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NYR: New York Race for PlayStation 2
NYR: New York Race for PlayStation 2 lets you race flying cars through the New York of The Fifth Element. Between tall buildings, busy traffic and narrow passages, you look for space to overtake rivals. You do not just move left and right: climbing and descending are part of steering too. A dive provides extra speed, but a collision can immediately cancel that gain. The height at which you approach a corner therefore matters just as much as your position relative to other vehicles.
The vehicle selection includes the recognisable taxi and police car from the film's world. Along the way, you collect elemental aids such as a fire projectile, a protective shield or a temporary acceleration boost. These tools add another decision when you meet an opponent: do you keep your distance to pass safely, or look for an opening to attack? Stationary obstacles and moving traffic still demand attention at the same time. Blindly pursuing the car ahead rarely gives you a clear passage.
You can follow a championship, choose a single race or compete against the clock. As you progress, you become more familiar with the routes and their passages. Two players can race simultaneously on a local split screen, each with an ordinary controller; no Multitap is needed. Above all, the game calls for spatial awareness: looking ahead, choosing your height and ending a fast dive before the next obstacle catches you out.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
NYR: New York Race for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of NYR: New York Race
Kalisto Entertainment developed NYR: New York Race, which Wanadoo released for PlayStation 2 in Europe in 2001. Its starting point was Luc Besson's 1997 science-fiction film The Fifth Element. The collaboration with Wanadoo and Gaumont focused on the film's unusual city traffic. Rather than retelling the film's story as an action adventure, Kalisto made its flying vehicles the heart of a racing game. The taxi and police car connect the races directly to that recognisable setting.
The three-dimensional city also shaped the controls. Routes do not simply lie beside one another here: passages and traffic flows also run above and below the racers. In its original presentation, Kalisto emphasised freedom of movement along both horizontal and vertical axes. Gaining speed from a dive makes that design tangible during a race. You are not simply trying to stay close to the inside of a tarmac corner, but looking for a useful line through a space full of obstacles.
NYR also appeared on other systems, but this listing concerns the original PS2 release. Two-player split-screen racing belongs to that console version; the PC networking support for more participants announced at the time does not. That distinction avoids confusion over a title with the same name on different platforms. Among early PS2 racing games, NYR combines a film licence with controllable changes in height, while the competition centres on reading routes, maintaining speed and using aids at the right moment.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
WipEout Fusion on PlayStation 2 shares the futuristic vehicles, high speed and weapons used to disrupt other racers. Its anti-gravity ships follow purpose-built circuits with jumps, branches and inverted track sections. NYR instead has you manoeuvre flying cars between buildings and traffic, with actively climbing and descending playing a constant role. Both reward knowledge of the course, but choosing a line through a busy three-dimensional city feels different from guiding a ship around a circuit.
Hot Wheels: World Race on the same console combines exaggerated courses with jumps and temporary speed gains. You drive toy cars on tracks with loops, and successful stunts help fill the Nitrox² supply. NYR moves the action to a film city with flying taxis, traffic and elemental weapons. The similarity lies in maintaining speed as the route rises and falls; the difference is between stunts on a track and choosing your own height among urban obstacles.
Midnight Club: Street Racing also lets you race through New York and offers no safe journey along empty streets. You choose your own way between checkpoints, but remain at street level in cars and also visit London. NYR uses the future film version of New York, where you can pass above and below traffic too. Both demand quick new route decisions when something blocks the way, with a clearly different answer to the question of where you can steer.
Burnout 3: Takedown on PS2 makes dangerous driving a source of extra speed. Passing close to traffic and taking rivals out support your boost supply, while collisions are an explicit part of the competition. NYR also has traffic and tools to hinder opponents, but lets you gain speed from dives and avoid obstacles at different heights. If you recognise the traffic pressure, you will therefore also need to learn to look up and down here, rather than just for space on the tarmac.
Sonic Riders on PlayStation 2 also uses hovering vehicles and futuristic racing environments. Sonic and his rivals ride Extreme Gear, with air management and turbulence behind opponents affecting progress. NYR puts flying cars in a busy film city and gives you direct control over climbing and descending. The games share the search for a fast line through changes in height, but their aids call for different attention: an air supply and turbulence in Sonic, dives and elemental items in NYR.
