Hands-onLowrider

We recently got in an import copy of Lowrider, the upcoming lowrider simulation game from PCCW Japan for the PlayStation 2. The game first caught our eye at last year's Tokyo Game Show, thanks to PCCW's elaborate booth, which featured a rap group and a tricked-out car. The game has come together surprisingly well, in spite of its premise, which wouldn't normally seem to be prime material for video game. The game offers two main modes of play: arcade kings and golden days. We had a chance to try arcade kings at TGS. The mode lets you play against the computer or a human opponent in one of four modes. Golden days is a career-style mode that challenges you to travel to various sites on the West Coast and build your reputation as a lowrider king.

You'll start by choosing a car from a selection of classic but drab vehicles and picking a name that will appear on the car's license. Once that's out of the way, you'll find yourself at a menu screen that revolves around your ugly but functional car. The menu provides you with three options: go, shop, and save. Go takes you to a map of the West Coast of the United States that lets you visit various cities as you complete various competitions. Shop lets you buy a variety of cosmetic and performance upgrades for your car with the money you've earned from competitions. You'll even be able to create custom paint jobs using the paint tool option.

When you're in a city, you'll find four types of events to play through: street, hop, dance, and event. Street is where you'll go to earn fans. Your car will drive down a long straightaway lined with people calling out for you to do specific jumps with the car. If you're able to perform them as you pass by, the audience members will throw candy at you and become fans. Winning fans is important, as it will let you participate in the other events in a city. Hop is a timed sequence between you and an opponent in which the goal is to have your car jump the highest. Dance is a battle between you and an opponent that consists of a series of timed sequences in which you're asked to perform different moves to earn points. Finally, event is a three-heat competition between you and an opponent that is similar to dance but asks you to perform more-intricate moves. Once you've cleared the various events in a city, you'll unlock a CG sequence starring a female dancer.

The game's control is simple and very much like that of a rhythm action game. The face and shoulder buttons control different hydraulics on the car, and the different moves are performed by pressing them in certain combinations or in timed succession. Judging from what we've seen so far, Lowrider is a surprisingly fun game that manages to frame the sport of lowriding in a very playable and engaging game. Unfortunately, the game has no US publisher at this time. Look for more on it soon.