring guitars and jazz-inspired brass and drums, is both the dealership's theme and the night-end theme when you unlock new parts and cars.
• "Drifter", three screeching, distorted guitar solos stacked one on top of the other as you challenge Wanderers in Tokyo. You will hear this an untold amount of times trying to get Caffeine X3 to face you.
• The Nightmare Fueling "Fatal Moment", is a solemn, military-like orchestral arrangement featuring church bells. Players will hear it when challenged by notoriously tough opponents.
• Its follow-up, "Battle of the Empire", is a faster-paced string-and-percussion piece with an electric guitar shredding halfway through that better fits the ensuing battle.
• The very obscure "feel love", a rather melanchonic, vocal J-Pop ballad that sounds like it came straight out of the Nineties. Players can hear it only by watching replays of battles against female Wanderers.
• Likewise, we have the even more obscure FLASH", which plays during replays of battles against Nagoya's WEST Unit #5. It's a fast-paced, energetic track with female vocals, very easily capable of getting anyone pumped up, and would not look out of place as the opening of a racing anime.
• "Ice Machine Gun", the battle theme of Tokyo's team bosses. A hard-hitting rock track with some super aggressive drumming, it definitely gets across that you're racing against Tokyo's very best.
• Last, but not least, "Running in the Dark" by Dakota Star, the game's Solemn Ending Theme. After all the efforts the player put in to overcome every trial, every challenge, every opponent through-out Japan, the song serves as a melancholic crowner to their adventure: they've become the ultimate racer amongst all... which means there is no one left for them to defeat, nothing left for them to race for.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift / Kaido Battle

• "Go For Broke", the battle them of "Kaido President" Hamagaki, is Creepy Awesome incarnated in musical form. You will be on the edge throughout the entire duel, until you cross the finish line and take the title of "Emotional King".

Kaido Racer / Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction

• "Find Your Dream" by LEO and Daiki Kasho serves as the game's opening theme. A calm piece of vocal Trance, it gradually crescendos alongside the Training Montage it serves as a backdrop to, before hitting its climax at the very end. Although not as hype-inducing as other opening themes in the series, it's still plenty capable of getting first-time players into the right mindset for their upcoming quest.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift 2 / Kaido Racer 2 / Kaido Battle: Touge Legends

• "Call Me Now" by Dakota Star, Touge Legends opening theme. A relatively simple instrumentation of synths, drums and electric guitar works flawlessly with the vocals to create a shockingly beautiful piece. The sudden "explosion" around the midway point only adds to it, like an outburst of emotions, perfectly encapsulating the sensations that mountain pass racing gives. Sadly, the song only exists as part of the game's intro: a clean, full version was never released, and it's currently believed to be Lost Media.
• "God Hand", the 13 Devils' Leitmotif from Drift 2, harkens back to the J-Rock tracks of old, fitting when taking on the feared veterans of the expressway and especially their leader, "Jintei" Motoya Iwasaki.
• The intense, head-banging "Double Edge", "Ground Zero" Yasuaki Kajioka's leitmotif.

Other

• Even though the soundtrack is weaker compared to the previous installments, Import Tuner Challenge still has some great beats such as the Main Menu theme, while reminiscing the late Saki Kaskas' works from classic Need for Speed games.
• The "Final Battle" theme from Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix is exactly what you would expect before you're ready to face ???/Unknown in his brand new Nissan 350Z (Z33), reach the podium in first place and be declared as the winner for defeating the Living Legend himself!