Best arcade racer ever. Period.
The moment you insert your coins you know you’re in for something special, as Arcade Stage offers you – for a little bit extra cash – a “memory card” which allows you to save your progress for up to 200 extra plays of the game. You insert your card at the start of the game, and take it out when you’re finished, and the game writes data to the card, which means all of your accomplishments are kept preserved. It’s a great idea, and encourages you to play more because it means you don’t have to start fresh every time you play. However, I've found that even if you win a race, it charges you to move onto the next race - what's up with that?
The “D” in Initial D is certainly not forgotten in Arcade Stage because the cars are incredibly easy to drift, meaning you can feel like you’re one of the characters in the series pulling off drifts with ease. It’s great fun, and feels like a mix between drifting and realistic precision – like what R: Racing was meant to be. Eventually you'll learn to drift by releasing the accelerator and downshifting to throw the tail end of the car out, and you won’t be turning anymore - you'll be gliding along the track at lightning speed.
Arcade Stage gives you a wide choice of Japanese cars to choose from, including cars from the series such as the Toyota AE86 Trueno and the Mazda RX-7 FC3S, which look every bit as real as their counterparts, down to the tiniest details. Each car feels unique although you eventually realise that the more powerful cars have been toned down to give cars such as the AE86 a chance at winning races. This dampens the feel of the game slightly, but keeps the fans of Initial D satisfied.
The tracks are based on real mountain passes – and locations in the series – such as at Haruna (the real name of Mt Akina), Akagi and Myogi, and there are lapped circuits and point-to-point races to ensure variation in the races. Each track looks incredibly detailed, and trees (a common sight on mountain passes, naturally) actually look like trees - a rarity in any video game.
Each race is accompanied by Initial D’s signature Eurobeat soundtrack, taking songs from the anime and making you feel you’re really at the wheel – some of the songs push you to the limit.
Each race is preceded by a cutscene, with your rival having a go at you, and you can’t help but grin when you see their shocked face afterwards – although those who aren’t fans of anime may not enjoy these cutscenes so much. Of course, the work to meet these FMVs has to be somewhat challenging, right? Arcade Stage makes each opponent tough to beat but each seems to have a weakness, whether they are slower on the straights or can't take tight hairpins well, and when you find their weakness you'll be shooting past in no time. However, the shift from opponent to opponent is a little steep, and the learning curve is somewhat jerky - you'll face an easy opponent, then an impossible rival, and another easy driver after that. It doesn't make sense, but acceptance is the only way around it.
Even after you’ve beaten all the rivals, there’s more to go afterwards. You can race your opponents again at a harder difficulty, or play the “Challenge Bunta” mode, where you race Bunta Fujiwara, who is a hardened street racing pro and drives a tuned Subaru Impreza. It’s tough stuff, and certainly keeps you at it for some time.
So, with a fantastic driving model, extra challenges and a great soundtrack, Initial D: Arcade Stage is everything every racing fan (and Initial D fan) should look for in a driving game – make no mistake, it’s genuinely the best arcade racer ever.