Story mode
Exclusive to this game, there's an actual story mode that, unlike the stupid mess that most of the following games do, they actually retell the story instead of making this sort of a weird mix where they tell the original manga story but not really?
Regardless of that, this mode is a great introduction to the series since it lets you reprise all of the races (and some other events) of the manga in all of their glory, and its also a great a way to see in the long run how are you improving, but more on that later.
How this mode works is pretty simple, you're given a mission, and you must complete it within the aloted time. If you succeed, you'll unlock the next mission and some stuff for the other games modes. Generally speaking, the difficulty of said missions tends to be pretty fair, minus some missions where its difficulty goes way off the roof, but those are manageable in the end if you're persistent enough.
But, the meat and bones of this game is not really just the retelling of the manga story, it is more about seeing how are you being able to improve in the game, because after all, that's the main focus of this game, to be able to do the same races but even faster. So, SEGA Rosso decided to implement a ranking system that determines how well you've done it in these missions. Minus the first mission, ALL of the races rankings are determined by how fast you complete the missions, nothing more, nothing less. The ranking system is as follows:
- S: Woo-hoo! You've managed to get the best ranking in the race!
- A: Almost there, you're so close to getting that S rank!
- B: Not bad, but you're still doing way too many mistakes.
- C: Well, you've passed, but just barely.
- D: You failed, try again.
As a clarification note about the ranking requirements, it's important to note that the times listed here may not be accurate, since SEGA did not release an official guide for this game (that is the not the case, but there are no scans of it online, so as soon as we get our hands on one, we will delete this paragraph and we will make the corresponding corrections in this page), so the requirements are just guesses based on the results obtained by the players. For the most part, the guides found in YouTube and GameSpot are pretty accurate, but I've found some times that are not as precise as they could be.
Akina's Eight-Six
Here is where it all began, when Takumi was forced to discover his passion for mountain pass racing, and wowed everybody by prooving that just because your car might not be the best, it can still perform way better than expected, and thus, a legend was starting to take shape.
During this chapter, the vast majority of the races tend to be not too hard, although it has one BIG fat exception, more on that later. However, this doesn't mean that you can relax, specially if this is your first time playing any Initial D, and you'll be surprised by how harsh and punishing this game can be (even though when you get better you'll realize how pathetic the AI is, specially when going for the S ranks).
Stage 1: Let's Buy an Eight-Six! (Part 1)
One of the few non-canonical events (well it really is canonical but not the event per se), its main purpose is to teach you about the most important feature about this game (and the same applies to Initial D: Arcade Stage, Initial D: Arcade Stage Ver. 2 and Initial D: Arcade Stage Ver. 3), which is to not hit a wall. If you hit a wall, you'll receive what is called a "wall penalty". Basically, this penalty it makes your car acceleration drop and your top speed will be reduced too. Obviously, the harder you hit a wall, the bigger the penalty will be, so you gotta make sure to not hit any wall at any cost!
Objective: reach the end of the third sector within the time limit and without spilling all of the water in the cup
Requirements for S rank: do not spill any water while reaching the goal (100% of water remaining)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Subaru Impreza WRX STi Sedan Type R Version VI (GC8G) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 2: Let's Buy an Eight-Six! (Part 2)
Another one of the few non-canonical races (this time not even the anime showcases Takumi going downhill, in fact, do we even see the hotel that they mention even ONCE?), this event is just there to help you learn without the pressure of any rival car the circuit inside out. This event is also there to teach you that just because you're doing the same race but in reverse mode, doesn't mean that you can proceed the same way, in fact, a lot of races coff coff Irohazaka coff coff will force you to plan out a different race path just because you're doing them but in reverse.
