What's so good about Initial D?

[JohnBud]

initiald 1 = sweaty bollox

to play this game to its maximum is quite a hard feat. rick "grobda" and i hammered id 1 for a couple of months. as you complete the courses the game starts getting faster, without upgrading your car you will not complete it. unlike or2 you cannot just slide around bends you need to work the brake and gears. the key to completing id1 is avoiding hitting walls even just a scrape will set you back a few seconds. if you want to experience what this game is all about don't cheat. start on the first course and work up to the end.the final course will see you in second and third gear hammering the brake and accel pedals.

 

[Outrun2]

Can't put my finger on any one thing, I guess it's the combination of the things already mentioned; difficulty, fun of flinging the car round tight bends, cheesy music, 'cult' status etc..

But I think what makes it stand out is that it's a bit different to all the other Sega drivers of the last 20 years, both from a gameplay and hardware point of view. Okay, it's not a massive difference..

Gameplay is basically one on one (even in 1 player mode), rather than against the clock (OR2) or 39 other drivers (Daytona). Of course, lap/stage times do become important, but initially (haha) you just want to beat the other guy to the finish line (which is HARD on the later stages).

The game is also well suited to a home environment, where you can learn the tracks and update your car without having to shovel hundreds of Pounds into the coin slot!

In a change form other Sega drivers, the control panel is setup for left hand drive rather than RHD, and more importantly the wheel is bigger and rotates 330deg, not the usual 270deg. Although looking a bit ridiculous at first, the big wheel and extra lock to lock go together to make a more realistic (and energetic!) driving experience than say OR2. Crank up the ffb and you will find it quite a workout - no laid back, one handed drifts round large open corners, smiling for the camera here! Be prepared for full-on wheel grappling around tight hairpin bends where you find yourself throwing your whole upper body from side to side trying to stop the EVO V undertaking you and making "You Lose"

I started my quest to get an OR2 twin setup just over three years ago and was lucky enough to get hold of three iD1 cabs for a steal. Two of the cabs were for converting to OR2 and the other was never supposed to be kept - I'd never played iD before getting the cabs so didn't have any interest in the game. The iD cab remained in my possession for a while though and the more I played it the more I grew to like, and love it. It's a totally different experience to OR2.

Don't get me wrong I'm crap at it and love my OR2SP twin like never before, but I would never sell either setup now - two true Sega classics

 

[Outrun2]

Lot of or2 twins are getting skipped due to chihiro and the monitors going bad.

Shame operators don't put them on eBay, but seems claiming as a loss is better for there taxes.

This is depressing, but if a Chihiro and/or monitor goes down (likely with regard the monitor as we know

) then it's a big expense. I hate LCD upgrades in OR2 cabs (running the Chihiro version anyway) but even this is about £1K per twin - understandable that an op would think twice with a 10 year old cab.

But trashing a cab is soooo wrong in every way

I remember when I was looking to get an OR2 twin in 2010 the price of a twin was around £4.5K!!

 

[Outrun2]

This always makes me laugh. The kid makes it all look so easy

 

[strykr]

What a legend that kid is

 

[Vamino]

I usually just buy the home versions of games to play them and am fairly happy, but for me, there is something very special about playing Initial D in it's dedicated arcade cab, hence me giving away my spare sofa to make space, and cutting back on essentials for a month or 2....eating beans + noodles, turning off the heating whilst wearing fleeces/multiple layers around the house just so I could afford splurging out to buy one. As a package, I agree that at first ID seems a lot less appealing when compared to other Sega racers.

ID is one of those games that when you first play it seems average at best. But, when the first 3 games were released many people were pumping huge coinage into this game, when I first played it I thought how on earth do these people get such fast times with such a huge steering wheel!

If you play it for fun, then a lot of the intricacies of the handling are overlooked. But, once you take it a bit more serious then a whole new level of depth is uncovered. The faster the car gets, the more challenging it is, there are also quite a few hidden techniques to gain those extra tenths of a second if you are into that type of thing. I've been playing this for a while and I'm so far off the top times it aint funny.

With 2 cabs linked up it opens up a whole new can of worms, put 2 people side by side who are good at the game and there you have it, videogame crack. Of course not everyone likes this variety of crack, but luckily Outrun 2 is another game people can get their drift fix from so all is well for Sega race game fans. I absolutely caned the Xbox versions of OR2, I know it's not the arcade but I still loved those games. But, right at this moment, give me a choice of Initial D Ver2 or Outrun 2 SP and I'll take ID thank you very much, that may change in the future tho.

Cheers.

 

[Vamino]

This is not an easy course, but the guy makes it look so easy.
2m 18s for one credit, no wonder arcade operators loved this game!


Cheers.
Vamino2013-10-27 12:51:03