Street Racing Syndicate

Street Racing Syndicate is a multi-platform racing video game developed by Eutechnyx, and published by Namco on August 31, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Windows-based personal computers.

Good Qualities

 * 1) 50 licensed tuner cars from Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.
 * 2) Decent amount of customization from various real-world customization brands like VeilSide, C-West, BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik, RAYS Engineering, HKS, Borla, and Eibach. Also, the game features certain iconic body kits, such as all versions of the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) having the C-West bodykit that was used in 2 Fast 2 Furious.
 * 3) Challenging campaign where you get to beat several racing crews.
 * 4) Doing the Iron Man and Checkpoint races lets you get a pre-tuned Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CT9A), Mazda RX-7 Type R Bathurst (FD3S), Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed (SE3P) or Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex (AE86) for free as a good starter car.
 * 5) *However, if you unlock any of their cars before entering Street Mode, the prologue with the yellow Nissan Skyline GT-R M-Spec Nür (R34) will be skipped and you will start with only $10,000 and the cars you won in Arcade Mode.
 * 6) The specs are accurate, and the engines are well-modelled.
 * 7) There is also Cruise Mode, where you can watch and view your car driving around the city.
 * 8) Sanctioned events can be entered without spending any in-game cash, making them a good way to farm in-game money.
 * 9) The yellow Nissan Skyline GT-R M-Spec Nür (R34) is an iconic car in racing games with its unique red samurai vinyl and the C-West body kit, as well as white RAYS Engineering rims, in which it is prominently featured in the game, being playable any time in Quick Race/Arcade Mode, used in the prologue race, and ownable in Career Mode after defeating all CPU Crews.
 * 10) It would later serve as the basis for the much better-received 2006 Fast and Furious game.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) No vehicles from Honda/Acura and other brands.
 * 2) *However, a screenshot from the 3DO Company build (before they went bankrupt and Namco picking up the game) shows that the brand was supposed to be in game, until they were cut due to licensing issues (back then they didn't want any of their cars in games that have police in them).
 * 3) Damaging your car can be somewhat punishing, as you have to spend in-game cash to repair your car. Even worse, adding a body kit increases its cost.
 * 4) *Also, it's performance will be reduced once it reaches at least 50% damage.
 * 5) A good majority of the 50 cars are just alternate trim levels, such as the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) having its base 1999 variant, its original V-Spec variant, the V-Spec II and M-Spec variants, and both of their Nür variations.
 * 6) The Game Boy Advance port is terrible.
 * 7) Despite the aforementioned C-West body kit for the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) being featured in this game, the VeilSide Fortune body kit for the Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) did not make it into the game as it was not yet existent when the game was released. Thankfully, both body kits were featured in Juiced 2, as well as The Fast and The Furious game.
 * 8) *The Mazda RX-7 (FD3S)'s facelift variants instead use a VS-D1 GT bodykit from the same brand.
 * 9) The handling is quite stiff at times, as you might potentially spin out when you steer far too much.
 * 10) The nitrous system were inferior, as you are only given a single-use nitrous bar, and you can't recharge it during the races, only in free roam. So, if you're bound to facing the NitroXtreme crew, you need to gear up and recharge your nitrous by gaining respect in free roam or repurchasing nitrous in the customization garage.
 * 11) The cities used for racing (e.g. Miami, Philadelphia) can't be driven around in open world. Though Los Angeles can be still used as an open world map since the game was mainly set in that place.

Reception
Street Racing Syndicate was met with mixed to decent scores by critics and audiences alike.

Trivia

 * The sound that plays when you gain respect points is also used in Need for Speed: Underground 2, where it plays when you get a phone call.

Videos
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