Shutokou Battle FAQ/walkthrough/secrets By Felis Concolor (9/5/1999) concolor@cris.com rev 2.1 Welcome to Shutokou Battle. This racing sim immerses you in the world of late night street racing on Tokyo's famed Shuto, the expressway and business loop that circles the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Tower. The accuracy of the track is exact: For further research check out a street and rail atlas of Japan; the outline is clearly visible and follows the course laid out in exacting detail. The game itself is fairly straightforward; take your 25,000 initial construction points and buy a car, outfit it with engine, transmission, brake, chassis and cosmetic upgrades, then take to the streets and pick a fight. If you're good, you'll win the respect and money of a rival. If not, you can always try again later in the night or later in the game if you feel your car is not up to the task. For those willing to hammer away and practice on a few laps that night it is entirely possible to defeat members of such lofty driving clubs as TR Racing, Speed Box and even the highest echelon, Speed Master on your first outing. For the latter I have been extremely lucky with traffic but a win is a win and I'll take the credit and the points no matter how it happens. As you begin to defeat cars, your database fills with info on your fellow rivals. Their car types, names and a little bio on each member become available upon your first victory. If you have challenged and lost or your race ended in a draw the only data you receive is the car type and driver name. Keep at it; one day you will know all by winning everything. As your wins increase, so does your reputation. This changes the rules of the game as you no longer challenge all drivers but are increasingly challenged by other club leaders wanting a piece of you. Stomp on them and the Devas begin asking, "who is this guy?" You can expect some nights to be quite hectic as you shut down several club members followed by their leaders and then battle for your honor against such characters as Death Driver, Midnight Cinderella and the Silver Wolf. Outdrive these loners and you'll earn a congratulations screen and some great closing music by Ziggy (sigh...I wish domestic bands sounded this good). The Main Menu Menu selections are (from left to right): Quick Race: Choose this for practice against an increasingly stronger selection of adversaries. You can choose either sprint race (good for practicing your Quest Mode battles) or a single lap of the circuit. You are given the choice of using the pre-packaged cars or loading your own car from the VMS. As you defeat more cars in the sprint your challenge bar is not replenished; you must stay ahead for the entire battle in order to win. The Time Battle selection on the lower part of the screen is a single lap of the Shuto either clockwise or counterclockwise, whoever crosses the green line at the end first wins. Opponents start out fairly anemic in both and are ratcheted up in speed and handling until you fall. VS Race: challenge a friend with their controller and VMS; you can use one of the stock vehicles or load your favorite saved car from Quest Mode. The battle selections are the same as in Quick Race. Quest: The core of the basic game. Selecting this allows you to start up a new quest or load a save that is in progress. This takes you to the Quest Mode menu system. Practice: Build your skill sets without any rivals on the course. You can choose A or B circuits, traffic or no traffic and your saved cars or the Quick Race cars. Practice can be ended by taking an offramp or pressing Start and using the menu. Options: Miscellaneous settings and replay saves can be found here. In order, clockwise from the bottom left of the screen, are: Key Config: Change your controller settings and default shift and flash buttons. Load Replay: Saved a favorite race on your VMS? Relive the glory here. Save Game File: Save settings to your own or another VMS. Load Game File: Load settings from your or a friend's VMS. Sound: Change BGM levels from 0 to 127, select stereo or mono sound playback and test each of the available race and BGM music tracks. The vocal track is not available here; use the default Dreamcast system menu to play that one. Network: If you are already running the Dream Passport software, congratulations. I have the blue disk so have been unable to further research this area. Below follows a brief description of each menu setting from the Quest Mode menu. In clockwise order from the top right, they are: Tuning: This submenu allows you to purchase parts, adjust settings on your car and change such accessories as Aero parts, Muffler types and custom Wheels. This section will be covered in depth later. Battle: The core of the game. Choose this selector and you will be presented with the A and B courses for your evening cruise. The following screen allows you to turn on the generic car markers (use the triggers to toggle) and select between manual or automatic shift modes with the analog hat. System: Allows you to save or load a game, end the Quest Mode and return to the opening screen (any unsaved data will be lost) and change the key config on your controller (switches shifting buttons and the high beams flash button only; all other controls are locked in place). Rival: The logbook. Use this to check