IAP wise it gets more confusing as the game has multiple currencies. Before moving onto the game I know a major concern is how obtrusive the IAP are and whether the game is playable offline (a valid question since ‘online’ is part of the title.įortunately in-spite of a few pop-ups of Japanese text, Initial D is perfectly playable offline (obviously not the online multiplayer). Obviously these are just parts of a whole and both parts mean little if the overall gameplay is lacking and that’s where the challenge lies – in making what can effectively be considered merely a gear changing game one of great substance and enjoyment.

Two areas where Sega can be commended for is in both the excellent aesthetics and presentation which give Initial D a polish that many full-priced ¥5,000+ titles fail to match. Essentially Initial D is thus more akin to a rhythm game in the guise of a racing game. What I found more fascinating than Sega’s new racer Initial D: Perfect Shift Online being the third 3DS free-to-play game after Darumeshi Sports Store (Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball) and Steel Diver Subwars is that I had no idea there was an Initial D game (Initial D Gaiden) for the original Game Boy! Based on an anime/manga Initial D is less of a racer than it looks from the screenshots as steering is totally automatic with you just controlling the shifts (hence the Perfect Shift part in the name).

Initial d: perfect shift online