WANGAN MIDNIGHT =======\ MAXIMUM TUNE I =======I I MAXIMUM TUNE =======/ WANGAN MIDNIGHT FAQ by Darrell Wong (DKW 001) i. Stuff for CJayC ii. Update history iii. Glossary iv. About Japanese names 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE ESSENTIALS 3. COURSES AND FEATURES 4. STREET ROCKETRY 101 5. STORY MODE OVERVIEW 6. ALL 80 STAGES 7. 10 OPPONENT OUTRUN 8. GHOST VERSUS BATTLE MODE 9. THE PARTS BOX i. Stuff for CJayC ------------------ e-mail: dkw0001@gmail.com Date submitted: 7/29/08 Version: Final ii. Glossary ------------ Yeah...definitely better do this first. Freeway racing has enough chaos as it is. To be updated as required. BAR - That thing that says something like "collect points to upgrade your car". When you complete it, you get a tuning unit or a cosmetic part, depending on which bar it is, of course. BATTLE - Japanese street lingo for a match (one on one) race. A race with more than two competitors is sometimes called a "super battle". In arcade racing, this is the general term for a player-vs.-player matchup. BLOCK - An advanced tuning unit, indicated by an orange block on the setup screen (red if you put more than 10 into power or handling). This can also mean "get in the way of the other guy", of course, but you'll know it when it happens. COLD START - A start from a complete standstill. DROPOUT - An opponent that fails to finish the race. GUIDE WALL - One of those transparent or curved angled barriers on the side of the road with arrows on it. JUMPER - An opponent who enters the race at some point after it's begun. A *very* frequent occurrence now. MAXIMUM TUNE - Thirteen blocks, the highest possible. NONCOMPETITOR - A car that drives with you but isn't actually in the race, so you don't have to beat it to win. It's indicated by an arrow with no "R" above it. QUARTER - One fourth of Story Mode, a total of 4 tiers and 20 stages. What was a "cycle" in the previous games. RANK - Exactly how far you've progressed, indicated by your "Class" and corresponding "Level". SETUP - The power/handling block allocation you can set before each race. STARTER - An opponent who starts the race with you (a "regular" opponent, in other words). TIER - One of the 20 different 5-stages groupings in Story Mode, each with its own name. TITLE - The cool/funny/weird/stupid/wicked/whatever label you have at the moment. This is separate from your rank. WALL PASS - A pass of a traffic vehicle in the space between it and the wall. Any car can do it if you have the skill (and nerve). iii. About Japanese names ------------------------- Japan, throughout its history, has historically been highly socially stratified, with a strong emphasis on politeness. There are also many long-standing traditions, stemming in large part due to isolationism and traditional values. One of which is politeness. Plus there's a very strong importance given to ancestors and family, the highly traditional, historical, and highly important...units. Of stratification. And isolation. Anyway, one tradition, stemming from Japan's Chinese origins, is that for a full name, the family name comes before the given name. This is because the family is supposed to be more important than the individual. When speaking or writing in Japanese, the family name for any Japanese person always comes first. (If you wondered why the announcer for Samurai Shodown gave every name backwards, well, that's the reason.) Now for fictional characters, and especially for stories that have a plethora of minor characters that are seen for a short while then never used again (like, oh, your typical shonen manga), it can be a burden thinking of a given and family name for everybody. This is further compounded by the fact that Japan has traditionally been highly isolationist (remember?), thus rather severely limiting name choices. In America, you might find a Bill, Juanita, Pavel, Pierre, Dikembe, Hilda, Devon, and Kimo, as well as a Richardson, O'Malley, Kwon, Hackenschmidt, Martinez, Goldberg, and Tan in the same city; nowhere in Japan has anywhere near that level of diversity. Most authors have a very simple solution; cut off half. But which half? It depends. In general, characters who are "important" (or at least supposed to be important) get to go by the family name. Yamashita, Hayashi, Yamanaka, Motoki. In old times, just the family name generally meant the clan leader (that's why important guys like Tokugawa and Nobunaga are known by one name, even though they all did have given names), so this is, in a sense, a measure of respect. Less important characters, typically youngsters or those without important positions, are on a first...oops, last name basis. Tatsuya. Rikako. Women, incidentally, virtually never go by the last name. This may seem sexist, but the truth is simply that a woman, traditionally, could never be the most important part of any organization, plus her identity was largely shaped by the men in her life, most commonly her husband and father. Okay, it's definitely unbelievably sexist. So family name first...HOWEVER, *only* when speaking or writing *in Japanese*. When using another language, you follow the proper structure *of that language*. In other words, it is *not* ever "Asakura Akio", it's "[bunch of katakana I can't do in plain text]". "Asakura Akio" is the equivalent of "[Japanese 'Akio'] [Japanese 'Asakura']", making it wrong *twice over*. And nobody wants that. Namco has had a pretty good track record with this (there's never been any confusion with Tekken's names), but in this game, they slip a bit here and there. So I've provided this convenient chart: given family given family ------------------------------------------- Akio Asakura Rikako Ota Tatsuya Shima Takayuki Kuroki Reina Akikawa Keiichiro Aizawa Jun Kitami Koichi Kijima Ko Tominaga Eiji Kamiya Yoshiaki Ishida Maki Kamiya Koichi Hiramoto Gen Goto Kazuhiko Yamamoto Makoto Morishita Kazuo Ota All good? No more confusion, right? Okay. (If you have a problem with any of this, write your own damn Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 FAQ. :-D) 1. INTRODUCTION --------------- A road that never ends... The eternal quest for 1km/h more... No winners, only those that race and those that walk away... It started with a fast-paced romp. It turned into a grueling journey and a series of unforgiving 10-stage battles. Now, the final step has been taken with a feature so many Wangan Midnight players have wanted for so long...customization. That's right. Bodykits! Spoilers! Skirts! Carbon fiber! Every "dress up" part imaginable (and that's exactly what they're called in the game). No more having to drive the same boring R34 or boring RX-8 or...gaudy-in-the-same-way- as-every-other-Celsior Celsior. Now YOU are in control of your car's appearance. Of course, you also have a new Story Mode to contend with, one much more faithful to the actual manga than in the past. 10 Opponent Outrun is back, and while a little less demanding than in the past, at its toughest it gets very challenging. And of course, the ultimate challenge, Time Trials, which now have two entirely new Highway courses to test your marathon driving skills. Other additions: - More courses. Entire Wangan Line now present, as well as complementary Yokohane. Also added is Hanshin Line, a tight, tricky Osaka circuit. - Completely revamped Story Mode; now you're running every chapter exactly (well, for the most part) how it happened in the manga. Lots of spinouts and jumpers and other surprises. - Enhanced tuning; maximum tune is now 13 blocks. - More cars, including a new traffic car. - Ghost Battle Mode, where you take on a variety of pre-set "ghosts" to earn dress-up parts. Changes: - Overall speeds slowed down somewhat. - Hakone has been completely redesigned, much wider and less technical. It's also brightly lit throughout at night, so darkness is no longer a factor - Story Mode is much easier than in MT2, *however*, there are a few spots where you still need a great run to win. - 10 Opponent Outrun is easier overall. - In a battle, the lead driver has the option of changing the course whenever there's a juncture. This makes the ability to drive a variety of courses and make adjustments on the fly essential. 2. THE ESSENTIALS ----------------- First things first...you're going to slide a lot. When you have that heavy an object carrying that much forward momentum and want to change direction, it's going to resist you. Second Law of Motion; no getting around it. Furthermore, getting through a turn or around a vehicle doesn't mean you're out of the woods just yet, as it's possible to hit something getting straightened back out (go through Story Mode with an MR2 if you really want this point driven home). This not only means that you have to think ahead for certain tough spots, you need to avoid attempting anything that's simply not possible, like inverse drifting. The good news is that every vehicle, no matter how squirrelly, has a basic level of stability, so you never have to worry about spinning out or fishtailing horribly. The two things you want to avoid, above all else, are hitting walls and running into traffic. Both tasks are a lot more of a challenge now due to the increase in tight roads (especially Yokohane) and traffic. As before, the amount of speed you lose depends on the severity of the hit, so if you have to take a hit (which you will, many, many times no matter how good you are), be sure to "roll with the punch" and lessen the impact. Burnouts, which occur when you gas it too hard in a tight corner, aren't nearly as dangerous now, but it's still best to avoid them. Learn to "feather" the throttle and figure out the right time to go hard again. Use manual transmission! Automatic dampers both your high speed and acceleration, handicaps