up on who you have defeated, who you have met and who remains to be found. When the rival has been defeated at least once the car will appear as a brightly lit model and the biography section will be filled with some data on the driver him/herself. Shop: Buy and sell cars. You are not allowed to sell your driving car, use the garage to change them over. You cannot sell your only car so if you're just a few CPs short of that Skyline or Supra you'll have to go back out and earn them on the street that night before parting with your old ride. I tend not to sell any of my purchased cars as it is more fun to upgrade them and compare notes on their unique performance profiles. Garage: Your storage area. Here is where you can change over to a different vehicle in the stable and rename them to suit your tastes. Select the car you want to use or work on and select it with the A button. The Quest mode menu also displays which day/night it is for you in the game and how many CPs you have in your personal stock. The Tuning Menu Buy Parts. Selecting this takes you to the upgrade purchase section for your selected car. Using the triggers on your controller brings up the data screen overlay, listing your car's critical dimensions, its power and torque ratings, the drive system and final drive ratio. The settings are listed in metric terms; multiply the Torque rating by approximately 6.8 for the equivalent foot-pounds listing. The upgrade choices, listed left to right, are: 1. Engine: This upgrades the heart of your machine and affects acceleration and to a lesser extent, top speed. Engine upgrades start at around 10% of your car's purchase price and in some cases can exceed the cost of the car itself for the highest levels. 2. Brakes/Control Arms/Shock Absorbers: This section unlocks greater levels of adjustment on the Settings submenu. Level two opens up Brake Balance, while level three allows you to change spring rate (setting 4), jounce and rebound (5 & 6). 3. Transmission: Your greatest top speed gains occur here. As you upgrade your transmission you are given the ability to change your final drive ratio (on a level two upgrade, setting 7) and your shift points (after level three, the bottom setting on the chart). Higher transmission upgrades give you a closer ratio gearbox and your acceleration improves noticeably. 4. Chassis: How stiff your car's subframe is. Cranking this up reduces flex and gives you greater control when your car starts to slide or bumps an obstacle. Settings are not affected by these upgrades although it does give some of the best overall performance gains. Couple chassis upgrades with the higher end wheels for a car that is easy to aim. 5. Muffler: Speed and sound. These upgrades give you a freer flowing exhaust, improving acceleration slightly and top end performance as well as changing your exhaust note. I tend to wait until I can afford the storm drain pipe, then slap it on and crack some windshields. 6. Wheels: Where the rubber meets the road. These items are expensive not just because they look good: They can radically improve your car's performance in the corners. Most cars have two or three different styles for each upgrade level. The top wheels allow you to flick the tail out and bring it back in quickly for those dashes through the southern chicane and the esses on the western side. 7. Aero: Looks good, feels great. This submenu is composed of separate sections for each car, some of which will not apply to certain automobiles. Sadly there is no way to check the look of several separate pieces before you buy, so page through each one until you figure out what bits will look best for your ride. I have not tested this area exhaustively but the various wings and spoilers do not seem to affect overall performance. 8. Color: Match the hues to your moods. Are you the strong, silent type? Perhaps a bold "ticket me red" scheme is more to your liking? Each color slider has nearly 200 clicks available; if you cannot find the mix you like you probably cannot get it from DuPont either. For metallics slide the adjustment towards the low end of the scale; bright solids can be found from the midpoint upwards. Settings This submenu is straightforward and uses sliders for settings (press A to lock in the changes) with a default button for use if you really screw things up. The list in order is: 1. Steering Response. Do you want a twitch car or do you prefer larger, more deliberate inputs? Settings range from Slow to Quick. 2. Brake Response. How quickly do you want your brakes to grab? Quick response allows for quick flicking of the tail during high speed maneuvers but you run the risk of locking up and losing control. These first two settings are the only ones available on a stock car. 3. Brake Balance. Available after level two suspension upgrades, this allows you to change which set of discs engages strongest. Forward bias enables FWD cars to exhibit some oversteer tendencies, rearward allows one to widen a line through a turn. 4. Spring Rate. Low to High; allows you to soften or stiffen the car's basic suspension. Appears after level three suspension upgrades. 5 and 6. Jounce and Rebound. Shock absorber terms that allow you to change your car's behavior on bounces and drifts after level three suspension upgrades. 