Juiced

Juiced is a racing game produced and published by THQ and Juice Games. The game was released on the PS2, PC, and the original Xbox. Juiced is a racing game set in the fictional city of Angel City. You play as a nameless street racer trying to make a name for themselves. 
 

Initial Problems

Originally, Juiced was owned by Acclaim. However, in 2004, Acclaim went bankrupt, and the future of the franchise was uncertain. The game was originally intended to release in 2004, but due to the setback, it was pushed back to 2005. THQ

bought the rights to the franchise, and altered the game, pushing the release further back into 2005.
 

Story

You take on the role of playing as a nameless street racer. You arrive in Angel City planning to become the number one street racer in the city. Initially, you meet a man called TK. TK is the leader of another team in the city, and he lets you borrow one of his cars for an initial race against him. After you complete this race, the rest of the game properly opens up and you are allowed to properly continue through the story.
 
The original Juiced arguably has the toughest story of any of the games in the franchise, due to the fact that you have to pay for any damage caused to your car, and damage prices are generally extremely high. To complete the story, you must earn the full 1000 respect from each team, and maintain all of the teams at 1000 respect to complete the game. 
 

Gameplay

Gameplay in Juiced is based around a calendar system (this system was reused in Juiced Eliminator). Events are scheduled to occur on certain days and then you have the choice of partaking or not showing up at the event. There are several different racing teams who appear in Angel City, and each team has their own niche that will make earning their respect much easier. 
 

As you progress through the game, you will earn money that you can use to purchase new cars or upgrade currently owned ones. Generally, the 'best' cars are AWD, as they are the easiest to control, and they can be upgraded to reach extremely high speeds. The in-game system is arguably inspired by Need for Speed: Underground as it features some of the same elements, such as closed off city streets. There are several different forms of racing events in the game, and these are:
 
Circuit: Circuit races are just that. There is a fixed circuit with several laps, and you are challenged to win the race. The first person to complete all the laps and pass the finish line is the winner. 
 
Point to Point: These events are similar to circuits, though they are not as fixed. You are given a route through the city and are told to reach the end first. The difference between Point to Point and Circuit races are that PtP events have no laps. 

 
Drag: Drag races, or Sprint races as they are called in-game, are events where several cars line up along a straight. They are then challenged to cross the line first, which is generally one mile away. In Juiced these races are much easier by turning up with an AWD car, such as the Mitsubishi Lancer.
 
Showoff: Showoff events are events where you have a fixed amount of time, and are challenged to earn a certain number of points through performing tricks and stunts. An example of the stunts you are encouraged to do are 180-degree spins, and J-Turns.
 
All of these events are carried over from the original 'Juiced' into Juiced Eliminator.
 

Teams in-game

 

Team Leader	Team Name	Team Respects
T.K	Urban Maulerz	Circuit Racing
Biggi	AWB	Point to Point Racing
Sue Yen	Vixens	Showoff Racing
Maria	The Wild Cats	Crew Racing
Jack Walker	Omega Tau	Best Car
Melody	Public Chaos	Car Collection
Poppa Zee	The Lordz	Money Gambling
Carlos	Legion	Pink Slip Racing

 

Soundtrack

• Beans - "Down by Law" 
• Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam - "Made in Two Minutes" 
• Dub Pistols - "Architect" 
• Every Move a Picture - "Signs Of Life" 
• The Exies - "What You Deserve" 
• Gat Decor - "Passion" Guru - 
• "Cave In" Hybrid - "Finished Symphony" 
• Ils - "6 Space (Next Level)" 
• Jonny L - "Hurt You So" 
• Kasabian - "Club Foot" 
• The Koreans - "How Does It Feel" 
• Lee Coombs, Dylan Rhymes - "Allright All Night" 
• Lee Coombs, Christian J. - "Dubhead" 
• Lemon Jelly - "Come Down On Me" 
• Moving Units - "Between Us and Them" 
• Paul Oakenfold - "Ready Steady Go" 
• Roni Size featuring Fallacy - "The Streets" 
• Shapeshifters - "Back to Basics" 
• Stereo 8 - "Flipmode" 
• Talib Kweli - "We Got The Beat" 
• TV on the Radio - "The New Health Rock" 
• Way Out West - "Killa" 
• Wordsworth - "Right Now" 
• Xzibit featuring Krondon - "Klack"

 

Acclaim Losses

When Acclaim filed for bankruptcy, the company held an auction to sell off anything of valu

e. Many of the original Juiced promotional posters were destroyed, though a few of them made it out. Some of them were auctioned on eBay in the US in early 2007. None of the original copies of the Juiced game are known to exist, though some illegal copies have been sold, supposedly.