you can almost never afford. Although it'll make the game more accessible for a beginner, it can quickly become a crutch that'll really hamper you when you need every bit of speed later on. The only time I ever recommend it, in fact, is for a powerful 6-gear vehicle for Hakone. That's it. As for shift points, again, trust the tachometer and don't be afraid to go up a half second sooner/later than the ideal. Downshift after a hard turn or for a steep uphill stretch, then upshift back when your powerband can take it. And this bears repeating: Don't abuse the shifter. Nothing even marginally good *ever* comes from this. Both Story Mode and player vs. player battles have traffic, consisting of trucks, vans, and cars, which always appear in the same places. Vehicles go at a constant speed, and only a few change lanes. It's best to avoid them, obviously. If you absolutely have to choose between running into a vehicle and hitting the wall, the vehicle is always better, but you should always at least attempt to stay clear. It's possible to squeeze between a vehicle and the wall. This is actually easier now due to the reduced speeds, but it's best to resort to this only when it's reasonably safe (say, a straight stretch on Wangan) or if you absolutely need to pull ahead. - Subsection: about cards - You need to buy a card to save your progress. Your tuning, Story Mode status, time trial results, 10 Opponent Outrun progress, and dress-up parts are all saved. Each card is limited to 60 plays. You can transfer a card over from the second game. Your name and car color will be kept, and your tuning will be exactly the same. Every Story Mode stage you cleared is transferred as well. If you made it through 80 stages undefeated, you get a special tachometer (there's no other way to get it). Note on shading/unshading; if your MT2 card was unshaded (no Story Mode losses), it remains unshaded for MT3. If it was shaded, your MT3 card will be shaded. ONLY EXCEPTION I'VE SEEN: If you transfer a card that's cleared the entire Story Mode *and* hasn't yet cleared a stage in the "second run", and it was shaded, it'll unshade when you transfer. You cannot transfer over a card from the first game. Your game ends automatically when you run out of plays. The next time you enter the card, you have to renew it. After renewing a card, you can make an additional two copies of the old card before it becomes invalid. Copied cards can have only basic tuning and start from Stage 21 of Story Mode at the latest, and nothing important is changeable (the name *can* be changed). It's good to have if you want to give a headstart to a friend or want to have a backup for an unshaded card so you don't have to start completely from scratch if you mess up. Not much use otherwise. Here's what I know about the cars I've played at length. Toyota Celsior - For a vehicle with so much "rice" baggage (even though what Gatchan's going for isn't quite the same), it's not bad at all. It's responsive and *very* stable in the corners, and it's so heavy and unshakable that it doesn't lose a lot of speed from wall hits. It even has pretty good acceleration, especially for a 4-gear, and the top speed isn't too shabby either, although still nothing to write home about. You won't be setting records with this, but it's a great beginner car and always fun to drive. Toyota MR2 - As always, the little guy is blessed with silky-smooth handling, and it's also the easiest car to make wall passes and get through those nasty Enforcers. The weird thing, however, is that while its *handling* is great, its *grip* is terrible, meaning that you're going to slide coming out of nearly every corner. It's also hampered by so-so acceleration and one of the worst top speeds. Be prepared to get left in the dust in a lot of places where you'd normally cruise to victory. Nissan Fairlady Z Type S - Considering that this is the model for the Blackbird, it's a major disappointment. In fact, about the only positive is that it has one of the most explosive accelerations of all. It's difficult to control in the corners, and its top speed is *pathetic*. (I got outrun by Sonoda, of all people, in the stretch.) Unless you're after "challenge", I really can't see any reason to take this. Nissan Skyline R33 (GT-R V-Spec) - The "forgotten" Skyline makes a name for itself in MT3. It has very good acceleration for a 5-gear vehicle and can shrug off minor wall bumps and fender benders like nothing. Even better, it has crisp, responsive cornering, enabling you to take medium and even medium-to-sharp corners hard. Tends to burn off speed, but with its acceleration, that's a minor setback. It is a bit drifty and somewhat tough to maneuver at high speeds, however, so this is not a beginner's car by any means. An ideal second or third car. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR - It's changed somewhat from the previous games. Now it's no longer so lacking in power, but it's also lost a fair amount of traction. In other words, no more gunning it through those corners. On the whole, it's solidly in the "good but not great" category. A good choice for players of all skill levels. Nissan Skyline R34 (GT-R V-Spec II) - Its speed is simply phenomenal, even in the early stages of tuning, and it can get up to top speed like nothing. It has very good handling for a vehicle of its weight and rock-solid grip. It does scrub off speed, but much less than an MR2 or Fairlady Z Type S, and getting back up is never a problem. Even better, it's extremely sturdy, meaning that even if you do tap the wall, the speed loss is negligible. This is arguably the best vehicle in the entire game, and considering how reluctant I am to put the "best" label on anything, that's saying a lot. Mazda RX-7 Type R - The best control of all the vehicles I've played; smooth, tight cornering and a rock-solid grip on the road. It also has a very respectable top speed. As you might expect, this comes at the expense of heavy speed loss in the corners and mediocre acceleration. Excellent beginner vehicle, but players of all skill levels will enjoy this rotary's ability to tame a course. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 - Very similar to the R34, an all-around beast. Slightly better grip but also slightly worse top speed. Acceleration, especially out of corners, is phenomenal. Toyota Hiace - Not a race car by any means (not a car, period, but never mind), it's big and bulky and not particularly good at any aspect of racing. It's also an *extremely* tight squeeze between a vehicle and a wall and even the Yokohane Enforcers. There's absolutely no chance at any realistic kind of accomplishment with this, so if you are going to drive it, drive it for fun. And by "fun", I mean "4-player melees". (Hey, check out YouTube sometime; what do you *think* most Hiace drivers do with it?) + The hidden cars! + For all of these, highlight the appropriate car in the select screen and do the following motions on the shifter *slowly* and *carefully*. Don't rush. Be careful. Make sure you get every shift right. If you mess up, turn to another car, then turn back and try again. Carefully. Without rushing. Slowly. Corolla - Toyota Supra 2.5 GT, 4-1-2-6 Hiace - Toyota MR2, 3-2-2-3-2-2-3-2-2 R2 - Subaru Alcyone SVX, 6-4-6-4-6-4-6-4-6-4 Aristo taxi - Toyota Aristo, 1-1-1-2-2-2-3-3-3-4-4-4-5-5-5-6-6-6-6-6-6 3. COURSES AND FEATURES ----------------------- The Tokyo battlegrounds you will be competing on fall into four distinct areas, C1, New Belt Line (Shinkanjyo), Yokohane, and Wangan Line. The streets are all one-way, so clockwise and counterclockwise runs take place on different roads. C1 is a small loop, the inner counterclockwise direction called "Inbound" and the outer clockwise direction called "Outbound". Both directions have plenty of hard turns and short, narrow straightaways. New Belt Line, directly to the east of C1, is divided into the long clockwise run, the shorter counterclockwise run that crosses the Rainbow Bridge, and a special run which crosses the bridge clockwise, which I call "long", "short", and "reverse", respectively. It shares a stretch with C1 which I simply call the "shared road". Except for that area, expect mostly medium-to-long straightaways interspersed with a variety of turns. Yokohane extends southward from the shared road, continues southwest, then goes straight west, eventually circling back around into Wangan. Both directions are an extremely long series of short straightaways and shallow-to-medium turns contained within two narrow lanes. Finally, the famous Wangan Line starts from the northeasternmost part of New Belt Line and goes southwest for a long, long time before turning west, ending at the start of Yokohane. It's the longest, widest, straightest roadway in all of Japan with only a few very gentle corners. Needless to say, it's an extremely popular location for high-powered street battles. Note: When I give "Wangan" as a course, I mean just the parts that are *not* in New Belt Line. I give the Wangan and Yokohane directions as "outward" and "inward". Outward is the direction heading away from C1 and New belt Line; inward is the opposite. There are two courses away from Tokyo, Hakone, an undulating rural road full of twists and turns, and the new Osaka Hanshin Line, consisting almost entirely of straightaways and medium-to-hard right turns. Your gearing is tightened up on Hakone. An arrow indicator, either blue, yellow, or red, will pop up before every corner. Blue is a gentle turn, yellow is a fairly gentle to medium turn (always less than 90 degrees), and red is a hard corner. When two turns in succession are coming up, a two-turn indicator will appear, either yellow or red depending on severity. There are also