Initial D Arcade Stage (series)

Initial D Arcade Stage is an arcade racing series based on the Initial D anime series published by SEGA. In the United States, the games series is simply known as Initial D.

Premise
Based on the popular anime and manga series, the main objective is to race against different characters through various mountain passes featured in the series. The game has 5 licensed Japanese manufacturers to choose from such as Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Subaru. Using the optional magnetic card system, players can save a customized car as well as their progress for future sessions; otherwise, their game progress is deleted. Players can continue growth with their cards on another Initial D cabinet on the same version. However, the card must be renewed every 50 plays. After each race or time attack, a replay is added to show the player's progress on the mode they did. On a linked cabinet, players can get the opportunity to race each other as it would have a feel to the anime series.

Resuming from another version is subject to the following conditions:
 * There is no backward compatibility for (i.e., a version 2 card cannot be used on a version 1 machine)
 * Upgrading the card to a more recent machine is permanent.
 * When upgrading from one version to another, remaining plays will be carried over, and 50 plays will be credited to the card.

List
As of April 2020, there are 12 games in the series; 9 for arcades and 3 for home consoles.

Initial D Arcade Stage (2002)

Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.2 (2002) & Initial D Special Stage (2003) (PS2)

Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.3 (2004) & Initial D Street Stage (2006) (PSP)

Initial D Arcade Stage 4 (2007)/Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Revised (2008) & Initial D Extreme Stage (2008) (PS3)

Initial D Arcade Stage 5 (2009)

Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA (2011)

Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX (2012)

Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity (2014)

Initial D Arcade Stage Zero (2017) & Initial D Arcade Stage Zero Ver.2 (2019)

Legend of the Streets
In the main story mode, players race against different opponents from the series such as Itsuki Takeuchi, Ryosuke Takahashi, Shingo Shoji, as well as Keisuke Takahashi and Takumi Fujiwara. Opponents increase in difficulty as the player progresses throughout the game, as it is recommended to use the manual transmission in the series. In the English versions of the game, until the release of Arcade Stage 4, their names are derived from the original Tokyopop manga.

Time Attack
In Time Attack, players race in a timed game to rank the highest against other players at their current machine or online. At the end of the mode, Ryosuke Takahashi appears as the "critic" to the players' performance, knowing how well you did on the track. Players doing the mode over, again and again, achieve a new record for the fastest time they achieved on the track.

Bunta Challenge
First started in Arcade Stage Ver. 2 to Arcade Stage Ver. 3/Street Stage, the player races against Bunta Fujiwara, the legendary street racer of Akina. Each time Bunta is defeated through each course gives the player a level and difficulty increases. Starting with Arcade Stage Ver. 3, the player loses 1000 points upon defeat. Regardless of the result, the ending will still roll if you win or lose to Bunta. The mode was discontinued and removed in Arcade Stage 4/Extreme Stage, but Bunta appears as a final boss in Akina. However, it later returned to Arcade Stage 7 AAX but only in Legend mode after clearing Rebirth mode. Bunta's car differs across levels.

Levels 1-6: Toyota AE86

Levels 7-11: Toyota AE86 with TRD 20-Valve 4AGE Racing Engine

Levels 12-18: GC8 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version V

Online Battle
Introduced in Arcade Stage 4/Extreme Stage, this mode allowed players to race against others located in Japan and some areas in Asia.

Racer's Event
Introduced in Arcade Stage 5 to ''Arcade Stage 8: Infinity. ''Only two modes are included in the game, such as online battle and time attack.

Tag Battle
Introduced in Arcade Stage 6 AA to Arcade Stage 8 Infinity, this mode allows players in the same location to team up. One player is required to drive uphill and the other is required to race downhill to race with rivals. Matches are made based on past racing results, pitting drivers with similar levels against each other. When there is a difference in the level with your tag partner, the stronger driver will match with another stronger driver and a weaker driver with a weaker driver. The team with the highest score wins the battle.

Project Kanto's Fastest/Operation Kanto
First introduced in Arcade Stage 7 AAX, this mode is similar to tag battle mode, where players race against the rival characters based in the manga from Gunma to the Kanagawa area. In races against Project D's Ace, courses are random. In Arcade Stage 8 Infinity, new rivals include Toru and Atsuro in Momiji Line, Sakamoto and Wataru in Sadamine, and the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team in Tsuchisaka.

Version 1
The original Initial D Arcade Stage was the first installment of the series. The game was released early 2001 in Japan, and later in the United States and worldwide in 2002 on the Sega Naomi hardware. The game started with four courses such as Myogi, Usui, Akina, and Happogahara.

