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Side By Side Special

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Side by Side is the franchise for a popular 1990s touge racing game series whose name changed to Battle Gear in the 2000s. It was developed by Taito and was first released on arcade cabinets before being ported on the PlayStation home consoles. Battle Gear 2 is known as Tokyo Road Race in Europe....

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Developer
Taito

Released on
1997

Size
1 Player

Version
PlayStation

Requirements
Sony Playstation

Downloads
Racing

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Side by Side is the franchise for a popular 1990s touge racing game series whose name changed to Battle Gear in the 2000s. It was developed by Taito and was first released on arcade cabinets before being ported on the PlayStation home consoles. Battle Gear 2 is known as Tokyo Road Race in Europe. Taito released The Fast and the Furious arcade game in 2006 which is based on the popular movie of the same name known as Wild Speed in Japan and whose subject is import tuned cars.

Side by Side episodes allow the player to select import sports cars from a Japanese maker either, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, later Mitsubishi and Subaru were available as well, and race downhill in Japanese mountain passes known as touge.

Side by Side Special is a conversion of the arcade game by Taito that features different cars for the player to drive and different kind of circuits to compete in.

Side By Side Special

Released by Taito in late 1997, Side by Side Special represents the pinnacle of 90s arcade mountain racing (touge), serving as the spiritual predecessor to the legendary Battle Gear series. Born in the Japanese amusement centers, the game captured the underground street racing subculture popularized by media like Initial D. Players select from an impressive roster of highly detailed, officially licensed Japanese sports cars, including the legendary Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno, Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, and Honda NSX. The campaign challenges racers to conquer dangerous, winding mountain passes, battling aggressive rival AI in high-stakes downhill and uphill duels.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The gameplay of Side by Side Special hinges on a revolutionary drift physics engine. Success requires players to master weight distribution; initiating a drift demands a sharp turn-in coupled with a well-timed tap of the brake or a clutch-kick via rapid downshifting. Maintaining momentum through tight hairpins requires careful throttle feathering. The game features distinct track layouts, ranging from novice-friendly highway runs to expert-level, razor-thin mountain passes blanketed in rain or snow. Each car behaves uniquely: rear-wheel-drive vehicles slide easily but require counter-steering discipline, while all-wheel-drive models offer superior grip at the cost of wider drift arcs. Players must manage their position on the narrow tracks, blocking rivals while hunting for the optimal racing line.

Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Steer Left/Right, Accelerate (Up Arrow), Brake (Down Arrow)
Z / X Keys: Shift Down / Shift Up (For Manual Transmission)
C Key: Change Camera View
Enter: Start / Pause