straight green arrow indicators pointing left, right, and straight; these are self-explanatory. Finally, there's the classic "!", meaning a hazard of some sort up ahead, like an Enforcer (see below). Because it can be difficult to keep track of all the locations and features, I've invented names for some of them. I'll be referring to them as such throughout this FAQ. Back Straight (New Belt Line long) - A fairly long, completely straight two-lane stretch between the Front Straight and shared road. Boomerang (New Belt Line short) - A short climb leading to an extremely sharp left followed by a straight downhill stretch. It leads directly to the southbound Walls of Death. Because it's on an uphill, you're going to be very slow coming out. Downshift to third for a 6-gear and second for anything else and leave it there until you're back up to speed. Bridge (New Belt Line short and reverse) - The famous Rainbow Bridge, with curved ramps leading to it in both directions. If it's night, you'll see an impressive fireworks display. The bridge itself is perfectly straight and easy to manage. Crazy Snake (C1 Inbound) - A very short distance from the Suicide Left, this is three medium turns in immediate succession with plenty of open spaces on both sides for you to crash into. The most difficult part is the troublesome third turn with the van in the right lane. If your handling is good enough, holding the road and passing it on the left is a good idea. Otherwise, swing around it on the right and quickly rejoin the main road. Crossover (Yokohane inward) - A steep uphill connecting ramp that turns right, goes straight for a bit, turns left, and feeds into the Sprint Junction a little before the first Launchpad. Double Reverse (C1 Outbound) - A medium left/medium right combo followed quickly by a medium right/medium left. Dragstrip (New Belt Line long) - The start of the Wangan Line, going from northeast to southwest. It's an *extremely* long (over 5K), wide, almost completely straight section. At the end, it branches into the Turnabout and Sprint Junction. Drainpipe (Yokohane inward) - Appearing out of nowhere near the end of Yokohane, this is a sharp, very tight right turn with a downhill hard left almost immediately afterward. Because you'll be hitting both at close to top speed, it's *extremely* easy to wreck horribly. Brake hard and brake *early*. Fortunately, the first turn has a series of arrow markings, so it's easy to recognize. Drop Chute (New Belt Line reverse) - A downhill left-right turn combo followed by a short downhill straight, all with a high steel wall on the left. It's not too far from the bridge exit. Because it's a fairly steep descent, you need to be a little more conservative than usual. Enforcer (Wangan & Yokohane, multiple locations) - A row of lane dividers with booths in them crossing the width of the street. Each divider is marked with a purple light at the bottom. It's not too hard to get through (since you'll see it long before you get to it), but if you don't get through *completely* clean, you're taking a huge speed hit or worse. The best advice is to keep your eyes on the purple lights and ignore everything else, *especially* the lane lines. Avoid the extreme left and right openings if at all possible, as it's hard to get the proper entry angle for them. Front Straight (New Belt Line long) - A fairly short, narrow, straight stretch immediately after the Turnabout. Funnel (New Belt Line long) - A wide-open road which quickly narrows, via a guide wall, to a ramp. Take this a little wide to get a good entry angle for the ramp. Hillcrest (shared road, northbound) - The top of the gentle uphill stretch following the Walls of Death. Launchpad (Wangan, two outward on Superspeedway, two inward on Sprint Junction) - The greatest danger of the Wangan, a rise in the road which, due to the speeds you hit here, result in a spectacular jump. It's very easy to rear-end a vehicle on the way down, especially since you can't see the traffic beyond the hump until after you're airborne. More on these unusual hazards in the Story Mode walkthrough. Out Ramp (C1 Inbound) - The start of the Asakasa Straight, a narrow two-lane straightaway leading out of the last tunnel. There's a van in the left lane at the beginning that's very easy to hit; make sure you're in the right as you make the turn in. I called this the "Motorcade" in the previous games. Pendulum (C1 Inbound) - The third-to-last corner before the Out Ramp, this is a medium right with a car in the right lane and a small open space to the right of the road. It's a judgment call whether to make the pass on the inside or outside (neither choice is perfect). Either way, you're going to go from a gentle turn to a hard one quickly, so stay sharp and keep a light touch on the brake pedal. Short Line (New Belt Line short) - A short stretch of freeway running immediately opposite the Dragstrip. I called this the "Trophy Dash" in the previous games. Snap Hook (C1 Outbound) - The corner connecting to the southbound Walls of Death, easily the toughest right turn in the game. The apex is a little *past* the midpoint and very easy to miss. Unless you're conservative *and* precise here, you're taking a costly wall hit. As with the Boomerang, you're going to be slow coming out; gear accordingly. Sprint Junction (Wangan, both directions) - Connecting the Dragstrip to the Superspeedway, this is a fairly wide high-speed section with several very gentle turns. Sucker Exit (New Belt Line short) - A short distance from the little stretch with the steel girders, this is a shallow, wide left turn with a van in the left lane. Since there's so much space to the left, you might be tempted to pass there. *Don't*. This is actually a branch-off lane that's *completely* cut off by a nearly horizontal guide wall less than 200 meters down; needless to say, getting through here without a horrendous collision is next to impossible. Suicide Left (C1 Inbound) - The most challenging single corner in the game, a extremely sharp left which quickly becomes an even more extremely sharp left (this is known as a "decreasing radius" turn). Unless you have a High Grip setup, you must slow down well before entering it to have any chance of getting through cleanly. It's just after the Hillcrest. Sunrise Straight (New Belt Line short) - An undulating straightaway on the northernmost part of New Belt Line. If it's morning, you'll see the sun on the right. Superspeedway (Wangan, both directions) - The legendary wide, extremely long, completely straight stretch of freeway, the proving ground for 800 HP monsters. Don't relax, however, because there are literally dozens of vehicles to get around, and at the speeds you'll be going, you'll need a light touch on the steering wheel to stay out of trouble. Trap Tunnel (C1 Outbound) - A mostly straight and fairly nondescript tunnel...with a nasty little open space on the left (looks kinda like a bus service lane). Needless to say, keep out of there or you're in for a spectacular crash. Turnabout (New Belt Line long) - This consists of a very hard right, a short straight, and another hard right, after which you're driving the opposite way you came. The southernmost part of New Belt Line. Twister (shared road, northbound) - A gentle left/medium right combo coming after a short straightaway. It's right before the Walls of Death. Walls of Death (shared road, both directions) - Not *nearly* as painful now due to the reduced speeds, but still a place that demands skillful driving. It consists of concrete lane dividers contained within tight chicanes. You'll face two dividers going south and three going north. Southbound, you have to make two hard turns in succession a total of three times; you'll want to downshift one or two gears depending on your car and tuning. The north Walls require you to maneuver between the dividers at a pretty high speed; hit closest opening for the first two, but always take the third on the left, making a nice, *controlled* turn as you do. All the walls are dangerous (especially if the finish is the Hillcrest); don't think that just avoiding the dividers is enough. If you're a veteran of this game, consider this practice for Yokohane. Wishbone (C1 Inbound) - A medium right/left combo, a short straight, and then a medium left/right combo. Kind of the Inbound's counterpart to the Double Reverse. 