Version 2
The 2nd installment of the series was released in Japan in late 2002 and later in the United States and worldwide in the middle of 2003. The game had two new courses such as Akagi and Irohazaka. Sakamoto along with Nobuhiko Akiyama makes their debut in the game, but they only appeared in the Usui level, as their home course wasn't included in the series.

Version 3
The 3rd installment was released in 2003 early in Japan but later released worldwide in 2004. This game even had a special version of the game released for the Cycraft arcade cabinet titled Initial D: Version 3 Cycraft Edition. This version enabled players to play the game in a virtual simulator way, as it would feel like the car is moving. New tracks make their debut in the game such as Tsuchisaka, Akina Snow, as well as Shomaru, which was initially exclusive to Special Stage. Toru Suetsugu, Atsuro Kawai, and the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team make their debut in the game. However, Toru and Atsuro only appear on Usui, as their home course wasn't in the game. New cars featured in the game are the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI T.M. Edition, Mazda RX-8, and the Nissan Skyline 25GT-T. It also features 5 original Eurobeat songs not featured in the anime that were sung by artists from Marco Polo, Powerful T., Matt Land, and Ace Warrior.

Stage 4
The 4th installment was released on February 21, 2007, in Japan and later released internationally on July 2007. Unlike older installments, it has a completely new physics engine released for the Sega Lindbergh. The new system allows cars to actually slide, or drift, across the tracks while clearing corners. For the first time in the series, the game has cel-shaded characters interacting with each other and the player. Only two new rivals make their debut in the game; they consist of God Foot and God Hand. Other rivals such as the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team, Miki, Atsuro Kawai, and Toru Suetsugu don't appear at all. The game has new courses such as Lake Akina, Myogi (new layout with four sections), and Tsukuba Fruit Line. Some cars from previous games such as Lancer Evolution VII and the Toyota Celica GT-Four had been removed. Arcade Stage 4 was the last installment to be released in Western countries (later installments were put in Western countries but only in Japanese language).

Stage 5
The 5th installment was released in 2009 in Japan and the rest of Asia. They were released for the previous hardware for the second time (the screen is mostly like Sega's RingEdge). A few notable differences include massive physics changes. Compared to Arcade Stage 4 and its console counterpart Extreme Stage, which used "drifting" physics, Initial D Arcade Stage 5 featured more realistic driving physics, which would include tire and brake wear down. Although the tire and brake wear are not displayed anywhere in the game, experienced players can notice the difference in the change in physics as they progress in races.

Kobayakawa, Satoshi Omiya, Fake Project D, Hideo Minagawa, as well as Kai Kogashiwa, who is now joined with R.T. Katagiri, make their debut in the game (Kai appeared in Irohazaka in his SW20 in previous installments, now he drives an MR-S). However, Kai still drives the SW20 when facing the player at Irohazaka. New courses such as Happogahara, which previously appeared in Arcade Stage Ver. 1 to Arcade Stage Ver. 3, as well as Extreme Stage, appeared with full daytimes between day and night, as well as Nagao, the home course of R.T. Katagiri.

Initial D Arcade Stage 6AA
A new mode called Tag Battle was introduced. Unlike its predecessor, it was released in the Sega RingEdge for the first time. The game saw a change in its driving physics. A drift gauge and an updated tachometer were introduced to help inform players where they are drifting. The "Legend of the Street' introduced a "Rolling Start" since the story mode in Initial D Special Stage. The tachometer now informed players whether or not their speed was in range. Online network was extended to support regions in which earlier versions of the game was known to be popular in, finally achieving both nationwide and international matches. New cars and courses were added to the game through online updates without upgrade kits like IDAS4 1.5. The game also added a mileage system to show players their total driven mileage. Mileages could be used to redeem exclusive cars that were later available in updates. New characters that appeared for the first time were Ryuji Ikeda, Hiroya Okuyama, Go Hojo, and Rin Hojo. A new courses such as Usui, which was used from Arcade Stage Ver. 1, Arcade Stage Ver. 3/Street Stage appeared with a new layout. Tsubaki Line, Sadamine, and Akina Snow, also appeared before in Arcade Stage Ver. 3, which daytime is night changed to day.