Objective: reach the end of the course within the time limit, in this case being 3 minutes and 40 seconds (3:40)
Requirements for S rank: complete the race within 2 minutes and 58 seconds (2:58)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Speedy Speed Boy - Marko Polo (BGM)
- B Rank: Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 3: The Ultimate Tofu Vendor Drift
Nani?! Kansei Dorifto?! Indeed guys! It's time to drift around Akina and make ourselves (well, Takumi in this case) a legend around the Gunma area, in this case by overtaking the second best driver of the Akagi RedSuns team, Keisuke Takahashi (oh excuse me, I meant to say K.T. poor americans can't say Japanese names without dying in the process). I haven't mentioned this before, but during these races, and ONLY during these races you can trigger specific lines from the anime if you play like the races did in the anime. By no means it's mandatory to do so, but it really adds to the charm to this game and it makes me question why in the mother of god we haven't seen any more of this kind of stuff after this game.
Objective: be in front of Keisuke by 40 meters in less than 2 minutes (2:00)
Requirements for S rank: complete the objective in no more than 14 seconds (0:14)
Rewards:
- C Rank: No One Sleep In Tokyo - Edo Boys (BGM)
- B Rank: Honda S2000 (AP1) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 4: Dogfight
While talking about what makes Initial D, Initial D, here's finally the most iconic race with probably the most recognizeable song in the entire franchise (also, did you know that the cover for that song actually includes a car, in this case being a Lancia Delta HF integrale Evoluzione, an iconic car from also a very popular SEGA game?). As for the race in itself, there's nothing special about it, you just start where the song "Get Me Power" ends, in this case the end of the second sector, and you simply must reach the goal before Keisuke does.
Objective: finish the race in 1st place
Requirements for S rank: finish the race in no more than 1 minute and 30 seconds (1:30)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 5: Iketani's Valuable Experience
The first and one of the few events where you don't reach the goal, your objective is to literally swirvle around the race track in order to make Iketani faint. While you can just drive normally, and it's kinda recommended to do that the first time just to hear all of Iketani's lines (trust me, they're actually hilarious), the only way to actually get an S here is to just drive like you're drunk.
Objective: fill up the faint bar before running out of time or finishing the race
Requirements for S rank: fill up the bar in less than 42 seconds (0:42)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Nissan Silvia K's (S13) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 6: Stupid Father, Bring Back the Eight-Six!!
Another one of those "non-canonical" races (I understand that these events happened, but the only thing that we actually know and saw was what we saw from Kenji's car, which was a very brief scene) where you must reach the top of Akina as fast as possible. In this case, the opponent is a non-factor, since Kenji goes REALLY slow (in fact if you play versus him in arcade mode you'll realize how big that difference is) and the real difficulty of this race is just to get a good rank in this race.
Objective: reach the top of Akina within the time limit
Requirements for S rank: complete the main objective within 3 minutes and 20 seconds (3:20)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Remember Me - Leslie Parrish (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan 180SX Type X (RPS13) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 7: Battle to the Limit
Here's one of those really easy races to get an S on it, this time comes from the team leader of Myogi NightKids, Takeshi Nakazato. If you have seen the manga or watched the anime, you'll remember that he spuns out of the race due to his tires not being able to withstand so much speed without oversteering during a turn. Well, in this case, in order to get an S you simply have to be in front of him around the end of the 4 hairpins. If done correctly, he'll just simply say something and he will spin out, forcing him to retire and you getting automatically an S.
Objective: win the race
Requirements for S rank: end the race because of Nakazato spinning out
Rewards:
- C Rank: Back On The Rocks - Mega NRG Man (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR32) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Stage 8: Deathmatch of Madness
Yet another one of those easy events, in this case from the crazy maniac of Shingo Shoji, the driver of a red Honda Civic SiR-II (EG6). In this case you don't have to worry about his imperative desire to win that race, since this game it's not even designed to handle such things. But, in order to spruice things up, this race will offer a really weird (and bad) handling model, after all, this is a ducktape race. What this means, is that in order to win Shingo, you must take into consideration that your car will barely steer at all when accelerating, forcing you to take the corners much slower. For this race, in order to get that juicy S rating, you have to do the same thing as with Nakazato in stage 7.
