The Wangan story continues in a new racing suit!
Gameplay (9)
This game is just like your avarage arcade race game. Pick a car, compete it against an opponent and win. 'cept the concept is different. In Story Mode (that's after you purchased a card), everytime you win, you will be able to unlock a part for your car. You will either have the option to power it up by installing ex. a new engine. Or handle it up by ex. installing a fly wheel. It will be automatically saved on your plastic memory card.
In reallife, to create the car of you dreams, it takes a lot of your time and money, right? With this unique type of gameplay, WM MT will keep you busy for a while. If you feel competitive, you can use your car you tuned against friends or other players to see who's the best. How cool is that?
There's this new feature called Ghost Mode in WM MT3. If you battled a friend or foe, he/she will be added to your friends list. You can then battle his/her CPU controlled car in Ghost mode to earn dress-up points. With these points you can pimp up your car to make it more personal. Just like in WM MT2. It's a great mode to see if your car needs more power or handling, since the CPU kinda tries to mimic the original driver (driving cautious or dangerous).
Outrun Mode pits you against several opponents. Just as the name says, try and outrun your opponents. There's also the classic Time Attack mode, where you have to race against your opponent's fastest time.
Another new feature they implented in Versus mode. Players can now choose their direction toward each bissect that they encounter. This will make the gameplay more tactical and gives players a more strategic approach when dueling.
Graphics (8 )
The graphics have been improved from the last WM MT's. Thanks to the Nvidia video technology, the graphics seems to be smoother and realistic. The traffics and highways look great and gives the player the feeling that they are driving on the real pavement, combined with the force back from the steering wheel.
Music (8)
Just like the previous MT's. The game has somewhat catchy, vocal trance tunes, which gives the player a small adrenaline rush during gameplay. The standard OST in MT3 isn't that great like it was in MT1/MT2. I prefer to listen to the characters theme songs, Akio, Reina & Tatsuya, when I play against a friend/foe or when I am playing Ghost Mode.
The good thing is, if you are able to clear the game without losing a round against the CPU in Story Mode. You will be able to select the Wangan Midnight MT OST from MT1 & MT2! You can also earn the OST's if you transfer your MT2 memory card into the MT3 machine and renew it.
However, if you were defeated one or more times during the course of roughly 80 stages. You will only unlock the new Wangan Midnight R OST. If you are aiming for this achievement, be sure to have a friend next to you to back you up.
Overall
This arcade game is great for both starters and advanced players. Great arcade game for people who like tuning and competive racing. Cool game for those who want to give it a first time ride. I got hooked on this game the first time I played MT1 and ever since I can't stop tuning, hehe. The experience I had with Outrun, F-Zero GX & Daytona USA really helped me in this game straight of the bat.
Overall I find this arcade game really great and IMO it deserve a solid 8.5!