Initial D: Extreme Stage
SEGA
Released in 2008 for Asian markets only
Rating: CERO A (Equivalent to ESRB E and PEGI... 3???)
Genre: Arcade, Racing
Initial D Extreme Stage was released around mid-2008 in Japan and was a revised console port of Arcade Stage 4, both of which were based on the Initial D Manga series written by Shuichi Shigeno.
So what is Initial D?
Initial D is a sports (car racing is a sport, you know) manga created in 1995 that takes place mostly in mountain passes all throughout Japan. The manga stars a young man named Takumi Fujiwara, who takes on various opponents in togue (JP for pass) races with the iconic Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex, the AE86.
To put in simpler terms, it's about Japanese illegal street racing in mountain passes.
There are a total of 81 volumes of the Manga that have been released. 48 of these being the official Japanese release, and the remaining 33 being releases from Tokyopop.
As Shigeno wrote the series, Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya helped out with editorial supervision.
Now, with the backstory of the game done with, let's get on with the game.
Now unfortunately, I won't be able to upload any screenshots of how my game looks, because I don't have a capture card at the moment, and pictures would end up looking like potatoes.
When you start off the game and create a new file, you are prompted to create your own character. If you're aiming to create a character that looks like you, You'll be in for a tough time. You start off with very few options for things such as hair, clothing, and accessories, but as you progress through the game, you'll get more neat stuff.
- M E N U S -
There's Japanese everywhere, but you don't really need to understand them to get the gist of what each function does in the various menus.
- F E A T U R E S -
One character (save file) can have up to 3 cars in their garage. Cars in this game are absolutely free, but you can only have three of them, so choose wisely.
In my save file, I have an S15 Silvia, an S13 Silvia, and a BNR32 GT-R.
Each car in the game have their own choice of bodykits, exhausts, and wheels.
While the cars are for free, the parts for them aren't. And the economics in this game can get a bit crazy for some. Chances are, most people who play this game will more than likely spend their points on performance points instead of visuals (The most expensive part, a turbocharger (?) costs 50,000 points. The least expensive parts, which are stage 1 parts, typically range within 1,000 to 2,000 points. On the side of visuals, a front bumper will cost you 30,000 points, while an entire bodykit set costs 150,000!).
On top of that, visual parts do absolutely NOTHING with aiding handling or aerodynamics in the game, compared to the performance parts.
- G A M E P L A Y -
Players of Initial D Arcade Stage 4 can get familiar with the controls easy with a wheel. A player with a DS3 can play the game fine, but I do have a minor gripe with this: You can't use the D-Pad to turn the car, only the analog stick.
In the most part, the cars drive like they are on ice. The slightest tug on the wheel or tilt of the stick can send you sideways. If you aren't careful enough.
If you're a person who prefers AT in racing games, well, you are in a way SOL. The car won't shift at the right points, and while you can manually downshift the car, it will not help at all, because the AT will think it's in the wrong gear for being in a lower RPM, and will downshift AGAIN for you. For a racing game like this, MT is the way to go. It doesn't help that as you drift, the AT downshifts to a lower gear, which will cause you to plummet into a wall.
The gearing in most of the cars are decent, but almost all of them have long-ass top gears. This can lead to a tremendous drop in speed, and will make the opponent gain a serious advantage over you sometimes.
Despite having a fully modded car, don't expect your car to go faster than 200 km/h (124 mph) in most parts of the game, this isn't Wangan Midnight.
When you collide into your opponent, it doesn't really do much, unless you're blocking them from the behind. When your opponent collides with you however, you may end up surviving, or you may end up getting screwed over. It's pretty clear that the AI in this game follows a specific driving line, as they will mindlessly plow through you
EVERYWHERE.
On the topic of collisions, they can get a tad bit wonky. There are chances that the AI will just phase through you, and this mostly happens around a corner. I would be right alongside someone like Kyosuke and as I go around a corner, I would take up majority of the road (I am going sideways in a drift) and he will just
fwoop into existence right past me. It can sometimes get confusing and frustrating.
Rubberbanding is present in this game through two ways:
Remember how I said that you would be able to understand what does what in the menus in this game? As you race, the characters will talk every few seconds, and while some people may be able to explicate what they may be saying, it can get a tad bit annoying when you don't understand what they are saying for the most part.
- D I F F I C U L T Y -
Oh boy, can this game get difficult. Even on easy.
Granted, it is a modified port of an arcade game, so what can you expect?
Overall, the game starts out nice and smooth for most of the first half of story mode, but once you face Takumi in Akina, the game starts to go crazy hard on you.
There are very few moments where the difficulty spikes up tremendously, but your first surprise experience will be at Akina towards the end. Sure, you may just ditch Takumi in the beginning stretch, but once you reach the first major hairpin, he will pass you, and he will lose you.
While the game can get extremely difficult, it is somewhat justified, as the AI does tactics like the characters would do in the manga (Takumi and the rain gutters in Akina, Kai and his jump overtakes on Irohazaka, etc.).
If you can't handle the pressure of the harder opponents, the best thing you can do is just practice and find the right driving line.
Either that, or rage quit.
- G R A P H I C S & Q U A L I T Y -
The graphics of Extreme Stage are pretty good and makes it seem like you're watching a 3D version of the manga/anime. All the characters accurately look like how they are depicted in the manga version as well.
The game runs completely smooth in game, although some frame hiccups may happen in menus and some cutscenes.
- C O N C L U S I O N -
Fans of the Arcade Stage series, mainly 4, would be able to get a kick out of this game, namely due to how similar it is in terms of driving and physics. For other people, while it may seem complex at first, the game is actually fairly simple to begin with, and over time, you may discover new tactics to use when going against your future opponents.
Honestly, the only IDAS game I have played was Stage 3, which was the only one I could find here in Texas. Upon approaching this game, I found the game to be very approachable, and while you may not understand what the characters or the menus are saying, players can still get the basics down easily without having to read online as to what to do once they get a hold of the controller.
It's a game you can play over and over, and yet still get a kick out of it.
Final Verdict
80/100
B