Initial D Arcade Stage 7AAX
The game was released for the Sega RingEdge in 2012. Like its predecessor, the "Legend of the Streets" mode from original and another mode are the same as the previous one with rebirth mode. The game is mostly a carry-over from Initial D Arcade Stage 6AA, including new updates. New characters include Shinji Inui to complete the Sidewinder battles of Project D. Other characters such as Nobuhiko Akiyama, Sakamoto, and Toru Suetsugu from Versions 2 & 3 returned. However, Nobuhiko only appeared in rebirth mode while Sakamoto and Toru appeared in Legend mode, as well as a rewind of Keisuke using Kyoko's FD. New cars include the Toyota Sprinter Trueno 2door and the new Toyota GT86 (to replace the FT-86 prototype from the previous game). A new class of vehicles appears called "Complete Cars". These include several pre-tuned cars from Japan including RE Amemiya. Online battles include tag battles, allowing two in-store machines linking together and with internet access to battle against two other players in tag battles. New courses include Tsuchisaka, which previously appeared in Arcade Stage Ver. 3 also appear as well as Nanamagari, Team Spiral's home course.

Arcade Stage 8 ~ Infinity
The eighth installment of the franchise was released in 2014 just as Final Stage aired in that year. Like its predecessor, this game carries overall game modes from the previous version with a notable addition of Initial D Factory and D coins. In Story Mode, players can play Team Side or Rival Side to see Driving Training Curriculum or what mission is for each story. Team Side mode requires players joining a team from the series and taking on rivals, beating a time record, or racing against people online to earn the respect of the leader, such as Kyoichi Sudo of Emperor or Go Hojo of Sidewinder. The Rival Side mode requires you to play as a character from the manga, taking on the series' protagonists to change the outcome of the story. However, some levels in that mode require you to play the protagonists as well. The game also has a new feature, "1 Day 1 Time Continue", to allow players to have a free continue per day without inserting credits. New courses such as Momiji Line, which is the home course of the Seven Star Leaf, appear with a new layout as well as Hakone, the place for a Rival Side battle between Rin Hojo's R32 and Ryosuke's FC3S. Characters from Arcade Stage Ver. 3 such as Atsuro Kawai, Miki, and the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team return. This is the last game with Japanese voice actors and cutscenes before its next installment, Arcade Stage Zero, which doesn't feature them anymore. It is also the last game to have M.o.v.e perform the opening and ending theme of the franchise, since their disbandment in 2013. However, the songs they perform are Outsoar the Rainbow for the opening sequence and Raise Up for the closing, though the latter also appeared in the Fujiwara Tofu Store Arc Rival Side mode, where players play as Takumi Fujiwara against Keisuke Takahashi, re-enacting the first race of the series.

Arcade Stage Zero
The ninth installment was released for the Sega Nu2 arcade system board for 2017. Unlike its predecessors, this game now uses a 6-speed gear shifter as opposed to the sequential ones. The character designs and backgrounds are taken from the New Initial D the Movie trilogy, as well as characters who did not appear in the trilogy like Daiki Ninomiya, Kai Kogashiwa, Seiji Iwaki, and Kyoichi Sudo with new designs as well. The game even has entirely new BGMs that are J-rock songs from the films, replacing the Eurobeat featured in previous games (however, several Eurobeat songs can be unlocked for use).

Like Stage 4, the number of vehicles and tracks are unavailable upon launch but later added back through free updates later in the year. In later updates, characters from MF Ghost such as Kanata Rivington and Shun Aiba begin to make their debut in the game.

Car List
As of April 2020, there are 59 cars in the series.

Courses
As of April 2020, there are 24 mountain pass courses in the series.

Initial D Arcade Stage
The game has 7 songs that were prominently featured in First Stage, with "The Race is Over" by Dave Rodgers, which was the ending them for Third Stage, becoming the ending theme once more for the 1st installment in the arcade series.

Opening Select Myogi Usui Akina Happogahara Akina (Fight Bunta) Other Ending
 * Take Me Baby - Mickey B.
 * Live in Tokyo - Kelly Wright
 * Space Boy - Dave Rodgers
 * Love Is In Danger - Priscilla
 * Grand Prix - Mega NRG Man
 * Heartbeat - Nathalie
 * Beat of the Rising Sun - Dave Rodgers
 * Don't Stop the Music - Lou Grant
 * The Race is Over - Dave Rodgers

Initial D Arcade Stage Ver. 2
Opening Select Myogi
 * Gamble Rumble - m.o.v.e
 * Live in Tokyo - Kelly Wright
 * Space Boy - Dave Rodgers

Usui Akagi Akina Happogahara Irohazaka Ending
 * Night of Fire - Niko (night only)
 * Don't Stop the Music - Lou Grant
 * Love is in Danger- Priscilla
 * Killing My Love- Leslie Parrish (Day only)
 * Running In The 90's - Max Coveri (Night only)
 * Grand Prix- Mega NRG Man
 * Beat of the Rising Sun- Dave Rodgers
 * Heartbeat- Nathalie
 * Rock Me To The Top- Dusty
 * Station to Station- Derrick Simons (Project D only)
 * The Race Is Over - Dave Rodgers

Initial D Arcade Stage 3
The game features songs from the anime (3 songs from 1st Stage and 1 from 3rd Stage, with 2 songs from Battle Stage, with Dancin In my Dreams as the ending song). However, it features 5 new original ssongs that weren't featured in the anime. One of them is sung by Marko Polo, the other is sung by Ace Warrior. 3 of them were sung by Powerful T. and Matt Land, in which the artists' were never heard in the anime.

