Zero4 Champ

Zero4 Champ
Zero4 Champ
Developer(s)	Media Rings
Publisher(s)	Media Rings
Director(s)	Yutaka Kaminaga
Platform(s)	PC Engine
Release	JP: 1991;
Genre(s)	Racing video game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Zero4 Champ (ゼロヨンチャンプ) is a series of racing games created by Yutaka Kaminaga at Media Rings, which started in 1991 with the PC Engine title Zero4 Champ.

The series would transfer to the Kaminaga-founded WorkJam with the PlayStation 2 title Zero4 Champ Series: Drift Champ, codeveloped by Tamsoft and published by Hudson Soft, along with the mobile phone Go! Zero4 Champ developed by Profire, both of which were released in late 2002.

Conception[edit]

In Japan, street racing sometimes occurs on long straights in industrial areas, which are used for drag races. These races are known as "zero-yon" (ゼロヨン) or "04", short for "0-400 meters", ヨン being Japanese for the number four.

Japanese drag racing is noted for its flair, featuring various sport-grade Japanese cars such as the Toyota MR2-GT (SW20), Mazda RX-7 Type RS (FD3S), Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (CP9A), Subaru Impreza WRX STi (GDB), the Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (BNR34), and Honda NSX Type-S Zero (NA2), all import scene classics.

Summary[edit]

The series is something of a predecessor to works like Initial D and Wangan Midnight, with its touge racing, aero parts tuning, and anime-style "Story Mode". It has also RPG and simulation gameplay which was succeeded by the Shutokou Battle titles Kattobi Tune and Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix.

History[edit]

1991.03.08: Zero4 Champ (ゼロヨンチャンプ), PC Engine
1993.05.03: Zero4 Champ II (ゼロヨンチャンプII), PC Engine Super CD-ROM²
1994.07.22: Zero4 Champ RR (ゼロヨンチャンプダブルアール), Super Famicom
1995.11.25: Zero4 Champ RR-Z (ゼロヨンチャンプダブルアール・ヅィー), Super Famicom
1997.06.20: Zero4 Champ DooZy-J (ゼロヨンチャンプドゥーヅィージェイ), PlayStation / Sega Saturn (subtitled Type-R / タイプアール for the latter console)
2002.11.21: Zero4 Champ Series: Drift Champ (ゼロヨンチャンプシリーズドリフトチャンプ), PlayStation 2 (Hudson Soft)
2002.12.24: Go! Zero4 Champ (GO!04チャンプ), Mobile phone i-mode 504i (Hudson Soft / Profire)

Zero4 Extreme[edit]

In June 2005, a fan-made flash game Zero4 Extreme (ゼロヨンエクストリーム) was released by Kuruma,^[1] though it is currently a dead link.

Notes[edit]

^ Zero4 Extreme official website

External links[edit]

[1] Zero4 Extreme official website

[1]