4. ROAD RIPPING 101 ------------------- There's nothing terribly complex about freeway racing. Essentially, the objective is to go as fast as inhumanly possible without running into something. Since the objects in question are generally walls, vehicles, and the various obstructions, anticipation is the key, and the only way to find the ideal lines is to practice. For a typical easy-to-medium corner, it's usually best to go in hard, turn, and ease off the gas as much as possible to hold the turn. If speed is of the essence, it's best to start on the outside, get as close as possible to the apex of the corner on the inside, then gently roll back to the outside (this is known as "out-in-out"). Don't hesitate to brake a bit if you feel you have to; being a little too conservative is preferable to hitting a wall. For sharp corners, especially hairpins, the thing you must remember is to slow down BEFORE entering it. If all you do is rush in and turn the wheel, the vast majority of your momentum will still be straight ahead, and you're taking a massive collision. Even if you manage to get on the brakes, if you don't brake enough, you'll have the unpleasant choice of a hard wall hit or a wicked burnout. (The latter is usually the better choice, BTW.) Note that unlike real life, it's possible to brake and turn hard at the same time, so if you find yourself too hot, just stay on the brakes and make the inevitable contact as light as possible. Again, get as close to the apex as possible and roll out as gently as you can manage. Once you're through, straighten out and get back on the gas. Most cars will slide a bit even after levelling out, so don't breathe easy just because you're pointed in the right direction. Some corners are *so* extreme (e.g. Snap Hook, Suicide Left) that getting through at anything close to "clean" is next to impossible. Just do your best and, if possible, favor the inside. All right, you got single corners down. Consecutive turns are a different story. For a simple chicane, ease up a bit and get it as close to both apexes as possible, then smoothly even out. The key is to not line up too far to the inside or outside of the first corner, or you'll burn off a lot of speed holding the second. An "S" turn is more challenging, requiring a reduced speed on the second corner because you'll be going against the first corner's inertia as well. *Sometimes* easing off the gas is enough. If not, don't be too macho to brake. Numerous consecutive turns, which you'll encounter the most often in C1 Outbound, are just plain unforgiving, and there are no shortcuts; you just need to slow down enough *and* have sufficient handling. As you gain experience, you'll learn about the courses' individual quirks and foibles, which have greater race-wrecking potential than virtually anything else. For the seemingly mindless Superspeedway, you need to watch out for the two Launchpads in either direction, any of which will throw you right into the back of a vehicle if you hit it wrong. Both the Sucker Exit and Out Ramp are seemingly easy, harmless stretches that will spell your doom if you're in the wrong place for even a *moment* (it was the Out Ramp that got my first Evo 9 shaded). I can warn you about these (and I will), but ultimately you just have to run these stretches long enough until the right course of action becomes completely automatic. Believe me, you won't have time to check your notes for which side of the Wangan you're supposed to be on when you're going 330 KPH and the Devil Z is seconds from ripping by you. 5. STORY MODE OVERVIEW ---------------------- Story Mode is the essential part of the game where you make your plain-Jane factory vehicle ultra-fast, wire tight, sleek, and powerful. Without the upgrades you get here, you're pretty much doomed to crushing failure in anything else you attempt (unless you can find three other players with stock vehicles who are willing to battle you boost-off, and good luck with *that*). There are a total of 80 stages, each with different opponents, courses, and conditions; no two are exactly alike. The stages are divided into 4 quarters, each with 4 tiers of 5 stages each. For the first quarter, the tiers are labelled C, B, A, and A+; this just gives you an idea of the overall level of the opposition. The first four opponents of any tier can be selected at any time (although jumping ahead is inadvisable); the 5th, 10th, and 15th stages become selectable after the rest of the tier is beaten. The last stage becomes selectable only after every other stage is beaten. For the other three quarters, you have no choice but to do all the stages in order. All stages have boost in effect, which "evens things out" by making the computer cars faster when you're in the lead and slower when you're behind. Furthermore, the computer cars lose a fair amount of power in the homestretch. This effect is cumulative with boost, so if you're behind, you may find your opponent slowing to a crawl as you rocket ahead. Because of this, you should *never* give up, even if you fall hundreds of meters behind. It's possible to make some of the worst blunders imaginable and still be #1 when it counts. For the first quarter, each opponent you beat fills an entire bar and adds a level to your basic tuning. These are parts that improve either your horsepower or overall handling, 10 for each. Losing in the first quarter fills only a third of the bar, and the next win only completes the bar; the extra third doesn't carry over to the next bar. This quarter is easy enough that this should never be a concern. For the second quarter, winning fills half a bar and losing fills a quarter; once its full, you get an advanced tuning block. As with the first quarter, "extra" progress once the bar is complete is lost. You get a total of 10 advanced blocks in this quarter. Completing the first half of the third quarter (stages 41-50) gets you the 11th advanced block; the second half (51-60) gives you the 12th. You'll see the progress as you win the stages; losses are worth nothing. Finally, finishing the entire fourth quarter gives you the 13th and final advanced block for the much-desired maximum tune (you'll see progress in increments for this as well). Beating a stage you've already beaten always gets you nothing, so don't bother racking up meaningless wins. You can freely exchange advanced blocks between power and handling before the start of each race. Even though all the advanced blocks go into power when you get them, you're under no obligation to leave them there. Many of the battles pit you against more than one opponent, and frequently an opponent will join the race after it's begun (what I call a "jumper"). There are also many instances where one or even two cars fail to finish the race. If there's more than one opponent, one will always be ahead of the other(s) at the end; this, of course, is the "real opponent". I indicate all of these in the walkthrough. If you're ahead of a dropout near the point where it drops out, it'll get a sudden burst of speed and pull ahead of you no matter how fast you're going (and then drop out, of course). This is a good way of identifying a dropout, and also a warning to get the heck out of its way! You must finish ahead of every opponent to win the race...no credit for just the one. Each stage starts out at a preset difficulty. If you lose, the opponent(s) will become a bit slower the second time you play that stage. If you lose a second time, the opponent(s) will be *extremely* easy the third time (the "mercy rule"). Most of the stages are easy enough that you don't have to worry about repeating stage after stage over and over and over (like in MT2), so you won't need mercy too often, if at all. Even though you have a choice, I strongly recommend doing all of the first 20 stages in order, or at least the first 4 tiers in order. Unlike the previous games, the opponents get stronger in a nice, even progression from start to finish; you don't have to worry about a Harada or Makoto Morishita throwing you off, nor is there anyone like Koichi Hiramoto who'll demand more power than you're likely to have at that point. If you go in the proper order, you can easily make it to stage 41 undefeated no matter what you're driving. As for basic upgrades, the only thing you need to avoid is loading up on handling (unlikely, I know, but just FYI), and in fact, going with the default from start to finish (power, handling, power, handling etc.) is perfectly all right. All the "flat out" stages can be beaten with a Balanced setup. 6. ALL 80 STAGES ---------------- +FORMAT+ Stage Course / Homestretch Opponent(s), followed by recommended setup if applicable S: starter J: jumper NC: noncompetitor +: opponent to beat ##: dropout; quit/blow/spinout/mechanical indicated in brackets Parenthesis indicate a passenger in the same car - Race begins from a standstill chicanes - two or three turns in immediate succession easy - can be taken full throttle single turn - one turn that you have to slow down a little for followed by a short straightaway straightaway - a straight section of at least appreciable length ***************** * FIRST QUARTER * ***************** ++ RETURN OF THE DEVIL Z 1 ++ Stage 1 - Encounter Wangan inward / Superspeedway S: Akio Asakura (Ma) NC: Tatsuya Shima The biggest hazard is your right foot getting tired from putting the pedal to the metal for so long. That's all there is to this battle; floor it and keep your front bumper away from traffic. (You'll hit both eastbound Launchpads, but they're no sweat at stock vehicle speed.) Rest that foot a bit when the Blackbird shows up in a cutscene about 2.5K from the end, then take it home. Akio's old Fairlady is *really* slow, so as long as you don't fall asleep, you're winning this. Stage 2 - S30Z Yokohane inward to New Belt Line long / Back Straight S1: +Kochan+ S2: Akio Asakura (Ma) Yokohane will be a challenge after you get your power upgrades. For now, enjoy this low-speed cruise and try to get a good feel for the tightness of the course, especially in the corners. Stage 3 - Reina New Belt Line short to C1 Outbound / chicanes S: Reina Akikawa Kinda tricky for such an early stage. C1 Outbound has some of the most unforgiving corners in the game, and the finish line is right in the middle of one. You can take them pretty slow without giving up the lead, so be as conservative as you need to be. Stage 4 - Instruction course Hakone Inbound S: Akio Asakura (Rumi Shimada) Hey, where's all this light coming from? And are mountain passes usually this wide? This stage, fairly simple in MT2, is an absolute cakewalk now. 2A is taking it really, *really* easy here, so just stick to the basics; good lines, off the walls. Stage 5 - Rival Wangan outward to Yokohane inward / straightaway S1: +Akio Asakura+ S2: Tatsuya Shima You still don't have nearly enough power for the Launchpads to be an issue, so have fun here and continue mapping out Yokohane. ++ RETURN OF THE DEVIL Z 2 ++ Stage 6 - Camera Man C1 Outbound / chicanes S: Reina Akikawa (Yoshiaki Ishida) Very similar to stage 3; in fact, the finish line is the same. Stage 7 - The Devil