7. Crossmission (Transmission) shift points. Lower them for a quicker dash to top gear, raise them for a higher top speed. Appears after level two transmission upgrades. 8. Final Gear (final drive ratio). Raise it for quicker overall acceleration, lower it for higher top speed. It is available as part of your third transmission upgrade. Traditionally the terms used reflect the opposite of their settings, "tall gearing" refers to a low number, while "short gearing" is a high number. Change Parts If you have upgraded your car or have more than one Aero, Wheel and Muffler purchase in your system you can change between them on this menu. Each subsystem you have will be displayed here. Select the item you wish to place on your car and press the A button. Quest Mode Start (New Quest) Your limited funds prohibit you from purchasing many of the neatest bits of hardware when you start up the game but do not fret; any car you can afford initially may be pugraded to the point where you can hold off and defeat the first three Devas. For first cars I usually purchase the EK9 or S14; these are quite different in their performance and handling profiles and are where most drivers diverge, style-wise. A brief description of the cars available for first purchase follows: AE86L: Nissan Sentra (80s variant). Classic FWD starter. 16,000 CP cost allows for one engine upgrade necessary to challenge the middle ranks. Use your first night's winnings to crank up your engine and transmission once again. AE86T: Toyota Corolla (80s style, pop up headlights). Another favorite. Same price, similar in most areas to Sentra but with slightly higher top speed after upgrades. For those who follow anime this is the featured car in "Initial D" and is sponsored by the Wisteria Tofu Shop. Max this one out and you can defeat the fourth Deva. S13: Not sure of this lineage; taillights say Mitsubishi of some form. 20,000 CP will give you enough for a single engine upgrade, but I would instead recommend: S14: Same model, this one even newer. Upgrade this to its maximum and you'll have no difficulty taking on the Devas when they appear. 25,000 CP means you'll be flat broke after you purchase it. Both S13 and S14 are RWD and exhibit lift throttle oversteer in addition to kicking out the tail at speed. RPS13: Nissan 240SX. Good looks, delightful balance just like the original. This is another car that leaves you next to nothing. 24,000 CP means you can buy a few cosmetic bits or change the color to your liking before hitting the streets. The learning curve is steep for this car; give it two to three engine upgrades before cranking up the transmission and chassis. EK9: Honda Civic. The perennial favorite of the boy racer, this car has an especially tight FWD chassis and can outsprint the Toyota Corolla or Nissan Sentra. This car corrects any steering inputs in a matter of milliseconds; pointing it straight or sliding through wide sweepers is especially fun. 20,000 CP gives you enough for one engine upgrade; take three before working on anything else. DC2: Acura Integra. Tight chassis, understeers horribly at speed, use throttle and brakes to point the nose where you want to go. This car can be developed to take on Silver Wolf before retirement. 25,000 CP. After you choose your car and outfit it the way you like, you then hit the streets and see how you measure up against the speed kings and queens who prowl the circuit. Yes, there are female drivers in this game; you will have to deal with girls who can outdrive guys when you start to ascend the ranks. Choice of course is limited to a clockwise or counterclockwise circuit; each has a unique flavor and some drivers will find one direction to be their forte. You will need to switch back and forth between sides to optimize your challenges. Some of the drivers you battle will also have weaknesses on certain courses. As you circle the course you will see your car indicated as a blinking yellow square on the overall course map. Other cars to challenge are indicated in blue, red or green squares. Blue squares are car/driver combinations you have not met before, red squares indicate a racer whose status is still undefeated (Lose/Draw on the outcome menu) and green is the all clear light. You have defeated that racer but can still challenge them for more CPs. Often you will find yourself taking someone on a second or third time simply because the race is on the way to a new rival. The rival's purse is highest for the first victory; it is reduced to 40% of original value afterwards. You also receive bonus points for how many ticks are left on your challenge bar at the end of the match (100-1 x modifier, 0 means you have lost) and how many meters you have travelled (1 CP/10 meters, 100 CP/kilometer). Challenging other drivers is straightforward. Simply approach from the rear until the club logo and challenge bars appear at the top of the screen. You will also see a name in hiragana, katakana, kanji and the occasional roman alphabet on the left hand side of the screen. When you feel it is time, press the B button (default) to flash the driver with your high beams. Thus challenged, you both activate your hazard lamps and begin the contest. In most cases you will be challenging in the overtaking position. On occasion a fortuitous placement of traffic or freeway dividers can give you the lead when the timer counts down to takeoff. Use these situations