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.
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 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 penalty, 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)
Video guide: ergergdf
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 at least 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)
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 its 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)
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 minutes 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)
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)
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: 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:
- 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)
Stage 7: Battle to the Limit
Here's one of those really 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: 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:
- 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, since you must 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: 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:
- 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: 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: 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)
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 when the anime doesn't really follow the structure of 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: 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 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 if how slippery the car will be, 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, since here you must leave Kenta behind by a good margin.
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 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)
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 to without any problem.
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: 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)
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: 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:
- 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)
Stage 14: Suicidal Fireball Battle
(WIP)
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:
- 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
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 16: Hunch of Awakening
(WIP)
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:
- 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 (Inbound)
- Second round: Shomaru Pass (Outbound)
- Third round: Shomaru Pass (Inbound)
Stage 17: Challenge!! Irohazaka
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 18: Further Inside Corner!!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 19: Blazing Course Record
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Akagi RedSuns
(WIP)
Stage 20: Eve of the Rivals
(WIP)
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: 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)
Stage 21: Conflicting Pride!!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 22: Trial Battle
(WIP)
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: 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)
Stage 23: Breakthrough of Fear!!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 24: A Critical Moment for the FD!!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Project D
(WIP)
Stage 25: Who is the More Reckless!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 26: Full Throttle Hill Climb!!
(WIP)
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:
- 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)
Stage 27: Don't Look Behind
(WIP)
Objective: finish the race before Daiki Ninomiya does
Requirements for S rank: fill up the bar in less than 42 seconds (0:42)
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)
Stage 28: Takumi Attacks!!
(WIP)
Objective: finish the race in 1st 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)
Stage 29: A Turbo FF Driving Man
(WIP)
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)
Car and character used: Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type-R (FD3S) - Keisuke Takahashi
Race track: Enna Skyline (Uphill)
Stage 30: Blind Attack
(WIP)
Objective:
- First round: don't let Tomoyuki get a lead bigger than 100 meters
- 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)
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. If you know the basics 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.
Objective: win the race
Requirements for S rank: win the race no slower than 2 minute and 49 seconds (2:49)
Rewards:
- B Rank: (WIP)
Car and character used: Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86) - Takumi Fujiwara
Race track: Akina (Downhill)