Tuner C1 Inbound / easy S: Tatsuya Shima (Jun Kitami) On to the Inbound. You should have 3 or 4 handling upgrades at this point to keep contact to a minimum. Stage 8 - Memories of my Brother Yokohane inward / easy S1: +Tatsuya Shima+ S2: Eriko Ah, the first standing start! Actually, this really doesn't affect anything; it just takes you a little longer to get up to speed. Leave the gear in 1 until the acceleration decreases, then upshift to 2 and do the same; only when you're in third should you go back to the tachometer (ineffectual when the tires are spinning). Don't worry about Eriko starting out way ahead; she's just cruising, and you'll be past her with about 5K to go. Stage 9 - The Ones Who Have Been Charmed By The Devil Wangan inward to shared road / Twister S: ##Akio Asakura (Eriko)## [quit] J1: Tatsuya Shima J2: +Reina Akikawa (Jun Kitami)+ Akio will pull to the side of the road when he drops out, USUALLY the left. Give him plenty of clearance when he does. The ideal line for the Twister is to turn into the far left lane of the shallow left, getting as close to the wall as possible, then immediately turn back and cut it as close to the apex of the medium right as possible. By giving yourself as much room as possible for the right, you ensure a good exit speed, which is paramount when this is the finish. Stage 10 - The Devil Z C1 Inbound to New Belt Line long / Dragstrip S1: Tatsuya Shima S2: Reina Akikawa (Jun Kitami) J: +Akio Asakura (Eriko)+ When the finish is the Dragstrip, the gameplan is simple: 1. Put everything into power and 2. cruise to victory. Well, okay, the first item doesn't apply yet, but the second holds no matter what. ++ PERFECT GT-R ++ Stage 11 - Mechanic C1 Inbound / Hillcrest S: Koichi Hiramoto (Megumi Hiramoto) Now you gotta be careful. Not only must you navigate the always-treacherous northbound Walls of Death, the finish is right after it. As always, the third divider is the biggest danger. Brake as much as needed to avoid the left wall, then immediately straighten it out and gun it. Stage 12 - The Perfect Exhaust New Belt Line short to Wangan outward / Sprint Junction S: Koichi Hiramoto (Mata) J: +Harada+ Not much to say about this. Harada's Fairlady is pretty strong, but as long as you have your 6th power upgrade, it's still a routine win. Stage 13 - Z31 Wangan inward / Sprint Junction S1: Reina Akikawa (Jun Kitami) S2: +Tatsuya Shima+ J: ##Harada## [blow] Both you and Harada will be going at a pretty good clip through a lot of traffic at the time he pushes the engine too hard. Don't panic if you run into Harada or traffic; extricate yourself ASAP and get back up to speed. Stage 14 - The Authentic Dragon Wangan outward / single turn S: Koichi Hiramoto (Harada) As with all single turn finishes, brake *just* enough to hold the corner. The Devil Z will make its presence known; fortunately, you'll have already won by then. Stage 15 - The Last Wangan Attempt New Belt Line long / Dragstrip S1: ##Koichi Hiramoto (Harada)## [quit] S2: +Akio Asakura+ J: Tatsuya Shima You didn't really expect Taz to ignore this foolish young upstart, did you? Not that it matters, of course, since there's only one master of the Dragstrip. (That'd be you, champ! :-D) ++ THE AKASAKA STRAIGHT ++ Stage 16 - Masaki Wangan inward / Sprint Junction S: +Masaki (Mami)+ J: Akio Asakura (Rumi Shimada) "Waaait-pound?" "Waaait-any letter?" Oh, whaaatever. The finish line is immediately after an Enforcer, so you MUST get through cleanly. Keep your eyes on the lights and this isn't tough at all. Stage 17 - Once More, Until Daybreak Yokohane outward / easy S1: Masaki (Ko Tominaga) S2: Reina Akikawa J: +Tatsuya Shima+ Another relatively high-speed dash ending at an unproblematic part of Yokohane. Stage 18 - Setting New Belt Line Long to C1 Inbound / Crazy Snake S: Masaki (Yamanaka) J: +Akio Asakura+ The finish is at the start of the Crazy Snake (so don't worry about the third corner with the van). Now would be a good time to get used to getting through the Suicide Left without a massive collision or burnout. Always downshift 2-3 gears and keep to the inside as much as possible, especially since this is a decreasing radius turn. Don't worry, your opponents have as much trouble with it as you. Stage 19 - C1 C1 Inbound / Wishbone S1: Masaki (Yamanaka) S2: +Akio Asakura+ There really isn't anything wild leading up to the Wishbone. Masaki will make a push once you're in it, but as long as you don't hit anything, he'll come up short. Stage 20 - The Asakasa Straight C1 Inbound complete / Wishbone S1: ##Masaki (Yamanaka)## [mechanical] S2: +Tatsuya Shima (Jun Kitami)+ S3: Akio Asakura (Reina Akikawa) For a race this long and with this many people involved (six!), there's really nothing special about it. Once Masaki drops out, it's a clear shot to the Wishbone and victory. ****************** * SECOND QUARTER * ****************** Note: If you somehow get an additional advanced block, put it wherever you want. ++ MONSTER MACHINE 1 ++ Stage 21 - Phantom Speed Liner New Belt Line long / Twister S: Keiichiro Aizawa Cake isn't familiar with the sneakily demanding Twister. Another easy win. Stage 22 - Demo Car C1 Outbound to New Belt Line long / Dragstrip S: Kazuhiko Yamamoto (Gatchan) As soon as it its the Wangan Line, you got it. Long straights are *always* your friend. Stage 23 - Host C1 Inbound complete / Suicide Left S: Keiichiro Aizawa (Tatsuya) Recommended setup: 0-1 Don't sweat the finish; Cake isn't pushing it in the Suicide Left with an important passenger. Even a conservative exit speed will easily beat him out. Stage 24 - Manager New Belt Line reverse complete / Bridge S: Reina Akikawa (Manager) Recommended setup: 1-0 Ah, Wangan Midnight's cautionary tale about mixing business with pleasure. The bridge is thoroughly uncomplicated and an effortless winning point. Stage 25 - Out Runs New Belt Line long / Hillcrest S1: ##Yamanaka## [spinout] S2: +Tatsuya Shima+ Recommended setup: 1-1 Power *and* handling will be in demand for the homestretch. As always, make the final turn as cleanly as possible. ++ MONSTER MACHINE 2 ++ Stage 26 - VIP Racecar C1 Inbound / Out Ramp S: ##Gatchan## [quit] J: +Gatchan+ Recommended setup: 1-1 Three weird things about this battle: 1. Gatchan will quit, only to rejoin later. 2. He'll almost completely fill the screen with text four times. 3. "I isn't quitting." (More on this in an upcoming Parts Box entry). Once those annoying obstacles are out of the way, there isn't much else he can throw at you. As always, hit the Out Ramp on the right to avoid the craftily hidden vehicle. Stage 27 - Real Race Setting 1 Yokohane inward / single turn S: Gatchan (Yoshioka & Ueda) Recommended setup: 2-1 That van can move at a pretty good clip, and because it's going to obscure a lot of traffic, there's a good chance you'll be taking a lot more hits than you'd like. Don't worry about keeping it clean, just make sure you have the horses for the finish. Stage 28 - Real Race Setting 2 Yokohane inward to shared road / Hillcrest S: Akio Asakura (Ko Tominaga) Recommended setup: 1-2 Same deal as 16; favor handling. Stage 29 - Monster Machine New Belt Line long / Front Straight S1: +Keiichiro Aizawa+ S2: ##Akio Asakura## [quit] Recommended setup: 3-1 As you might expect, the key is getting a good speed out of the Turnabout. It's best to be cautious for the first turn, then get a good line for the second and take it as gently as possible. Stage 30 - Will Power New Belt Line long to C1 Outbound / [see below] S: +Keiichiro Aizawa+ J: Tatsuya Shima Recommended setup: 2-2 The finish is the right/left reverse in the tunnel just before what I called the "Smasher" in MT2. Balance will serve you well here. As long as you're the first into the tunnel, it's in the bag. ++ R200 CLUB 1 ++ Stage 31 - The True R Rider C1 Outbound to New Belt Line short to New Belt Line long / Dragstrip S: Takayuki Kuroki NC: Reina Akikawa Recommended setup: 5-0 You'll only be on the Dragstrip for a short time, but it's long enough to justify full power. Don't worry about falling behind in C1; you'll have it more than made up by the Bridge. Stage 32 - Wavelength Wangan outward / Superspeedway S1: Takayuki Kuroki S2: Akio Asakura Recommended setup: 5-0 In case you haven't figured it out, Akio recently tore through Wangan and circled back on Yokohane, and is now about to turn *back* into Wangan in an attempt to "lap" both you and Glasses Man. The Devil Z will constantly gain on you no matter how much power you have, so keeping your speed up is paramount. Complicating things slightly are the Launchpads, which will be trouble for the first time. The first one is followed by traffic in the left and middle lanes, so you want to land on the right. You'll have to make the jump at a *slight* angle because of a car in the right lane; as long as you're at least mostly out of the middle lane when you land, you're fine. Once you're past this, go left as soon as possible for the second launchpad, which precedes traffic in the middle and right lanes. You'll have to take this at an angle too; fortunately, the landing area is higher than for the first jump, so it's much easier to handle. As long as you're at least reasonably clean, neither of your opponents should threaten. Stage 33 - The Feeling Team Yokohane inward / Twister S: Feeling Team Recommended setup: 5-1 Much like Eriko, except you have a much bigger deficit to overcome, and their pace isn't quite so relaxing. Stay calm and keep it off the walls as much as possible. You absolutely need a high-power setup to take full advantage of the
straights near the end.  Be especially careful at the Drainpipe, as it's easy to
lose a TON of ground here if you get too aggressive.  So long as you beat the
Feelies to the Twister, you should win.