wisely; you can often defeat a clearly superior car simply by being in the lead at the start of a favorite section. The victory conditions are simple; stay ahead of your rival for as long as possible, demonstrating your superior driving skills. The further ahead you are the faster your rival's challenge bar drops. This can also be used as a subliminal indication of how hard you need to push things; if the bar is dropping like a rock you might want to take it easy and clean up your line through traffic. If the bar seems like it is not moving at all you'll need to stand on the throttle in order to give yourself some distance and breathing room. The drivers are programmed with differing skill levels and skill sets; some are insanely fast on the long sweepers, some are especially adept at weaving through shifting traffic, some can barrel through chicanes and complex passages with ease. A select few can do all of these: Fear them. Races can be won, lost or drawn. Wins are straightforward; you made it, now take the money and pick on somebody else. Losses indicate a need to hone technique or upgrade a car. Draws can be initiated by several events; you can split up where the highway divides between high and low roads, take an offramp accidentally or on purpose. In either case the contest is unresolved and the car's blue square turns red to remind you of unfinished business. After the race the Results Menu will appear, allowing you to relive the glory (or cringe through the debacle) and analyze your attack, save the race movie to your VMS (expensive; 75 blocks required) or return to the track and harass some more drivers. This also allows you to hook up a VCR and record your victories to show disbelieving friends ("Silver Wolf in a Honda? I'll believe it when I see it."). The menus also allow you to exit the evening with a simple command but I consider this bad form. Use the supplied exits to end the night; this also allows you to practice a bit after challenges and can help maintain the atmosphere created by the game. When you start to pick off the members of a club, word gets back to whoever leads that group and his or her interest rises in you. When you remove the second to last member of the club you will exit the Results Menu to find that this time you are the one being challenged by the club leader in a, "you have humiliated my minions; it is time for a final reckoning" race. Win that one and the Devas become interested in your abilities. The first Deva will challenge you after you defeat two club leaders. This will be your first three race back- to-back stint as you defeat the club member followed directly by the club leader followed by Death Driver himself. Shut him down and you'll have more than enough points for at least one high level engine upgrade or possibly a new car. Each successive Deva will appear after two clubs have been defeated. Some nights will see you fending off two Deva attacks if you manage to shut down enough driving clubs. If you are unable to defeat the Deva that night he or she will continue to harass you each following night after any victory until you slap them hard. Occasionally they will not show up after a battle; it usually means they are one of the red squares on the track waiting for your challenge ("You are not a Jedi yet"). The earliest I have encountered a Deva was night two after closing out Rolling Guy and Curving Edge, the longest was six days as I laboriously worked my way through seven separate clubs, never completely defeating any until that fateful evening. After you race and defeat the fourth Deva the game ends and you are given a victory screen and some great music by Ziggy. After saving your progress you then find out the game was only beginning; you still have to defeat the other club members and leaders and there are four new super drivers out there, this time called the Four Devils. These drivers show up when the Devas refuse to cruise the Shuto. When these characters show up it's as if to say, "alright; let's see how rough this punk can play." The CP values are quite high; you can purchase most cars on a single victory's points. Take care of these masters and you will receive a second victory celebration and a well deserved rest. The frequency of each Devil's appearance is timed to the defeat of three clubs. A list of the clubs, their general styles and capabilities follows: 1. Rolling Guy: These guys are feeble both in cars and mind. With such imaginative names as Rolling Guy 1, Rolling Guy 2, Rolling Guy 3 and so on you should feel ashamed if you ever lose to one of these putzes. Looks like Bob Marley behind the wheel on their logo; perhaps they've been hitting the weed too often? 2. Curving Edge: Better equipment but whoever is behind the wheel is woefully inadequate. Names get better; Shutokou Prince leads this group. 3. SS Limited: Luxury cars with jerks behind the wheels. Names like Heaven's 4 Doors and Brakeline belie their abilities; they have mass and know how to use it. Pass them and it's all over. 4. Elegant Wild: Cars as curvaceous as the name. Deep Green, White Revolution, 300 Mile Ruby have decent top speeds; screw up early if at all. 5. Max Racing: SS Limited hopes to one day be first class assholes like these guys. Bloody Rose leads this crew of heavyweights. 