Initial Drift

Absolutely insane are the words that come to mind when trying to describe the intense gameplay that is held within Initial D: Special Stage. This is the best arcade racer that I’ve ever played, and might just be one of the best racing games that I’ve ever sampled.

With Initial D being such a popular anime most notably in Japan but also now in the West, I still find it strange that SEGA have never released this game outside of Asia. It’s one of SEGA’s best current generation games, and it’s also a hugely popular license, so I still can’t understand why this hasn’t been released in the West, especially with all the other rubbish that SEGA persist on releasing time after time these days.

Anyway onto the game. Being an arcade port, this game has the usual modes, being Arcade Mode and Time Trial, but it also includes a very well done Story/Manga Mode. Arcade mode is I assume pretty similar to the original Arcade version, which involves you taking on various opponents and the various different courses from the anime earning points and then upgrading your car, pretty simple. The races in arcade mode become very challenging until you’re familiar with the courses, so it takes some practice.

However if your after a challenge, Story Mode will really stick it to you. Story Mode has you reenacting all the races from the anime, in similar condition as well. Starting with you driving with a cup of water trying not to spill any and you race uphill, all the way to taking on Bunta, this mode will do it’s best to own you. Story mode is by far the most interesting mode, featuring the same voice acting found in the anime, as well as small pieces of storyline and simple animation to explain each battle. The difficulty on this mode is obviously designed to make you work at becoming a better driver, and work you it does. With most of the battles being fairly straight forward, some of them are a real challenge almost requiring you to perform a perfect race. The battles that I seem to have the most difficulty with are the uphill battles, the main reason being any loss of momentum from say hitting a wall will ultimately cause you to slow so much that your rival will catch you, this being worse due to the speed penalty imposed from hitting a wall too hard.

Everything else about Initial D Special Stage is just pure Initial D, from the Super Eurobeat music that plays as you drive, to the awesomely accurate course design and overall graphical look of this game there is very little I would want to change. I could go on for ever about how solid this game feels as you play it, and the outstanding car and drift control but it’s best if you just try and play it. Either hunt it out at a local arcade, import a PS2 or even mod your current one, either way this game is a must play.