"Initial D Street Stage (PSP the Best)

Based on the popular manga, this game is all about not just racing, but drifting. In between races you upgrade your car so you can more easily take down rivals. This game isn't new, but this is the "best" release which means you can buy it cheaper than ever.

Oddly enough this series has had more popularity and sequels in Japan than in its native country. The newest installment still plays like the PC RPGs of old. You move in first person while exploring dungeons and killing monsters. Visit towns, get new weapons and defeat evil. Unless you know Japanese though, it isn't usually a good idea to import an RPG."



Errrrrrrr.... WhaAaAaAaaaa???? This Initial D is one funky sounding game: street racing mixed with dungeon crawling? ^_^

Reply

The Japanese Initial D is just straight up street racing, just like the Anime and Manga are. The RPG mix they're talking about is this: When you win or lose (as long as you finish the course) you get a "Tuning Card". You need to collect these cards in order to upgrade your vehicle, unlock bonus features, or open other 'extras' in the game. It's more like a cross between a video game and a collectible card game but, leaning more toward the video game side of things.

If you like street racing and drifting, or want a more realistic racing game on the PSP (read this as you're tired of the same Need For Speed game just with a different name and wish something more like Gran Turismo were out. While not on the same par as GT4 Mobile is claimed to be this more equals somewhere between GT2 and GT3) then Initial D is the game you want. This is probably my favorite PSP game, I bought an import copy of it right when it came out in Japan (I think it was a year ago almost) and I still play it regularly. It definitely has a high replay factor (though it also has a high frustration factor; minor mistakes in your driving can have a huge impact on your lap times and hundredths of seconds can mean the difference between winning and losing a stage. It also takes a little getting used to the fact that 99% of it is in Japanese, game play, and car dynamics as drifting is not the same as track racing and requires a different approach.)
My original import copy did come with a manual that had full English translations which made it much easier to play the game, however, I don't know if the "Best" version has the same manual.

Reply

Wizarrdry is mi favorite from that list , but unfortunatly I do not speak japaneese :(

Reply

Very nice to see import PSP games getting some attention. It's a whole other dimension of PSP gaming that we don't always see over on these shores, and for games that aren't text intensive, great to import occasionally!

At least we still have a few importers to work with...

Reply