6. Diamond Image: A motley crew of basic and second level cars. Lone Wolf, Lightning Foot and Aero Angel might well be insurmountable for some stock cars. They have decent traffic abilities; mix it up with them on the ramps. 7. Fine Drive: I have taken to calling them Club Ed as their logo looks more like the latter two letters than the first initials. Red Comet leads this large club, driving a car you can't purchase until the first game is finished. Think Elegant Wild with higher top speeds and better traffic sorting. 8. Twister: Good in traffic, great for top speed. Keep them to the twisties and you should not have a problem. Names like Shooting Star and Blue Light are found here. 9. R. Gang: Vintage revolvers for a logo, insanely tall final drive ratios make them deceptively easy to pull at the start of the contest. Bobble late in the game and it's all over. Street Dancer and Raindrop are members. 10. Tokio Jungle: These guys know how to keep close by your tail; defeating them usually involves driving past your next rival on the course. MJ6feet6? If that's a height measurement, this driver is not only the tallest racer in Japan, he's the tallest who can fit into a Honda Civic. Slide Freak drives a second generation turbocharged RX-7, while their leader is simply titled "ii-oh" 11. Top Level: The tree huggers. Lots of AWD sedans means they can take any line they want. Pass them, then run like hell. 12. Free Way: The name is the game. Axle Junkie is the most colorful of the bunch, although Crystal Nights has the most interesting front aero treatment. Stand on it and steer; they're right behind you. One of the basic drivers is the only member not driving a Skyline; a tangerine Nissan Z gives this group some cosmetic variety. 13. Another Star: By the time you meet them you'll say Another Scrub. Names like Blue Speed and Silver Speed will bring back memories of Rolling Guy although Battle Scratch does redeem their ranks somewhat. 14. Speed Box: The most expensive club on a per car basis. Everyone drives Acura NSX vehicles and they know how to use them. Try to set up a lead on them when you flash; they're fast and can hurt your challenge bar early and quickly. Burning Red has a nice treatment, while Killing Machine keeps his missile stock. 15. TR Racing: The all girl kickass team. No matter how many times I defeat them, neither Lovely Lina nor 180 Master will give me their phone numbers. Street Queen's the hardest of the basic club members while Dancing Chaser drives a Lexus 400-series luxury sedan faster than any male driver. 16. Cupid Arrows: A name that screams "pansy", drivers that make grown men cry. This team is ranked below Speed Master, Wind Star and RR yet you need a high level car in order to defeat them. Uniformly nasty, they excel in traffic, corners and straights with a limited top speed their only weakness. Once you shut them down you need fear nothing. Moonlight Child and 246 Heartbreaker are noted traffic sorters. Sonic Runner drives the only Honda S2000 in the game. It's painted blue... perhaps he's related to the hedgehog? 17. Wind Star: These fellows do much more justice to the name than the minivan. R Magic, Black Magic and Diamond Dust are worthy opponents with Yellow Flare driving a gorgeous, unmodified S15. Black Magician's MR2 has a large wing on the nose, give your best Cartman "Ramp him, ramp him!" for a good laugh. 18. R. R. : The Rotary Club. Nothing but Mazda RX-7s of second and third generation design. Cornering Artist, Hiroshi (roman) and High Speed Star are all highlights. 19. Rings: Win Ugly. These fellows are better at playing in traffic than you are. See the wall, feel the wall, make them eat the wall. While you can get lucky with traffic against Speed Master there is no such out for this club; high level cars are required for the win. 20. Speed Master: The pinnacle. You don't need to be perfect, it just makes winning a lot easier if you are. The leader's name says it all: Iceman. Put the freeze on these after honing your skills to perfection. Maniac Player drives a well done red GC8, while Black Angel has butchered his onyx Supra's lines with one of the larger wings in the game. He could use some style pointers from Fast Beat. That's it for the basic drivers. The Devas and Devils are unique in that they are listed with the same club name yet are not subordinate to anyone. The Devas 1. Death God Driver. The logo speaks louder than words; this fellow is here for your soul. With a level three engine and an upgraded chassis on your basic ride he can be tough but defeatable. Once he has been closed down pour your winnings into one more engine and chassis upgrade before taking on: 2. Midnight Cinderella. Her family name is Hayashibara, but this is no Megumi. Her silver/white with wild blue flame painted RX-7 is the most difficult to get around, possibly because she learned her unique style while living in America. EK9 with three engine upgrades can keep ahead briefly; give it four and she is no problem. 3. Silver Wolf. Silver Skyline, black heart. This fellow knows the perfect line; too bad if you're trying to take it as well. Work hard on traffic sorting and line changing on sweeping curves and he will fall eventually. 