Objective: win the race
Requirements for S rank: end the race because of Shingo spinning out
Rewards:
- C Rank: Don't Stand So Close - Dr. Love (BGM)
- B Rank: Honda Civic SiR-II (EG6) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Stage 9: Sparkling Line Cross
We're reaching the end of First Stage, which this means that we must race Ryosuke Takahashi, also known as the White Comet of Akagi. Don't let his legacy scare you, since this race is like we have stated during the introduction, the AI is just pathetically slow (and the game is fully aware of that), so in this case you'll have to try your best to go down the Akina pass as fast as possible. In fact, you'll see that the timers for the rest of the Akina races (that are done with the old AE86's engine) will demand you the exact same time in order to get the S rating, so do your best and make sure to practice a lot.
Objective: end the race before Ryosuke manages to do that
Requirements for S rank: finish the duel within 3 minutes and 8 seconds (3:08)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 10: Hot Winds! Mad Racing! Usui Pass
Wait, didn't we just say that this was the last race of First Stage, so why we're doing a First Stage race now? Well, believe it or not, this is what happens after the last race in the manga, but considering how pityful is the story of the manga in itself is no biggie and kinda inconsequential (and besides, considering that the cutscenes have always that awkard (and REALLY long) delay from when they should start to when they actually start, that most of you will end up skipping them alltogether). Regardless of that, this is just again another race where Takumi wins by not actually ending the race, so getting an S here is just a piece of cake.
Objective: maintain your lead while being around the end of the third sector
Requirements for S rank: -
Rewards:
- B Rank: Nissan SilEighty (RPS13) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Real Usui (Downhill)
Stage 11: Know the Fear of the Rain Battle
Oh joy, now we also have to deal with rain... Well, luckily this race is the only one in the entire mode (with the exception of stage 21, and that one is not raining during the entire race) which features this weather. This race will teach you how to race under these conditions, and the first thing that you'll see is how slippery the car feels, like really slippery, and this track punishes severely crashing onto walls, so take your time with this race since here you must be fast in order to win, because you must leave Kenta behind by a good margin.
Objective: get a lead of 200 meters against Kenta Nakamura
Requirements for S rank: leave Kenta behind in less than 1 minute and 35 seconds (1:35)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Nissan Silvia Q's (S14) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Real Myogi (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 12: High Tech vs. Super Technique
Remember what I told you about stage 9? Well, here we just have the same event, just with the difference that you're facing Team Emperor instead of the Akagi RedSuns, so, if you can get an S on that race, it means that you can do it here too without any problem.
Objective: win the downhill race
Requirements for S rank: complete the duel no slower than 3 minutes and 8 seconds (3:08)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV RS (CN9A) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 13: Let Takumi do the Driving!!
Ok, now for real, this is the last First Stage race we're going to deal with (well, not really because in the anime it was omitted). This time, we're dealing with a race similar to stage 5 but with some differences, mainly the fact that you must fill up that bar just by driving fast, not by moving side to side. Regardless of that, remember that you must always go as fast as possible if you want to obtain the best rating possible.
Objective: overtake the lover's car and fill up Mogi's impressiveness bar
Requirements for S rank: complete the main objective within 26 seconds (0:26)
Rewards:
- C Rank: White Light - Mr. Groove (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Silvia K's Aero (S14) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Nissan 180SX Type X (RPS13) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akagi (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 14: Suicidal Fireball Battle
Do you remember when I said in the introduction about this game having some difficulty spikes? Well here's the first one, and it's pretty noticeable. You may ask, why is this race so difficult? In this case the sole reason why it is so difficult is because the requirement for the S is really tight, and there's an RNG factor to take in, which is when the AE86's engine decides to kick his bucket, and that randomness is capable enough of killing any good run, if you can manage to get one fast enough to comply with the requirements for this mission. For the record, the only thing that can block your engine's trigger, is Kyoichi speaking, and if he is speaking while you're going through the stretch where the AE86 is supposed to blow up, that will not happen until he ends talking.
