High Velocity

High Velocity - Mountain Racing Challenge
File:Touge King, The Spirits cover art.jpg Cover art
Developer(s)	Cave
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Platforms	Sega Saturn
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer

For the 1976 film, see High Velocity (film).

High Velocity – Mountain Racing Challenge (Touge King: The Spirits - 峠KING・ザ・スピリッツ) is a racing game developed by Cave and published by Atlus for the Sega Saturn videogame console. It focuses on one-on-one races staged on circuits made from Japanese mountain roads, featuring Japanese performance cars. It is the first in Atlus’ long running Touge series.

It was released on November 10, 1995 in Japan, and in North America in 1996.

Gameplay

The game offers three core gameplay modes – King Battle, Vs. Battle, and Time Trial – as well as six vehicles and three circuits.

In King Battle, players participate in a series of one-on-one heats around each configuration of each of the game’s three circuits.

The Versus mode allows two players to race against each other in a split-screen configuration. As well as being one of the Saturn’s first split-screen racing games, High Velocity – Mountain Racing Challenge offers players the option to partition the screen horizontally or vertically.

The final gameplay mode, time trial, allows players to race against the clock around an empty track.

In all, the game offers three core courses, which can be driven in either standard or reverse configurations. The courses are essentially designed to mimic Japanese mountain roads but are configured as closed circuits.

Six cars feature in the game. Although none of the cars are licensed, they are designed to look like popular Japanese performance cars of the period. Players can apply various upgrades to the cars to boost performance, and each vehicle is available in different colors.

Graphics

Uniquely for games of the period, High Velocity – Mountain Racing Challenge features a draw distance that nearly always extends to the visible horizon. It also has an optional widescreen mode.

In the West

Atlus did released the game in North America under a new name, High Velocity - Mountain Racing Challenge, in 1996. However, it was never released in Europe.

Sequel

On April 18, 1997, Atlus released a sequel, Touge: King the Spirits 2 in Japan. Again developed by Cave, it stayed true to its predecessor’s concept but improved on it in almost every area.

It was never released outside Japan.