Because Harken reminded me that we have a review section.

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Initial D: Street Stage
Players: 1 – 2
Age Rating: CERO A (all ages)

Playing a game in a completely foreign language is an interesting experience. For the game to actually be good, there is no extraneous tricks the game can pull; no history logs, no special videos, no dramatic revelation in the story. A game has to rely on one, simple thing to pull it through: gameplay mechanics.

Initial D: Street Stage is pretty unforgiving for an import game. The Asian Version comes with an English instruction sheet, but my Japanese Version of the game comes with nothing but text that sometimes reads left to right, sometimes top to bottom, but all the time confuses the shit out of me. I’ve deleted my file by accident on three separate occasions, and it took me days to figure out how to upgrade my car – and upon trying to recall right now, I think I’ve forgotten how to do that, too. There are cards that you use to improve your car, but there are also collectible ones based on the characters, tracks and events of the show. I’m sure they’re nice.

Despite that, Initial D: Street Stage is among my favorite racing games I’ve ever played. It’s not realistic, it’s not easy, and there is no gimmick beyond the anime license. This is just about three things: you, your opponent, and the track. This is Initial D’s identity. The rest of the game seems be built to support this identity.

The tracks in Initial D are glorious. Forget the characters the game shows you; these are your true opponents. Not to undermine the racers, but everytime you step on to the track for the first time, it’s a tenuous experience. You’re uncertain how to tackle the corners, where you can cheat, where you lift as opposed to brake or shift-lock. The track remains unflinchingly constant; only your skills can take it down.

But even besides that, there are the racers themselves. Not as imposing as the miles of concrete, guard rails and forest that define the track, the racers are instead like the final salvo shot by the track to take you down. The first few racers are always to familiarize yourself with the track, but the last ones will test your limits. They have cute tendencies born by the track they race upon to try to take you out, like Keisuke, driver of the yellow FD, braking a little too early on the first turn of his home track of Akagi. They’re small little things, that once you notice make you feel like a genius for figuring out and then an idiot for not realizing it earlier.

It becomes a rhythmic experience. Left, right, the rapid clicks of the PSP’s L & R buttons accenting each turn. The mass and momentum of the car feels palpable, despite the PSP not having a rumble feature. The feel of the cars on the road is just that well defined, that it can be explained through the visuals and glossy buttons alone.

This feels is what separates good racing games – and frankly, good games in general – from the bad ones. The way it feels, the way the physics and motion and actions of you against the world communicates and feels to you. It’s why Auto Modellista is such a rubbish game, because the feel of that game provided is overblown by the visuals; there are speed lines, giant plumes of tire smoke when drifting, but you don’t feel in control. The car is a ruse, appearing nimble and lithe while actually being about as easy to sway as a religious extremist.

Initial D lacks such gratuitous graphics. It gets the job done on a technical level; the cars are adequately detailed and are not horrendous to look at. What works well with this game is the sense of personality each track has. They’re all defined, with such little quirks like different leaves, different lane widths and different road textures that each tracks feels its own. Again, it reinforces what are the major opponents in this game, as the character designs are remarkably free of traditional anime effluence. These are normal people who happen to drive cars and understand them pretty damn well. Going on any automotive forum, you will actually see people like this.

The final facet of this games identity is the music. It simply cannot be ignored. Initial D is synonymous with a genre of music called “Eurobeat”, which is some of the most ridiculous music you will ever hear. For example:





It’s so crazy you can’t help but get into it. Like everything else that starts off like this – TTGL, Robot Unicorn Attack – it’s magnetic. And Eurobeat really is the perfect accompaniment to this game; it’s blazingly fast and unrelenting, much like these tracks.

What makes this game so great is that it is its own. It’s so self-confident in the way it presents itself and the way it plays that it truly sets itself apart from other racing games which have begun to slowly cater to wider audiences. This game will, frankly, alienate even fans of the series because it demands so much.

But once you understand what this game is – that’s it’s not a simple racing game, but a game of self-learned rhythm – you learn to relish that process so much.