4. Dreaming Apparition. Driving a tricked out golden NSX with flames and sporting a logo that features a skull with a manji carved into its forehead this car screams, "run, little one or I will chew you up, spit you out, slurp up the pieces and spit them out again." The final super driver for the first game. The Devils 1. Crimson Demon. This fellow drives a new R34 Skyline with impressive graphics and numerics printed on the hood, sides and wings. Easily the ugliest driver of the Devils, you should feel no qualms when you slam him into a guardrail or other car. 2. Exhaust Eve. Check it out; she's an Office Lady! Driving a hot pink Toyota Supra with italian racer style red and green stripes this girl drives as beautifully as her car is brash. Keep her in traffic for the best challenge. 3. ZERO. This driver has been bothering people for nearly 10 years and it's easy to understand why. A Porsche 930 turbocar is still a formidable foe, despite the last ones being produced before the 80s were over. He's good but his perfection can be his undoing; traffic can upset him heavily. 4. The Man With No Name. He drives a car that is already older than most people who will play the game. His logo features a demonic skull munching on an inverted christian cross with the numerals 666 stamped above. His weapon of choice? A 1972 Datsun Fairlady Z. Be afraid; be very afraid. He has been kicking everyone around for well over 10 years and no one has shut him down...until you come along. It is up to you to show him who is the master, once and for all. Basic Tips Construction Points Each driver has a basic purse that is modified according to the victory conditions. For a first time battle the bonus modifier is five, if you do not win the first contest (lose/draw) it is dropped to four for a final victory. This means that if a car's light goes from blue straight to green you win 20% more than if you lose and hammer away at him or her until they lose (cars never change from green to any other color). You also receive a challenge bar bonus based on the number of percentage points left; if you won a match going away you receive a nice extra, if it was ugly and involved switching the lead several times expect there to be very little as a challenge bonus. You always receive points for the race at a rate of 1CP per 10 meters driven. This has altered my strategy on several occasions as I let more difficult drivers go for a night until I knew my upgraded car could finish them off. Upgrades Upgrading your car can make a major difference in how it handles on the course as well as how quickly it responds to your inputs on the controller. Engine, Chassis, Brakes, Transmission and other areas can all make a difference in how the car behaves and balancing them can be critical to early success. Use your save feature to your advantage; when you have lots of CPs to spend after an evening save the game first, then go shopping and pick up the parts you want to play around with and hit the highway once again. If that does not seem right then reload the old save, pick up different equipment and try again. With diligence you can shut down everyone within 25 game days and may even lower that record with a lucky break on the evening's new rivals mix. Challenges You are not required to return to active driving after a victory; the automated driving system takes over after each victory or loss and sends you around at 120Kph (other cars are set at 80) until you activate Free Ride on the menu. Use this to your advantage when you know a heavy challenge is coming (Club Leader, Deva, Devil). Once you approach a favorite section, punch out and let the other car flash you from behind; he's on your turf now. Using this method I have shut down the final Devil in under 30 seconds. Using the chicane on the southern section of the highway is especially effective as is setting up a challenge right before a lane divider or onramp. Traffic Traffic is not only there as an obstacle, it can be used to your advantage to create impossible lines through difficult sections. Caroming off the side of a large truck can give you an edge on the high speed sweeping curves near the southeast section of the highway. Dashing in between a crowded pack of cars just in front of a road divider spells "it's over" to any pursuing adversary; they must wait until traffic clears before giving chase once again. Sometimes you can slow down a foe by pushing a crowded car into their lane during traffic sorting or stop them in their tracks. Braking while taking a line between two cars can also result in the chase driver ramming you from behind, giving you a welcome speed boost while forcing the follower to cycle through the gears once again as you increase your lead and decrease their challenge bar. Practicing without traffic can be helpful in determining the best racing line but is useless when you are out in the Quest; practice with other cars present as much as possible. Course selection. I have found alternating between the A and B courses each night gives the largest number of rivals in the mix. Spending several days on one course means you can miss key players to close out clubs on the other circuit. I will also concede the first encounter with Dreaming Apparition if there are a few more rivals on the course, then close them out and take on the final driver. That's it for a basic cover; I'll be posting a full review of the vehicles at a later date. Bonus Hidden Vehicles Section So you have stomped on the various Devas and Devils but you're still wanting more? How about