Last Friday, after going to MOELC to settle some Japanese Language stuff and meeting Frieda (my Bible Study group leader) at Junction 8, I set off for Tampines for dinner, and a possible (if there's time) attempt on the Initial D Arcade game.
After playing Need For Speed with the IT Club guys for a period of time, I started to develop an interest in street racing games, and Initial D looked pretty cool to me... it must have been the players' memory card (which enables storage of car upgrades and record timing) that impressed me... but of course, the recent Initial D movie was one of the factors which aroused my interest as well.
So I arrived in the Arcade in Century Square feeling like a noob (I knew I was one), and I ended up asking a few questions about the gameplay, like "What's the Up-Down throttle for?" (it was for changing gear).
Finally, it's time for me to make a headstart (I waited for quite a long time!), and like all noobs, I was quite clumsy regarding the controls of the game, and during the part where I was supposed to choose my car, I took quite a long time, so in the end when the time was up, I was "given" a blue Toyota MR2 G-limited (I was at its page at the moment), and for the tuning course, I was also pretty puzzled as to how it worked, so I just chose Course A (I wanted to get started quickly).
Toyota MR2 G-limited
Well, whether I chose it or not, I'm going to stick with this car and see how things turned out. I liked the blue colour, by the way.
Of course, for a noob, I would prefer to do Time Attack first. I started with the Myogi track (the easiest, I thought), and my first run was a total flop.
Firstly, it was my first try. Secondly, I made quite a lot of mistakes, like turning my car too much... the biggest mistake I made was when I arrived at the end of the 3rd lap... I wasn't looking at the lap counter and when I went through the finishing line, I did a sharp turn so that my car would screech to a stop, facing the opposite direction (I intended to make it my trademark move).
Then I realized that there was still one more lap to go. Sheepishly I turned around and resumed the race, but of course I didn't finish it within the stipulated time.
The second round was much better, I could finish the race, and I was told that I beat my personal best (duh!). I even got an upgrade!
This morning I was discussing Initial D stuff with NCC (he plays the game too), and he told me that the Gear-change mode (Auto/Manual) could not be changed.
Oh Gosh.
I chose Auto mode (for gear change) because I thought it could be changed later when I'm more seasoned. As it turned out, the fact is that it can't be changed... so maybe I have to get another card... but I'll stick to this car. I didn't get it by chance. Heh. But that's for the next time I play.
Hmm... a black car would look pretty nice too.
The official website for Initial D Arcade Stage 3 proved to be very useful as well... lots of information about the game and everything... and I think I'm going to choose Course B for tuning... that Toyota car has a very cool spoiler in Course B!
