is the franchise for a popular 1990s touge

Touge

is a Japanese word literally meaning "pass." It refers to a mountain pass or any of the narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around the mountains of Japan and other geographically similar areas, like the legendary Nordschleife in Germany....

 racing game series whose name changed to in the 2000s. It was developed by Taito

Taito

Taito may mean:*Taito Corporation, a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware*Taito, Tokyo, a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan*Taito, also known as matai, paramount chiefs according to Fa'a Samoa...

 and was first released on arcade cabinet

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

s before being ported on the PlayStation home consoles. Battle Gear 2 is known as Tokyo Road Race in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. 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 series

Side by Side episodes allow the player to select import sports cars

Import scene

The Import Scene or Import Racing Scene or Tuner Scene refers to the subculture that revolves around modifying imported brand cars , especially those of Japanese brands, for street racing.-History:...

 from a Japanese maker either, Toyota, Nissan, Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, Mazda

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

, later Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...

 and Subaru

Subaru

; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...

 were available as well, and race downhill in Japanese mountain passes known as touge

Touge

is a Japanese word literally meaning "pass." It refers to a mountain pass or any of the narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around the mountains of Japan and other geographically similar areas, like the legendary Nordschleife in Germany....

.

Battle Gear series

The Battle Gear evolution allows online play in both arcade and home versions and add a tuning feature for the cars. Battle Gear 4 saw the adding of European and American makers for the first time, Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

, Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

, Citröen

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

, Mini

Mini

The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

, Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 and Ford.

Tokyo Road Race

The home version for Battle Gear 2 was licensed by Midas Interactive and released as a budget game named Tokyo Road Race and released by various distributors in PAL territories, hence the different packages in Europe and Oceania. Online play mode was deactivited in the Tokyo Road Race version and the game was not distributed in the American market.

Series Timeline

[1996] 08: Side by Side (Taito JC System Type-C)
[1997] 06: Side by Side 2 Evoluzione (Taito JC System Type-C) 12: Side by Side Special (PlayStation)
[1999] 06: Battle Gear (Taito Type-Zero) 11: Side by Side Special 2000 (PlayStation) - bargain re-edition
[2000] 07: Battle Gear 2 (Taito Type-Zero)
[2001] 03: Battle Gear 2 (PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

)
[2002] 11: Battle Gear 3

Battle Gear 3

is a 2002 arcade online racing game released by Taito and based on real Japanese locations such as Hakone and touge races on board tuned sports cars licensed by famous Japanese makers including Honda, Toyota and Mazda. On December 15, 2003, Taito released an updated System 246 version named and...

(Namco System 246

Namco System 246

The Namco System 246 is a development of the Sony PlayStation 2 technology as a basis for an arcade system board. It was released in 2001 on its first game Ridge Racer V. Like the Sega NAOMI, it is widely licensed for use by other manufacturers...

) 11: Tokyo Road Race (PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

) - offline only
[2003] 12: Battle Gear 3

Battle Gear 3

is a 2002 arcade online racing game released by Taito and based on real Japanese locations such as Hakone and touge races on board tuned sports cars licensed by famous Japanese makers including Honda, Toyota and Mazda. On December 15, 2003, Taito released an updated System 246 version named and...

(PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

) 12: Battle Gear 3 Limited Edition

Battle Gear 3

is a 2002 arcade online racing game released by Taito and based on real Japanese locations such as Hakone and touge races on board tuned sports cars licensed by famous Japanese makers including Honda, Toyota and Mazda. On December 15, 2003, Taito released an updated System 246 version named and...

(PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

) - deluxe edition with goodies 12: Battle Gear 3 Tuned (Namco System 246

Namco System 246

The Namco System 246 is a development of the Sony PlayStation 2 technology as a basis for an arcade system board. It was released in 2001 on its first game Ridge Racer V. Like the Sega NAOMI, it is widely licensed for use by other manufacturers...

)
[2005] 07: Battle Gear 4

Battle Gear 4

Battle Gear 4 is an arcade racing game by Taito Corporation released in July 2005. It is the fifth product of the Battle Gear series. In 2006 the cabinets have then been updated to the Battle Gear 4 Tuned specification, which contains more cars, courses, and a new game mode.-System:The game runs on...

(Taito Type X+

Taito Type X

The Taito Type X is an arcade system board released by Taito Corporation in 2004. Based on commodity PC hardware architecture, Type X is not a specification for a single set of hardware, but rather a modular platform supporting multiple hardware configurations with different levels of graphical...

)
[2006] 11: Battle Gear 4 Tuned (Taito Type X+

Taito Type X

The Taito Type X is an arcade system board released by Taito Corporation in 2004. Based on commodity PC hardware architecture, Type X is not a specification for a single set of hardware, but rather a modular platform supporting multiple hardware configurations with different levels of graphical...

)

External links

• Side by Side homepage - Archives
• Side by Side 2 homepage - Archives
• Battle Gear 2 PS2 homepage - Home
• Battle Gear 3 PS2 homepage - Home
• Battle Gear 3 Tuned homepage - Arcade
• Battle Gear 4 homepage - Arcade
• Battle Gear series homepage - BattleGear.net