taking some of those hundreds of thousands of spare CPs and buying yourself a new car? How about buying one of the cars you defeated, complete with the same wild paint and graphics? At least three cars are available from the Shop menu in this manner. You must purchase the exact model of car as the Deva/Devil. You must also enter their exact prefecture on the license plate selection screen and you must enter their logbook location as the license plate number (remember to use a period for the first of the four digits). Death God, Silver Wolf and Zero are not available in this manner; you can create their standard paint jobs and aero treatments with the regular upgrade menus. You must also have defeated the drivers in question in order to appropriate their graphics for your use. Crimson Demon's car is not available until the game is completed as the R34 is a final bonus car. To obtain Midnight Cinderella's wild flame paint purchase the FD type car. Enter the Shinogawa prefecture kanji (it is the very first one when you go to the prefecture select menu; look for three stacked boxes followed by three vertical strokes) followed by any numbers next to it. You can use any hiragana on the left of the plate, then enter "dot-1-3-5". You will hear a confirming "twang" when you purchase the car, then when you check out your garage the flame job will be there. The base color can be altered for this car; the flames reflect the amount of blue used in the final mix. Crank red all the way up and blue all the way down for a dramatic red and black paint, or work with reds and greens for orange/yellow/gold finishes. Crimson Demon's graphics are only available in yellow on red; don't worry about what color you use for the car's purchase. His car is the type R34, his prefecture is Shushiya (Shushino?) and his plate number should be 138. For the prefecture, count right ten places after Hinokawa; it is the first triple kanji prefecture on the default line. Exhaust Eve is another surface graphic; the underlying paint can be altered to suit your tastes. Again, the stripes reflect the amount of red and green used in the final mix. She hails from the Tama prefecture (I think; kanji used as names can be quite confusing); it is three steps right from the Hinokawa kanji. Look for two stacked katakana "ta" symbols next to a complex form consisting of a "cliff" symbol surrounding two "trees" above the "hand" symbol. Her logbook number is 139 and the car itself is type JZA80. The Fairlady Z is available for this game. To obtain it you must download the model type for purchase in the shop. Since I have been unable to access the URL directly you will need to find it via indirect means with your desktop browser or the Dream Passport system. First go to: http://www.genki.co.jp/ then click on the Shutokou link on the bottom of the page. You will be taken to Genki's official Shutokou Battle homepage. There is a link directly below the logo that leads to the FAQ section. Click on this and the FAQ listing will load. Click on the lowermost chapter heading (it should be #12); this should take you to a page with a link embedded in the text. This link should have the word "hatena" embedded in it and will take you to the special downloads section links. THIS IS NOT A WORLD WIDE WEB LINK; IT IS PART OF THE CUSTOM DREAMCAST NETWORK AND SOME DESKTOP BROWSERS WILL BE UNABLE TO ACCESS IT. There are currently three of them, one dealing with special equipment upgrades, the last link detailing the new car types you can purchase. The link you want to click on will contain either "s30.vmi" or "all2.vmi" as part of the URL. It can be identified by the Fairlady Z parked next to it. For those who are having difficulty defeating the Devas and Devils in order to purchase their cars you can still have a special enhancement available to all. When you start the game, select car AE86T as your vehicle and choose white or red as the default color. Select the last (rightmost) prefecture from the default line and register your license plate as "dot-102". You now have a sponsor logo on the driver's side of the car. Revision History 1.0: What, no FAQ for one of the more popular DC games? Let's get something out there. 1.1: Hooked the DC up to the computer monitor and VGA box for better kanji translation; amazing what a difference that makes. No more guesses as to which radical is in use now! Slightly revised the sections and added more menu and submenu coverage. 1.1.1: Spent a few more minutes with the kana books and revised a few names; Deva 3 continues to elude me as to the complete name. Added a few paragraphs here and there for description and clarification. 1.1.2: I stand corrected. For the first time since I started this game I have encountered two Devas in one night. The incorrect paragraph has been edited. 2.0: Whoa; this secret is too big to be part of a minor revision! The new digit celebrates this incredible find. 2.1: I'm huge. The Fairlady Z does indeed exist, it's part of the Dricas network system and you can download the car along with equipment upgrades. This was found while clicking links on the Genki website this weekend; you adventurous types should have no problem finding this stuff with proper browser setup and use. We also translated the kanji for Deva 3; The Silver Wolf of Darkest Night was a bit too cumbersome for the main text body.