A PS2 series not seen on a PlayStation console since 2005 is back with a new release on PS5, and it is quietly one of the best PS5 games of 2026 so far. The PS2 is the best-selling video game console of all time, partially because of its exemplary library. If you are an old-school RPG fan or a 3D platformer fan, in particular, you may prefer the PS1 over the PS2, but most nostalgics prefer the second-ever PlayStation console, and for good reason; it had many great games. Many of these same great games and series were discontinued for a few generations. That said, nostalgia sells, and so many of these same games and series are making comebacks on the PS5 and more.
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In 2001, after previously being a Sega exclusive series, Genki evolved the Tokyo Extreme Racer series by making it a PS2 exclusive series with the release of Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero. What followed was Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift, Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3, and finally Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift 2. All of this happened in quick succession between 2001 and 2005. And that was the last PlayStation fans saw of the series. In 2006, the series went Xbox 360 exclusive with Import Tuner Challenge, a one-off game. Then it went completely dormant beyond a limited mobile release here and there. The series is back, though.
A Classic Racing Series Revived
In 2025, the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series returned under the same name, via Genki and Unreal Engine 5. This happened on September 25, 2025, but the release was limited to PC. Now, months later, it has come to PS5. And PlayStation fans are loving it.
On the PlayStation Store — where the arcade racer costs $49.99 — Tokyo Xtreme Racer has a 4.76 out of 5 rating after nearly 1,000 user reviews. And this score is not surprising because when the game launched on Steam last year, it earned similar reviews. To this end, on Steam, it has a 95% approval rating after nearly 10,000 user reviews. As a result, it has an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on the PC platform, the highest rating a game can earn. What do fans like about it so much? Well, most user reviews highlight how it plays just like racing games from the early and mid-2000s did. Many agree this was the peak of arcade racers, and it’s a peak the genre hasn’t been able to replicate since, but this does exactly that.
On top of all this, the game has launched as PS5 Pro enhanced, which may not seem like a big deal, but the majority of games releasing on the console do not have PS5 Pro enhancements out of the box, so this is a major win for owners of the premium Sony console.
Meanwhile, if you missed this release on PS5, we don’t blame you because it hasn’t been advertised very well for the console. To this end, PlayStation has not posted a single trailer for the game, which is odd considering it’s one of the month’s bigger releases.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
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