Konnichiwa minna-san! 👋
It’s Wedy Jones here with good news: the Nippon Marathon 2: Daijoubu demo has been updated! 🎉
After the first Playtest, the devs crawled back into their secret developer dojo (whilst dodging banana peels 🍌) and fine-tuned a bunch of fixes, updates, and brand-new features. And guess what? You can try them right now in the Steam demo!
Here’s the deets:
🆕 What’s New in the Demo?
🏗️ Demo Stage YOLKO HARBOUR (Reworked!)
Inspired by Yokohama, this fishing port-themed stage has it all: water, giant carp, anchor-twirling sailors, and yes… a very grumpy Giant Octopus 🐙.
We’ve reworked most of the stage to include extra dockside hazards and new environments.
Test your sea legs in the all-new cargo ship section, but watch out for Octopus attacks, the water’s about to get a little choppy.
Find alternate routes by jumping on dockside machinery like forklifts and scissorlifts. They might launch you to victory… or straight into the drink.
📸 Photo Mode (✨NEW FEATURE✨)
Thought you didn’t need a photo mode in a silly party racer? Think again! Now you can pause mid-race and capture those relivable moments - whether that’s a dramatic tumble, a Shiba Inu ambush, or someone getting sent flying by a giant anchor.
You can move the camera wherever you like, zoom in and out, and let the auto-focus do the work:
Want to take a photo of Zenbei’s luscious eyelashes up close? Go for it.
Feel like waving and pretending to be one of the crowd? Absolutely.
Or maybe you just want to capture your wildest antics for clout - we don’t judge.
Here's some screenshots we took using Photo Mode:
And if you’re more of a sightseer than a stunt photographer, Photo Mode doubles as a mini-tour guide: pan around, read the barrier text, snap your favourite shop signs (Google Translate at the ready) - trust us, they’re worth it.
You can find Photo Mode in the pause menu.
🕺 Strike a Pose on the Podium
It didn’t feel very Nippon Marathon to just stand still on the podium while being told you’re the smelliest contestant!
So each contestant now has their own exhausted animation. But we didn’t stop there.
Each contestant also comes with a completely unique set of dance moves to show off while the scores are tallied. Mix and match to create chaotic podium performances and make the stage your personal spotlight!
(Currently, these animations are only available for player-controlled contestants; AI will get them in a future update.)
Pssst… want to go completely wild and break free from the podium altogether? Enter the secret cheat code:
up down up down left right left right up up down down up up down down
What was once a bug is now a cheeky feature, you're welcome.
👏Other Fun Updates:
The screen now shakes for melon & gas tank explosions making them feel even more dramatic💥
Watch out for sneaky finish line gates that love to trick you, some might be a fake!
Our Create-A-Contestant got a makeover too — updated head and hairstyle models
For a full list of changes since the March Playtest; including bug fixes, performance improvements, and gameplay tweaks, check the Patch Notes at the end of this post.
🎮 Challenge Friends with Remote Play Together
The demo supports solo, local, and online multiplayer via Steam Remote Play Together!
It’s the perfect excuse to grab your friends and challenge them to a race, or even a podium dance-off, who really deserves the title of Nippon Marathon Champion!
📢 Try the New Demo Today!
This might only be one stage, but it gives you a taste of what’s to come in the full game, and a glimpse of just how dedicated we are to making Nippon Marathon 2 the ultimate racing game!
Want even more mayhem? Our Discord Playtest will include these updates plus a brand-new stage — join the community for early access and be part of the fun.
🔗 Join the Discord -> https://discord.gg/SpsyEHs
Thanks again for your patience, enthusiasm, and support. We know you’ve been waiting almost as long for Nippon Marathon 2 as for Silksong, but we promise, it’ll be worth it.
Stay Daijoubu,
Wedy Jones
📝 FULL PATCH NOTES
🐞 Bug Fixes
Fixed pineapple rope line renderer glitch
Fixed flag props spawning off-centre (causing them to fall over)
Fixed commentary incorrectly saying spectators were blown up
Fixed commentary talking about eliminated player’s stamina
Fixed inconsistent player order bug
Fixed tutorial bug: wrong key assigned for Waving to the crowd
Fixed tutorial bug: instructions not progressing if paused
⚙️ Performance & Technical
Improved loading times
Added upscaler options in Settings (⚠️ unstable on Steam Deck, under investigation)
Camera updates:
Now follows centre point of all contestants when 4 players are active
Zooms further out when contestants are spread out
🎮 Gameplay Improvements
Dive skill improved – more useful & predictable
CPU AI: better navigation, more variety, smarter obstacle handling
Contestants respawn in random order at checkpoints
Updated character poses, hairstyles and head models in Create-A-Contestant
Weapon visibility improved:
Larger & clearer in gameplay
More realistic in snapshots
Visible in contestant’s hands during snapshots
Snapshot camera angles improved
Water splash animation upgraded with a new hand-drawn 9-frame spritesheet
Item respawn time reduced (2s → 1.5s)
Increased cucumber attack range slightly
Contestants recover from falls quicker & more reliably
Water slows contestants less than before
Banana improved: instantly trips enemies, especially when close behind
Explosion interaction: pineapple bursts when hit (⚠️ not fully working yet)
Elimination rules tweaked:
Must sweat for at least 2s before elimination
Immediate elimination if 15m+ behind 1st place