Stage 34 - R200 Club
Wangan outward to Yokohane inward / multiple turns ending with a medium
S: Motoki
J: ##Teizuka## [spinout]
Recommended setup: 4-2
Teizuka will last all of six seconds before wiping out.  Motoki isn't much
better, lacking badly in power and having no fire whatsoever in the homestretch.

Stage 35 - Here I Go!
Yokohane inward / single turn
J: Sonoda
Recommended setup: 6-1
Two down, one soon to follow.  Sonoda may actually make a little charge in the
final straight, but it won't be nearly enough to catch you (provided your car is
up to the task, of course).

++ R200 CLUB 2 ++
Stage 36 - YMSPEED
C1 Inbound complete / Twister
S: Kazuhiko Yamamoto
Recommended setup: 2-5 or 1-6
The level of competition is going up (200 Ways to Screw Up Club
notwithstanding),
and exit speeds are becoming important.  You must have at least a Grip setup to
take the Twister at speed.

Stage 37 - BCNR33
Wangan outward / Superspeedway  
S1: Takayuki Kuroki
S2: +Tatsuya Shima+
Recommended setup: 8-0
Just a typical Wangan super sprint.

Stage 38 - Cap Turbo Setting
C1 Outbound complete / Double Reverse
S: Jun Kitami (Ko Tominaga)
Recommended setup: 3-5 or 2-6
Jun's a tester, not a racer.  Basic Grip is okay.