Objective: don't let Kyoichi Sudo have an advantatge bigger than 100 meters from you before blowing the engine past the second turn in the third sector
Requirements for S rank: finish the mission in less than 1 minute and 28 seconds (1:28)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Save Me - Leslie Parrish (BGM)
- B Rank: Subaru Impreza WRX STi (GDBA) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akagi (Downhill)
Stage 15: The Seal Shall Be Released
New engine, new stats, but not really. Why? Pretty simple, Takumi's dad wants to make sure that he gets used to his new engine by limiting the revolutions his engine can go by not changing his old tachometer. Not to worry though, since Wataru Akiyama is here to save the day, but not until you complete a downhill through Akina with the tachometer being unable to keep up with the engine's power. During this race, even though you don't have a new tachometer, the speeds that you must shift into are the same as if your car was setup properly, so if you're having trouble getting a good rank in this race just first try to memorize the speeds where you need to shift gears.
Objective: reach the last checkpoint before time runs out
Requirements for S rank: finish the race in no more than 3 minutes and 9 seconds (3:09)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Burning Desire - Mega NRG Man (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Altezza RS200 Z Edition (SXE10) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 16: Hunch of Awakening
Well, here comes the second difficulty spike of the story mode, in this case the culprit here lies within the story itself. In the manga, Takumi and Wataru did a lot of laps around Shomaru Pass before Takumi eventually taking the victory. Obviously in the game you won't have to do the same circuit for hours, although in reality you will have to considering that you must complete THREE rounds in a row without failing, and there's no way to restart any race, once you start you must quit the race, and painstakingly wait for the game to load the race again. Also, it doesn't help that this course is even worse to deal with than the one in stage 10, only because the road is really thin and thus, the chances of smashing your car onto a wall are even higher.
Objective:
- First round: don't let Wataru get a lead bigger than 100 meters before reaching the goal
- Second round: finish the race in 1st place
- Third round: win the race while not letting Wataru get a lead bigger than 100 meters during its process
Requirements for S rank: finish the three rounds in no less than 10 minutes and 19 seconds (10:19)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Get Me Power - Mega NRG Man (BGM)
- B Rank: Toyota Corolla Levin GT-APEX (AE86) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track:
- First round: Shomaru Pass (Outbound)
- Second round: Shomaru Pass (Inbound)
- Third round: Shomaru Pass (Outbound)
Stage 17: Challenge!! Irohazaka
Round 2 with Kyoichi, but this time you'll race against him in his own turf, Irohazaka. Even though this circuit might look pretty daunting at first glance, for this race, getting a C at least it's pretty easy, unless you're not playing this game and thus you're racing with an automatic transmission setup. If you're playing the game the way it was intended to, this circuit is the perfect place to practice the downshifting technique, since almost every hairpin in this course demands you to do this technique in order to optimize your sector times.
Objective: win the race without being overtaken by Kyoichi during the process
Requirements for S rank: finish the race within 2 minutes and 47 seconds (2:47)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Mikado - Dave McLoud (BGM)
- B Rank: Misubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR (CE9A) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Irohazaka (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 18: Further Inside Corner!!
Have you read what I said before for stage 17? Yes? Good, well then go and get that S, or C, if you're not good enough. Oh wait, somebody is telling me that I forgot to mention that Kai Kogashiwa does perform the infamous Irohazaka jump, so well, there's that. Other than that, it's the exact same race just without the rolling start and without that lose condition imposed by the story.
Objective: finish the race in 1st place
Requirements for S rank: beat Kogashiwa no slower than 2 minutes and 59 seconds (2:59)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Crazy For Love - Dusty (BGM)
- B Rank: Toyota MR2 G-Limited (SW20) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Irohazaka (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 19: Blazing Course Record
Miki who? Who's that guy? Anyways, after you've managed to complete all the races done by Takumi in between First, Second and Third Stage, now it's time to proove to Natsuki Mogi that Takumi wants to be a professional driver, and he does that by driving as fast as possible through the roads of Akina. Like the other Akina races done after stage 9, the requirements for an S ranking are the same (well now the game expects you being one second faster because of the new engine). The problem is that if you're not experienced enough with this game, you'll realize that this race will demand you to race way faster than before, since the time limit is way more strict than usual.
