Racing simulation based on the Initial D licence, the cult Japanese motorsport manga. Mountain car physics and touge circuits are faithfully reproduced. A title that will delight manga fans and Japanese motorsport fans on PS2.
Your verdict
Category
Racing2 players7+
Split screen
Description
A Japanese Sega racer released in 2003, based on Shuichi Shigeno's Initial D manga. Players drive iconic Japanese cars (AE86, RX-7, Skyline) across the Akina mountain passes and other manga tracks, in an arcade formula built around drifting. Compatible with the dedicated Initial D controller.
A rare Japanese or Asian run of Initial D Special Stage, either a non-retail Koudansha prize edition or an Asian version with narrow distribution. Markedly rarer than the standard run, it appeals to collectors attentive to promotional and regional variants of a licensed game. Its desirability rests mainly on this specific pressing scarcity.
Better with friends
A drift race drawn from a cult manga, where the art of sliding through mountain hairpins gives the nighttime duels all their flavor. The competition plays out head-to-head, in mastering the countersteer and reading tight corners where the slightest slip is fatal. Tense and stylish, it recreates the intensity of the paper's clashes and feeds intimate rivalries you restart for the rematch.
Is Initial D - Special Stage still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2004 on PS2, Sega's project adapts the famous mountain pass racing manga by bringing the Initial D arcade gameplay onto the console. The touge descents, the drift control and the fidelity to cars and characters such as the famous AE86 immediately appeal to fans of the licence. The driving, technical and demanding, requires memorising each corner to beat the clock. The content stays thin outside the duels and the repetitive eurobeat will divide. A targeted curiosity, recommended for fans of stylised Japanese racing and for followers of the Initial D manga curious about its console transposition.
