Out of all Initial D games I've tried, I felt this one had the deepest understanding of its source material when it came to the actual racing. At first it felt like skidding around on ice but I came to understand the strong emphasis this game puts on drifting above all else. After all Takumi's AE86 was never a speed demon, relying more on drifting technique to get by. Compared to its (honestly laughable) predecessor on Saturn, there's a nice sense of speed and the handling is miles better, however loose it might seem in the beginning. Attacking corners is really fun, you'll definitely feel impressed at the drifts you can manage to pull off once you get the hang of it.

The story mode takes from the manga, roughly covering its main events and delivering them in deliciously janky 3D cutscenes. Despite being pretty funny looking I have to applaud the effort into adapting Shuichi Shigeno's charming artstyle. The soundtrack's cool too, not the iconic heart-pumping Eurobeat of the show but it's not bad either. Overall just a neat game I can easily recommend to any Initial D enjoyer, with decent replay value for increasing difficulty and new cars.