Objective: finish this downhill race before the time runs out
Requirements for S rank: complete the time attack within 3 minutes and 7 seconds (3:07)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Stay - Victoria (BGM)
- B Rank: Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST205) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Akagi RedSuns
Hey, do you wanna do already the Project D races? Not so fast cowboy, because first we have a couple of races that happen that Takumi does not participate in. This time it is the Takahashi brother's turn to shine, although not for so long, since this chapter is the shortest one by far, with a measly 5 races in total.
As for the races themselves go, they're relatively easy, nothing too fancy, but as always, getting those S ranks is what you should aim for whenever you're ready, since that's what SEGA Rosso considers being actually difficult.
Stage 20: Eve of the Rivals
Another non-canonical race? That'd be incorrect, it's just that this race was never animated in the First Stage, just in the Legends Trilogy. Well, this time it's a simple race against Nakazato on Akina while going uphill, albeit with the condition that Nakazato cannot overtake you, since it's kinda implied that Keisuke is supposed to smash Nakazato just to showcase his better driving skills to the BNR32 driver. If this is your first race with the FD3S, this is a good race to practice and get a good feeling about its handling model, because it's very different in comparison to the AE86.
Objective: reach the top of mountain Akina first without losing your lead during the entire race
Requirements for S rank: finish the race within 2 minutes and 5 seconds (2:05)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Toyota MR-S S-Edition (ZZW30) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Akina (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 21: Conflicting Pride!!
Racing during rain is not the best experience, and this stage will force you to do so, in a very tight race course. And now you may ask: "Only that?" Well, now what if I tell you that must win the race without being able to take the lead outside of the 4th sector? And that you must race through the entire race instead of getting a rolling start? In all fairness, while this race is kinda hard, as long as you're able to overtake Nakazato relatively early you're almost golden, and if you race properly, you can easily snack another S rank for your collection.
Objective: win the duel without overtaking Nakazato during the first three sectors
Requirements for S rank: win the race within 2 minutes and 50 seconds (2:50)
Rewards:
- C Rank: 100 - Dave Rodgers (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR34) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Real Myogi (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 22: Trial Battle
The last non-canonical race in the entire story mode (aha! I got you again, since while this race was never portrayed in any way, but in the manga we have a line of dialogue where Kyoichi tells Seiji that he will race Keisuke in Akina going uphill), here we just have a battle between the second best drivers of both teams that are fighting, in this case The Emperors and Akagi RedSuns (duh). Considering that all RX-7 cars are well suited for the turns of Akagi, this race shouldn't too much of an issue, although if you still haven't still got used to the Keisuke's car, make sure to go back to Time Trial mode and practice the turns at the third and fourth sector, since those are the most important ones to complete succesfully in order to win the race.
Objective: finish the race in 1st place
Requirements for S rank: complete the race while taking no more than 2 minutes and 34 seconds (2:34)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR (CT9A) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Akagi (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 23: Breakthrough of Fear!!
Oh look, finally something new to break the monotony of this chapter, since this chapter we will be able to get inside Ryosuke's car, and prove to Kyoichi that he can't turn to the right properly. Again, this doesn't really happen in the game, since the enemy is controller by an AI who will behave ALWAYS the same, so, as always, these sort of things are simply reproduceable in the game if you try to force the situations, and you'll get the dialogue bits that you did also hear/read in the source material this mission is based off. It's important to know that in this game the SAVANNA is a car that is considered to be worse than ɛ̃fini, and its handling model doesn't make that car's first impression any good. So even though this mission is easy, getting the hang out of this car is important to even stand a chance against Sudo.