Stage 39 - Riding Motivation
Wangan outward to Yokohane inward / easy
S1: Tatsuya Shima
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 8-1
For Yokohane, the proper setting is a dash of handling and the rest into power.
No exceptions.

Stage 40 - That Which Matters
New Belt Line long / Dragstrip
S1: ##Takayuki Kuroki## [mechanical]
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 9-0
Closing out the second quarter...a no-brainer.  The traffic's a *little* hairier
with 780 HP than 600, but hardly enough to throw you off.

*****************
* THIRD QUARTER *
*****************

++ HANSHIN EXPRESSWAY LOOP LINE 1 ++
Stage 41 - Go to West
New Belt Line short to C1 Inbound / Out Ramp
S: Tatsuya Shima (Jun Kitami)
Recommended setup: 4-6 or 5-5
Don't play it too safe with your setup; even a despondent Taz can make a charge
when he has to.  6 handling is plenty enough.

Stage 42 - Half Brother
Hanshin Line / easy
S: +Eiji Kamiya+
J: Maki Kamiya
Recommended setup: 8-2
Osaka!  City of...uh...lots of medium-sized buildings!  If you're unfamiliar
with this area, the turns can be something of a pain, especially since there's
no easy way to tell which one's coming up next or how hard you can take it.
Don't sweat it too much, and don't worry about getting passed; Edge will be
beatable when it matters.  There are plenty of straights (and that's virtually
all there are besides right turns), so don't skimp on muscle.

Stage 43 - Hanshin High Speed Circuit Line
Hanshin Line / hard reverse & short straight
S: Tatsuya Shima (Jun Kitami)
J: +Eiji Kamiya+
Recommended setup: 8-2
The finish takes you to a place you're unlikely to have seen before.  It goes
from a quick left-right S turn to a straightaway.  The only important thing to
remember is that to immediately go left as soon as you hit the straight.  As
long as you're quick enough, it'll be easy to avoid traffic all the way to the
line.

Stage 44 - Lancer Evolution
Hanshin Line / straightaway
S: +Eiji Kamiya+
J: Maki Kamiya
Recommended setup: 8-2
The toughest Osaka battle in Story Mode, although still quite managable so long
as you don't lose your head.  Edge will be running *very* hard at the end, so
don't even think of putting less than 8 into power.

Stage 45 - Uplift
Yokohane inward to New Belt Line long / Back Straight
S: Tatsuya Shima
Recommended setup: 9-1
The second and last stage where the objective is to hold on to a continuously
decreasing lead.  Use plenty of power and be careful around the Drainpipe, per
usual.

++ HANSHIN EXPRESSWAY LOOP LINE 2 ++
Stage 46 - Approach
C1 Outbound complete / Double Reverse
S: Eiji Kamiya
Recommended setup: 3-7
Your first serious C1 Outbound battle, which means that handling will be in high
demand.  You don't have to worry about being outmuscled here, so "Grip it and
rip it".

Stage 47 - Target
New Belt Line reverse / easy
S: Eiji Kamiya (Rikako Ota)
Recommended setup: 7-3 or 8-2
Nothing special.  Use a little more handling than for Yokohane.

Stage 48 - Tokyo
New Belt Line long to C1 Inbound / Crazy Snake
S: Eiji Kamiya
Recommended setup: 4-6
Pretty much everything up to the Walls of Death is smooth sailing, so there's no
need to pour on handling.

Stage 49 - Running-in
C1 Outbound to New Belt Line long / Dragstrip
S1: ##Eiji Kamiya (Rikako Ota)## [blow]
S2: +Tatsuya Shima (Ko Tominaga)+
Recommended setup: 10-0
It's a piece of cake to avoid Edge, as he'll most likely swerve way out of your
way before you even realize he's in trouble.  The Blackbird is pretty weak here
for some reason and won't come close to threatening.