Opening Myogi Usui Akagi Akina Irohazaka Happogahara Shomaru Tsuchisaka Ending
 * Gamble Rumble- m.o.v.e
 * Speedy Speed Boy - Marko Polo
 * Remember Me - Leslie Parrish
 * Save Me- Leslie Parrish
 * Over the Rainbow - Powerful T. (Day only)
 * Stop Your Self Control - Marko Polo (Night only & Snow only)
 * Crazy For Love - Dusty
 * Express Love - Mega NRG Man
 * Black Out- Overload
 * Fall in the Web Of Desire - Powerful T. (Day only)
 * Pamela - Matt Land (Night only)
 * Fight for Love Tonight - Ace Warrior (Project D only)
 * Dancin' In My Dreams - J. Storm

Initial D Arcade Stage 4
The soundtrack seems to have 12 songs from 4th Stage and 1 song featured in 3rd Stage. However, the song "Space Love" by Fastway wasn't featured in their respective anime and was only featured in the album, Initial D Third Stage - The movie of Super Eurobeat.

Opening Akina Lake Myogi Akagi Akina Irohazaka Tsukuba Akina (Fight Bunta) Ending
 * Raimei -out of kontrol- - M.o.v.e
 * Let's Go Come On - Manuel (Day only)
 * Go Beat Crazy - Fastway (Day only)
 * Speed Car - D-Team (Day only)
 * Fly To Me To the Moon And Back - The Spiders From Mars
 * Revolution - Fastway (Day only)
 * We'll See Heaven - Digital Planet (Night only)
 * All Around - Lia (Day only)
 * Eldorado - Dave Rodgers (Night only)
 * Raising Hell - Fastway (Day only)
 * Space Love - Fastway (Night only)
 * No Control - Manuel (Day only)
 * Forever Young - Symbol (Night only)
 * Rider of the Sky - Ace (Project D only)
 * The Fire's On Me - Spock
 * Namida 3000 - M.o.v.e

Initial D Arcade Stage 5
The game has 3 songs from Fourth Stage. However, it also has 2 songs from Initial D: Battle Stage 2. The game even has 2 songs that will eventually be used in Initial D: Fifth Stage.

Opening Akina Lake Myogi Akagi Akina Irohazaka Happogahara Tsukuba Nagao Akina Ending
 * Blazability - M.o.v.e
 * Looka Bomba - Go 2
 * Sun In The Rain - Manuel
 * Sweet Sixteen Girl - Candy Taylor
 * Love Is The Name Of Love - Irene (Day only)
 * Adrenaline - Manuel (Night only)
 * Black UFO - Lupin
 * Gas Gas Gas - Manuel (Day only)
 * Chemical Love - Kevin & Cherry (Night only)
 * Disco Fire - Dave Rodgers (Day only)
 * Midnight Love - Neo (Night only)
 * Rockin' Hardcore - Fastway (Day only)
 * Speed Man - Dave Simon (Night only)
 * Fighting! - Cody (Project D only)
 * Right Now - Dark Angels
 * Lady Butterfly - M.o.v.e

Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA
Most of the songs featured in the game are prominently original and not featured in the anime.

Opening Akina Lake Usui Myogi Akagi Akina Irohazaka Happogahara Tsukuba Nagao Tsubaki Line Sadamine Shinigami - Akina (Snow) Other Ending
 * Double Ace - M.o.v.e
 * Don't Turn It Off - Go 2
 * You Are My Wonder - Queen 26
 * Rock Beatin' Wild - Fastway
 * Burn Into The Beat- Nick Mansell
 * Queen Of Mean - The Snake
 * Hurricane Man - Gold-Rake
 * Set Me Free - Cherry
 * The Lovebite - Dusty
 * King of Eurobeat - Jordan
 * Euronight - Eurogroove
 * Mad Desire - Stephy Martini (Project D)
 * Once Upon A Time - Pamsy
 * Forever Sad - Hely
 * Burn Inside - Takenobu & Kunoichi
 * Super Rider - Mark Astley
 * Bird - M.o.v.e.

Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX
Although the game features new tracks, it features 3 songs from Arcade Stage Ver.3/Street Stage and 1 song from Arcade Stage Ver.2/Special Stage. It also has 2 songs from Fifth Stage; one featured in the anime, the other featured in its soundtrack. The ending theme is a remix version of Gamble Rumble by M.o.v.e., which was previously the opening song from Arcade Stage Ver.2/Special Stage & Arcade Stage Ver.3, as well from Initial D Third Stage.

Opening Akina Lake Usui Myogi Akagi Akina & Akina Snow Irohazaka Happogahara Tsukuba & Tsukuba Snow Nagao Tsubaki Line Project D - Shinigami - Shinji Sadamine Tsuchisaka & Tsuchisaka (Snow) Nanamagari Other Ending
 * Cross The X - M.o.v.e.
 * Disconnected - Hotblade
 * Remember Me - Leslie Parrish
 * Night of Fire - Niko
 * I Need A Revolution - Marko
 * Power Two - Hotblade
 * Crazy For Love - Dusty
 * Burning Up The Night (Total Fire) - 2 Fast
 * Freedom Ride - The Snake
 * Ministry of Power - Fastway
 * Speed of Light - The Snake
 * The Top - Ken Blast
 * Up & Dance, Up & Go - Lou Master
 * Pamela - Matt Land
 * Limousine - Manuel
 * Burn Inside - Takenobu & Kunoichi
 * Gamble Rumble (Stage 7 Version) - M.o.v.e

Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity
Opening Akina Lake Usui Myogi Akagi Akina & Akina Snow Irohazaka Hakone Tsukuba Sadamine Tsuchisaka Momiji Line Happogahara Nanamagari Nagao Tsubaki Line Project D
 * Outsoar the Rainbow - M.o.v.e
 * Breakin' Out - Ace
 * Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Tonight - Annalise
 * Come On Baby - Fastway
 * Sunlight - Kaioh
 * Prayer - Ducky Chix
 * Your Love Is Like A Medicine - Mega Nrg Man
 * When The Sun Goes Down - Ken Blast
 * Super Driver - Daniel
 * Kiss - Bamboo Bimbo
 * Far From The Light - Leo River
 * The Race Of The Night - Dave Rodgers
 * Nonsense Sensation - Paul Harris
 * Heart's On Fire - David Dima
 * Adrenaline - Ace
 * Never Say Never - Manuel
 * I Just Wanna Stay With You - Dream Fighters

Others
Akina (Bunta Boss) Akina (Fight Keisuke Battle (Fujiwara Tofu Store) Other Ending
 * Outsoar The Rainbow - M.o.v.e
 * Raise Up - M.o.v.e
 * Burn Inside - Takenobu & Kunoichi (Continued from Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA)
 * Raise Up - M.o.v.e

Initial D Arcade Stage Zero
Opening Hakone Lake Akina Usui Myogi Akagi Akina Irohazaka Tsukuba Momiji Line Happogahara Sadamine Gunma CSC Odawara Other:
 * The Brave (D Version) - Backdraft Smiths
 * We'll Start Our Race (D Version) - Backdraft Smiths
 * Avoid - Clutcho
 * Curious (D Mix) - Backdraft Smiths
 * One By One - The Hug Me
 * No Matter - The Valves
 * Candle Flames - Backdraft Smiths
 * Forever Sad - Hely (Snow only)
 * Strobe - Clutcho
 * Crank It Up - Backdraft Smiths
 * Inner Fighter - Moonlight Green
 * Liberation Clutcho
 * Mad Desire - Stephy Martini (preliminary edition can be made on February 22, 2018, by the fourth defeat of public road expedition "D 0 Women's Department" from January 23 to February 19, 2018)
 * Set Me Free Babe - Richard Cottle
 * Chase The Ghost - Sachi@SEGA
 * The Top - Ken Blast (unlocked by breakthrough total distance of 300km)
 * Gamble Rumble - M.o.v.e (legend of the street - prologue - clear and selectable)
 * Stop Your Self Control - Marko Polo (unlocked by 1,000 km total mileage)
 * Burn Inside - Takenobu & Kunoichi @ SEGA (legend of the street - chapter 2 - clear and selectable)
 * My Destiny - NJK Record (legend of the street - special 1 episode 5 - clear and selectable)
 * Crazy Hot - NJK Record (legend of the street - special 1, 4th round episode 5 - clear and selectable)
 * Preserved Vampire - Sound Holic feat. Nana Takahashi
 * No Life Queen [DJ Command Remix] - Sound Holic Vs. Eurobeat Union feat. Nana Takahashi