Initial D Tunes Up For Showdown

Alan writes "FiringSquad just posted an import review of one-on-one Japanese street racing game, Sega's Initial D: Special Stage for the PlayStation 2, as based on the popular anime/manga series. They seemed to like it, with reservations." The arcade version of Initial D is a break-out title in terms of popularity, even with the limited amount of machines that have made it to the U.S., and especially with the magnetic card which "..allows players to build a totally unique custom tuned car that is personal to them". The PS2 version (here's another, more positive review from NTSC-UK) definitely looks intriguing, but is so far very unannounced outside Japan.

played it at anime expo

[cyrax777]

its a fun game wish they had the card things. Hate the show but the game was Fun.

The Trueno!

[h3]

I learned a lot about cars from the Initial D anime, specifically about the performance strengths and weaknesses of various models popular with street racers when racing down montains. If you're into that kinda thing, it's quite riveting (conversely, if you're not, it must be the boringest thing in the world).

You can't help but cheer for Takumi and his humble Trueno (Corolla) emblazoned with a Fujiwara Tofu logo as it takes on Skylines, LanEvos, and RX7s.

Good stuff. Unfortunately, the anime series has never been picked up for release here- cultural differences? I don't know. You'd think they could've ridden the Fast and the Furious train. TokyoPop is translating the manga, but *reading* about hair-raising drifts doesn't seem quite the same to me.

If they every bring this game over here, I'd pick it up. In the meantime, I take out the Trueno in my Gran Turismo 3 (from which I learned the rest of what I know about cars) garage from time to time. Not quite the same, but I'm not half the driver Takumi is ;).

-h3

Re:The Trueno!

[Frac]

Unfortunately, the anime series has never been picked up for release here- cultural differences?

If "here" is referring to US, and if you've actually read the article on TokyoPop linked at the top, you'll learn that Initial D (the anime) has been licensed for a long time, and the anime series will debut in the US in September.

Re:The Trueno!

[h3]

Mea culpa, I only read the primary/first of the 5 articles linked :p.

This is good news! Part of my viewing experience was marred by fansubs of Chinese dubs, so the sooner I can shake that from my memory, the better. It just didn't sound right.

-h3

Re:The Trueno!

[imperator_mundi]

Cool but what about the game itself, does it worth 79$ plus shipping ( lik-sang [lik-sang.com])?

I mean is this more a Dreamcast-Sega or a 32X-Sega stuff? ; )

Re:The Trueno!

[Mostly Monkey]

I liked the show, but always thought it was BS how he could drive and drift without spilling the almost full cup his dad put in the car. In order to drift, a certain amount of lateral forces are required to overpower the tire traction. There's no way the water/tea/whatever would last that.

Previous game

[h3]

There was also a previous Initial D for the PSX ca 2000, also import only. Here's a link [redoctane.com]. It doesn't appear that there's any relation between that game and the current one, other than the obvious.

I got to try that one out briefly and was disoriented by the idea of racing during daylight. It didn't seem right as the races from the show were almost exclusively at night.

-h3

Re:Previous game

[evilhayama]

My god that game was terrible. It played bad, looked bad, and basically had no redeeming elements. Avoid like the plague...

Great story mode

[evilhayama]

I got a chance to play the ps2 game recently and the outstanding part about it was definitely the story mode. It's as close as you can get to driving the races from the anime (and the manga, up to quite recent races.) They reproduce things just as they occur in the series, so if your opponent loses it on a certain corner in the anime, they'll lose it on the same corner in the game, so long as you play your part.

Knowing this requires having seen the actual anime though, so the effect may be lost on newbies

Initial Experience of Initial D

[RobK]

I ran into a V2 machine over the weekend and have to say that without exposure to the show, it strikes me as a "Ridge Racer" (although not so artificially bad). The game play was reasonably fun, not nearly as frustrating as Wangan Midnight - but not as pluse quickening either. I do like the story components and the ability to create a customized driver.

I must ask, is it common for this to take what looks like a pixelated photograph and use it for backgrounds in the story? I was impressed by the artwork