Objective: reach the bottom of Akagi before Kyoichi does
Requirements for S rank: have a lap time equal or better than 2 minutes and 27 seconds (2:27)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Don't You (Forget About My Love) - Sophie (BGM)
- B Rank: Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD3S) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S) - Ryosuke Takahashi
Race track: Akagi (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 24: A Critical Moment for the FD!!
After doing that awesome race going downhill through Akina, here we go again doing any time tri-. Wait... it's not a time trial? Well, in reality you're supposed to be racing against Wataru, but considering that he is only chasing you from far away, and that the race ends earlier because of a random guy crashing at the bottom (in the game you simply end without any rhyme or reason, but if you see the anime you'll understand what is going on), this race ends before you even knew it happened.
Objective: pass through the second turn of the third sector while being in first place without being overtaken by Wataru
Requirements for S rank: complete the challenge in 1 minutes and 12 seconds (1:12)
Rewards:
- C Rank: West End Guy - Digital Planet (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Silvia Spec-R (S15) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Akagi (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Project D
The third and last chapter, and possibly the hardest one by far. If you have reached this point already, you'll probably have spent already a couple of months playing this game (unless it's not your first experience with an Initial D game), but that doesn't mean that game will be any easier for you. In any case, it would the total opposite, but only because you'll start to realize that this game is all about optimizing your times even further and further, and if you check the world records for some of the courses and you compare it with yours, chances are their times are way better than yours, even though you think that you can't run barely any better. Regardless of what I said, make sure to always keep trying and trying, and don't forget about the most important thing, memorize the circuits and try to find the best line, and once you've done it, do it again.
Stage 25: Who is the More Reckless!
Since this is the last one of those "accident" races, I'll mention it here since it's important but it only happens here. These stages where the way to obtain an S rating is to make sure that the rivals have to retire, as a matter of fact, that's the ONLY way you can actually win here. Even if you end the race in first place, if your opponent hasn't started saying the line of dialogue that triggers the win condition, no matter the lead you have from your opponent, it won't be enough in order to win the race. So, with that knowledge in mind, make sure to leave Toru Suetsugu behind as fast as possible in order to ensure the win.
Objective: have a lead bigger than 150 meters within 1 minute and 45 seconds (1:45) or overtake Toru using one of the ditches
Requirements for S rank: -
Rewards:
- C Rank: Crazy For Your Love - Morris (BGM)
- B Rank: Mazda Eunos Roadster (NA6CE) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Momiji Line (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 26: Full Throttle Hill Climb!!
Stage 25 but in reverse and without any accident required for win, so just go as fast as possible. Do I need to say anything more? Now go and get that S.
Objective: reach the goal in first place
Requirements for S rank: complete the challenge in 2 minutes 47 seconds (2:47)
Rewards:
- C Rank: I Need Your Love - Dave Simon (BGM)
- B Rank: Nissan Skyline 25GT Turbo (ER34) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Momiji Line (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 27: Don't Look Behind
The title for this race couldn't be more accurate, but not because of how fast Daiki Ninomiya races, but because this time the main thing you must take into consideration is the speed gauge, since again, you must know the speeds at when you must shift the gears, but other than that, you don't need to worry too much, since this course is pretty easy and pretty uneventful if we ignore the last 3 turns. Remember though that during this race, Daiki can't overtake you at any moment, because if that happens, you instantly lose the race.
Objective: finish the race without letting Daiki pass you during its process
Requirements for S rank: finish the race before 2 minutes and 18 seconds (2:18)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Mazda Roadster RS (NB8C) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Enna Skyline (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 28: Takumi Attacks!!
Hey, now we have another gimmick exclusive to this stage, in this case it's all about the grip of your tires. Why's that? Read the manga. What does it mean for this race? Simple, the car will drive as usual, but as soon as the grip bar depletes itself, and mind you, when it starts depleting it does that very fast, the car will drift even more, as if you were racing in the same circuit but with rain. If you're not going slow, the challenge of this stage (like with the latest stage), comes from the last 3 turns, so if you manage to take them without touching the walls at a decent speed, you should be a-ok.
