Ludography
Wangan Trial cover

1998 · Pack-In-Soft · Racing

Wangan Trial

PlayStation exclusive

Racing game for the Sony Playstation published by Victor Interactive Software only in Japan in 1998.

Released
7 March 1998
Platforms
PlayStation
Genres
Racing
Developers
Pack-In-Soft
Publishers
Victor Interactive Software
Perspective
Third person

About

Highway 2000 (known in Japan as Wangan Dead Heat) is a 1995 racing video game developed by Genki for the Sega Saturn. The Japanese version takes place on the Wangan route of the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. An updated version, Wangan Dead Heat + Real Arrange, was released in 1996 for the Saturn. Two further games in the Wangan series were released in Japan in 1998: Wangan Trial for the PlayStation and Wangan Trial Love for the Sega Saturn.

Keywords

  • drifting

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player can choose from three sports cars and race across five highways against either human or computer opponents, or against the clock. The two-player mode is called "Battle Mode" and is done in split screen. Three camera angles are available: two from outside the car and one from the inside. The game stands out by letting players choose a glamorous female co-driver from ten options, who critiques their performance (the European version features different actors in the full-motion video (FMV) sequences compared to the Japanese version). The player must finish first on each track to advance to the next level.

Reception

Saturn+ called the co-driver idea "a cheap gimmick" and the game overall "pretty naff". Mean Machines Sega's reviewer said the graphics are "shoddy", the sound is "painful", and the FMVs are "tacky". The other reviewer from the magazine said the controls and graphics are "standard" with the babes being the only notable aspect of the game. GamePro called it "the worst-performing racing game in recent memory". They recommended Daytona USA instead.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation7 March 1998Japan

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.