Stage 50 - Stall
New Belt Line short to C1 Outbound to New Belt Line long to Wangan outward /
Sprint Junction
S1: ##Eiji Kamiya (Rikako Ota)## [quit]
S2: ##Akio Asakura## [mechanical]
J: +Tatsuya Shima+
Recommended setup: 10-0
Take it easy and don't fall too far behind.  You have lots of corners to
navigate with a Dangerous setup and only about 3KM of easy stuff at the end.
And with three opponents on the course, expect things to get hairy sooner rather
than later.  As long as you don't get impatient or make a ton of mistakes, it's
in the bag.

++ LEGENDARY FC 1 ++
Stage 51 - Drive Go Go
Yokohane outward / easy  
S: Koichi Kijima (Reina Akikawa)
Recommended setup: 9-2
For the most part, Yokohane outward is fairly simple, and nearly all the corners
can be taken flat or close to it.  Anything less than 9P is probably a bad idea,
but 9-2 works just fine.

Stage 52 - The Feel of The Engine Starting
Yokohane inward to shared road / easy (just before Twister)
S1: +Koichi Kijima (Reina Akikawa)+
S2: Akio Asakura
Recommended setup: 10-1
A bit of role reversal here, with Speed Writer giving the vaunted Devil Z a
trial run while 2A watches from the FC.  Nearly, but not quite, all Sprint
Junction material, which demands a likewise setup.

Stage 53 - The ACE Demo Car
New Belt Line reverse to Yokohane outward / easy
S: Akio Asakura (Koichi Kijima)
Recommended setup: 9-2 or 10-1
You may have to make a pass on Yokohane, but that's no sweat.

Stage 54 - Gotemba
Hakone Outbound
S: Hayashi (Koichi Kijima)
Recommended setup: 0-11
Why 0-11?  Because this, like the other two Hakone battles in Story Mode, is
double-dog full-burner psycho-cannon super ultra easy to win, so no sense taking
unnecessary chances.  (And besides, when else are you going to get the
opportunity to use a kick-awesome setup like this? :-D)

Stage 55 - Oki
Hakone Inbound
S1: ##Oki## [spinout]
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 0-11
With the speeds you'll be running on Hakone (especially if you go 0-11, which
really is a good idea), Oki's about as much of a threat as the falling leaves.
The Inbound is the harder direction, but you'll hardly notice it on such a
ludicrously, insanely, sickeningly, unbelievably, surreally easy stage to win.

++ LEGENDARY FC 2 ++
Stage 56 - New Circular Line 18
New Belt Line reverse / Drop Chute
S1: Oki
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 5-6 or 4-7
With the Drop Chute, gravity does most of the work, so you want to make sure it
works for you and not against you.  It's generally a good idea to favor handling
on New Belt Line reverse anyway.

Stage 57 - Blackbird
Wangan inward to New Belt Line short / Sunrise Straight
S1: ##Koichi Kijima## [blow]
S2: Tatsuya Shima
Recommended setup: 9-2
Be *very* sharp when Speed Writer pulls ahead of you, as his blown engine will
occur with no warning (even the smoke when it does happen will be barely
visible)
and amidst a lot of traffic.  There are enough corners that you'll want to be a
little more conservative than on Yokohane.

Stage 58 - The Rotary Engine
Yokohane outward to Wangan inward / Sprint Junction
S: Koichi Kijima (Reina Akikawa)
Recommended setup: 11-0
Now you get your first real taste of the inward Launchpads.  For the first, stay
in either the left or right lane to avoid the car in the middle.  Once you're
past that, stick to the middle lane to avoid the traffic in the left and right
lanes following the second Launchpad.  You'll have to make another angled jump
for the latter.

Stage 59 - Tuned RE
New Belt Line short to C1 Inbound to Wangan outward / easy
S: Rikako Ota (Ko Tominaga)
Recommended setup: 9-2
Another course where you have to take on a lot of early technical stuff with a
setup you'll need for the fast 'n hard finish.  Ricky isn't an ace driver by any
means, so this shouldn't be too much of a headache.

Stage 60 - Words
C1 Outbound to New Belt Line long to Wangan outward / single turn
S1: ##Koichi Kijima## [quit]
S2: +Akio Asakura+
J: ##Tatsuya Shima## [quit]
Recommended setup: 10-1 or 9-2
For all the drama and tension and window dressing, this ultimately turns into
another game of Hold Off The Devil Z.  This is very much a make-or-break stage,
as Akio will make a strong charge in the homestretch, and if your car is too
slow (hello, MR2!), you're going to get absolutely burned no matter how much
you've dominated the previous 59 stages.

******************
* FOURTH QUARTER *
******************

++ GARAGE ACE 1 ++
Stage 61 - R-Killer
C1 Outbound / easy
S: Tomoya (Kyoko)
J: Gen Goto
Recommended setup: 6-6 or 7-5
Fairly routine stage.  Balance setups should be a piece of cake by now.

Stage 62 - Garage ACE
New Belt Line short / Bridge
S: Tomoya (Gen Goto)
Recommended setup: 11-1 or 10-2
The finish line, and the finish line for all the remaining races that go to the
Rainbow Bridge, is in the middle of the straight uphill section immediately
after the left turn approach.  Because of this (and of course the fact that this
is New Belt Line), you *must* have a ton of power.  In fact, I don't recommend
10-2 at all for any of the weaker vehicles (hello, MR2!); always go with 11-1 if
in doubt.  (But not 12-0; you'll lose too much speed on the turn.)

Stage 63 - The Encounter
Yokohane inward to New Belt Line reverse / Drop Chute
S: Tomoya
J: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 5-7
As always, Balance favoring handling is the ticket.

Stage 64 - ACE's Pride
C1 Outbound complete / Double Reverse
S1: ##Tomoya## [spinout]
S2: +Tatsuya Shima (Jun Kitami)+
Recommended setup: 4-8
Time to relax with another run on this relatively low-speed circuit.  4-8 is
fine, possibly even 3-9 as well; don't worry about getting smoked in the corners
like what happened in MT2 all the time.

Stage 65 - 32GT-R
Yokohane outward / straightaway  
S: Akio Asakura (Tomoya)
Recommended setup: 11-1
Yokohane can be harrowing at the kind of speeds you'll be hitting now.
Thankfully, you won't have problems with a single opponent.  You can actually be
a little behind at the ending straight and still win.

++ GARAGE ACE 2 ++
Stage 66 - Tuning's Answer
Wangan outward to Yokohane inward / easy chicanes
S: Tomoya (Gen Goto)

Recommended setup: 11-1
That's right, easy chicanes...nothing unusual for Yokohane, as you know doubt
have experienced by now.

Stage 67 - Break Out From The Cage
Wangan inward to New Belt Line long / