The familiarity should be all too commonplace with those who have experienced the Initial D world previously—either through the manga, the later adapted anime, arcade stages, or either the PS2 or PSP versions. Whichever medium you chose to experience Initial D through, you should have, at least by now, the story in the foreground of thought. It doesn’t sway the slightest. Initial D Extreme Stage is no different than its predecessors. The objective: be the first down or up the mountain. Initial D Extreme Stage is only available in Japanese, and the only Japanese I’m able to speak is of a broken stereotype. The menus however, are quite easy to navigate.
The controls seem less lose when compared to the Playstation 2’s Extra Stage. I’ve noticed the ability to quite literally whip my car completely parallel while drifting. The racing, more so the cornering / drifting, appears to be done at a much faster pace. The abnormal rate of speed is slightly adolescent while viewing replays, but isn’t too noticeable during an easy victory or even a dogfight.
NOTE: I was and still am playing without a racing wheel.
NOTE: This game is best played in first person view. The physics are a bit skew when the camera is panned back and above the car.
The cars don’t take too kindly to tapping walls either. Extreme Stage doesn’t announce it, but there seems to be a slight acceleration penalty when colliding with a wall. Even a love tap against the outer guardrail will be the difference in who wins and who loses. If it’s a dogfight and you brush, your chances of winning are minimal. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t hit a railing or two throughout the race, it’s just not encouraged, obviously. I actually like what they’ve done here because this avoids the annoying wall-riders of previous versions.
Extreme Stage offers X amount of cars from over X amount of manufactures. The player also has the ability to gain points through winning (or losing) races in the "Legend of the Street" and "Time Attack" modes. With these newly acquired points, he or she will be able to upgrade their vehicle through purchase of new tuning and aero parts. Throughout the course of the game you’ll also be able to unlock new faces, clothes, and hairstyles for your avatar. These are simply obtained by winning races and won’t cost a credit as they are free.
The Japanese version is also the only version that allows for a strong competitive online community. If you do plan on importing a copy, be sure to avoid the Asia version if you're looking for online play. Believe it or not, there are more people in your country playing this than you might think.
As a fan of the series, I am more than satisfied with this latest edition to the series. I think that speaks more than if I wasn't a fan, because like most fanboys, I am unforgivably negative. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys racing games, but you have to take it for what it is. It isn't a sim, but at the same time it isn't an arcade racer. It's sort of found a nest on line dividing the two.
The PlayStation 4 took a bit to get settled in Japan, but now that it has, its predecessor is getting its chance to ride into the sunset. Of course, that's a really great time to import some of its games for cheap! Read on for Michibiku's guide to the best titles to grab for the platform.
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has revealed that four new games are being added to the “Playstation 3 the Best” lineup.
PS3 the best baby haha, platinum, greatest, cheaper, and bomb gaming. I wish we had more games make this classification and sooner rather than later! Great that they are giving people deals though.
Is that the actual Japanese Valkyria Chronicles box art? Wow, I'm not the least bit jealous of JP box art for once.
Good, now everyone buy it here too. And the second one. And the third when it gets here.
Thats just the Playstation 3 the Best box art. whenever the games go into the hits line the box art changes and is different from the original box art. hopefully the third game is shown at E3 this year. I remember seeing the second game there last year
yea the closest to english we can get is the Asia version of the game, which has the instructions in english but lacks online play i think
Wow, I thought the big red strip on the American Greatest Hits was ugly, but that big grey boarder with yellow is terrible.
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Not enough love for Initial D, personally I think it is the funnest drifting to grace a game.
My question to you is: How did you come about aquiring this game? Did you get it on Ebay? I've found sites that will import it for you, but they want like 70$. I don't know if I want to spend that kind of money.
the steering wheel feels decent with extreme stage but wished you could calibrate the steering wheel to the game. Maybe I'm just not used to ver.4 but with the steering wheel I just have to turn it a few degrees and the car turns automatically. It feels alittle floaty at times.
Nice review for the game. Keep it up
The game has several point that dragged it down for me:
Loading times - You end up waiting 20-30 seconds for an animated cut scene that you can't understand, and skip anyway (unless you understand japanese) only to wait a bit longer for the actual race. This is also true using menu options such as tuning, an install option would have been a good idea.
Handling - I personally cannot stand analogue sticks for steering and there is no option to switch to digital (d-pad). Drifts feel hard to control and often oversteer or understeer.
Difficulty - When I played I won about 3-4 races by riding the walls without it affecting my speed this much. I'm sure FAQs state this is a trick (Cheap?) the game has but after coming from straight from Street Stage for the PSP (A single bump will drop your speed and acceleration A LOT) it doesnt feel right.
Graphics - Rushed job, both presention and overall look felt better in previous incarnations.
Overall, I was expecting amazing things but was sorely disappointed when my pre-order arrived. Admittedly not a die-hard fan, but played the PSP version to death...its currently collecting dust and has been since the 2nd day I had it....but I did get a limited edition keychain for the preorder. :D My grade, 70% 7/10 at a push.