publisher: Play-publishing
Enter the world of night street racing and underground lowrider competitions. Buy your ride - search the used car lots and choose from 12 classic American cars - and keep it in good condition so you can compete with other pretenders. Earn money and respect as you rise in the ranks; go on to race against better drivers, tougher courses and advance i.
Lowrider Car Games
Game mode: single player
LowRider Extreme is the first attempt by the Red Dot Games development team, known primarily from a series of arcade games based on the motifs of the series W³atcy Móch, to face the genre of car games. Inspired by such titles as Need for Speed: Underground or Grand Theft Auto IV, the creators decided to prepare a product addressed to enthusiasts of extreme tuning.
In LowRider Extreme the player plays the role of a driver with a keen interest in mechanics and ambitions to gain respect among local motoring enthusiasts. By investing a relatively small starting pot of money in the purchase of the first car, he tries to rebuild it in such a way that it allows participation in street competitions and arouses interest in the original design.
In the game you can become the owner of 12 models of classic European and American cars. Cars are not licensed, but motoring fans should easily find them, among others, Fiat 125p, Skoda Rapid, Warsaw 201, Mercedes 115 or Cadillac Deville. The advanced tuning options deserve attention. In total, a dozen or so parameters can be modified - starting from the paint colour, through various types of decorations, and ending on the suspension elements and components of the powertrain.
The creators took care of a varied gameplay. In addition to participating in street races, the player can take part in a jumping competition and even try their hand at car dance, i.e. rocking the suspension to the rhythm of the music.
The driving model used in LowRider Extreme has little in common with realism, and the only substitute for the simulation is the option of a view from behind the wheel. The strictly arcade character of the game is also evidenced by the lack of a system of destruction.
The game's visual setting draws attention with refined vehicle models. Beautiful cars, however, are in stark contrast to the poorly-detailed environment. The whole is complemented by a soundtrack consisting of little sophisticated hip-hop tracks.
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Game score 6.9 / 10 calculated out of 82 players' votes.
age requirements: everyone
System requirements
PC / Windows
Recommended: Pentium 2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, graphic card 128 MB (GeForce 6600 or better), Windows XP/Vista/7
We get an exclusive look at the localized version of Jaleco's lowriding game for the PlayStation 2.
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Lowrider is the upcoming game from Jaleco that aims to capture the spirit of the lowriding phenomenon in game form. The game was originally released earlier this year in Japan and quickly caught our attention with its engaging gameplay and quirky humor. Despite the decidedly specialized focus of its subject matter, Jaleco has opted to bring the game to the US. We recently had the chance to get an exclusive look at a preview version of the localized game and are pleased to report that development is going well. The US version of Lowrider appears poised to retain the appeal of its Japanese counterpart, with some modest improvements thrown in.
For those unfamiliar with the lowrider phenomenon, it's a long-standing sport that has evolved into equal parts auto sport and art form. The sport aspect is in modifying a car so that its springs are shortened and the chassis rides close to the ground. The car is also fitted with hydraulic lifts that the driver can control, which allow it to bounce to impressive heights. The artistic aspect comes from the ornate bodywork and detailing on the cars.
Developer PCCW Japan has managed to distill all of the above into a very simple objective-based structure that's both accessible and addictive. You'll find two basic modes in the game: arcade kings and golden days. Arcade kings is a quick one- or two-player event that lets you play one of three matches: hop, dance, and bed dance. Hop challenges you to use your car's hydraulics to jump the highest. Dance consists of a series of timed sequences in which you're asked to perform different moves to earn points. Finally, bed dance uses the same structure as the dance competition but throws in a more complex sequence involving the use of front and rear body customizations. 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 the buttons in certain combinations or in timed succession.
The golden days mode is a more involved 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. Then 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, from which you can visit various cities and 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. Finally, save will let you save your game to a memory card.
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. You'll drive down a long straightaway lined with people calling out for you to do specific jumps with the car. If you can 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 assorted dancers from the region you just competed in. The sequences are a funny payoff and are worth a look. The graphics in the game have been tightened up a bit over the Japanese game and sport a number of subtle visual refinements. The US version of the game has a bit more graphical polish and does away with a portion of the jaggies seen in the Japanese game, resulting in a smoother overall look. The rest of the game's art style is simple but stylized--for instance, the crowds are 2D bitmaps that animate. As for the various paint jobs and murals for the cars, the art in the game ranges from outstanding to slightly cheesy, which pretty much nails the range of styles you'll find in the actual sport of lowriding.
The audio in the game has remained largely untouched. You'll hear crowd reaction during your competitions and authentic sound effects for your car's hydraulics. The music has a nice bass-heavy sound that sets the tone well. Sadly there's no trace of the classic 'Lowrider' tune by WAR, but the modern tunes in the game are fine.
From what we've seen so far, Lowrider is coming along fine. While the game isn't going to break new ground in graphics or gameplay, its solid mechanics and style definitely give it a winning charm. Anyone looking for a cool game that offers a different but accessible experience should look for this game. Lowrider is slated to ship next month for the PlayStation 2.
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