Objective: finish the race in first place
Requirements for S rank: finish the race without taking more than 2 minutes and 20 seconds (2:20) to do so
Rewards:
- B Rank: Suzuki Capuccino (EA11R) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Enna Skyline (Downhill)
Replay: Download
Stage 29: A Turbo FF Driving Man
Is it me or does it seem like that all of the Keisuke's races are as bland as they can possibly be? This time you gotta race against Smiley Sakai, the driver of the best car in the game, but not to worry, since its AI sucks ass and as such, you don't really to worry too much about him. What you should focus on is on the race track, since Enna Skyline is not a race track very well suited for an uphill race, so expect to slam your car onto the wall sometimes if you're new to this circuit.
Objective: finish the race in 1st place
Requirements for S rank: defeat Smiley Sakai within 2 minutes and 37 seconds (2:37)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Big in Japan - Robert Patton (BGM)
- B Rank: Honda Integra Type R (DC2) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Enna Skyline (Uphill)
Replay: Download
Stage 30: Blind Attack
No animals were harmed during the filming of this race. Now that we have PETA out of the way, now we can start talking about this event. Moving forward this point, the game simply does NOT fuck around, it will test your knowledge of the game and won't let you get an easy win on the remaining events. While the first round is just a plain normal race, if you remember what happens in the story, Takumi deploys the "blind attack" technique for the first time during the second round of this duel, which consists of shutting off the front lights of the car and turning them on as soon as he gets the lead in order to surprise Tomoyuki Tachi. In this game, since the opponent is controlled by an unphasable entity, in this case an AI, that technique here serves almost no purpose, if none. In any case, even though you can shut down the lights whenever you feel like, during this round the game will automatically do it for you (without the option of turning it on), as long as you are at least 20 meters or less behind of Tomoyuki. Also, like with stage 16, if you fail or want to restart, you must do it from the beggining of the first round.
Objective:
- First round: don't let Tomoyuki get a lead bigger than 100 meters before reaching the beggining of the 4th sector
- Second round: finish the race in 1st place
Requirements for S rank: have an overall time of both rounds no bigger than 4 minutes and 10 seconds (4:10)
Rewards:
- C Rank: Crazy Night - Boys Band (BGM) and Express Love - Mega NRG Man (BGM)
- B Rank: Honda Civic Type R (EK9) (Iketani's Car Guides)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track:
- First round: Happogahara (Outbound)
- Second round: Happogahara (Inbound)
Stage 31: A Nightmarish Machine
Finally. We are at the end of the story mode, and the game will "haunt" you by simply telling you "win" as the sole objective of this mission (in fact, if you press the "Next" button after completing stage 30, the game will take you back to the story mode menu as if you completed the entire chapter, but if you check it again you'll see the last stage appearing). If you know the basic plot points of Initial D, or heck, you have completed the Legend of Streets mode in any of the games of this franchise, you'll already know what car it is, and who's the one driving it. Before you try winning this race, it's very important to know that this race alongside the latest one will REALLY test your skills, and this is not a joke, so unless you're capable of racing down Akina REALLY fast, forget about doing this race, just practice and practice. Just as a side note, this is the only race in the entire campaign mode where if you lose you'll actually see a cutscene (in this case what happens just after Takumi gets overtaken, since that's what happens canonically), although that race will still count as a lose, so you will have to win the race no matter what.
Objective: reach the bottom of Akina before Bunta Fujiwara does
Requirements for S rank: win the race no slower than 2 minute and 50 seconds (2:50)
Rewards:
- B Rank: Subaru Impreza WRX STi Coupe Type R Version V (GC8F) (Iketani's Car Guides) and Subaru Impreza WRX STi Coupe Type R Version V (GC8F) (Selectable car)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)
Replay: Download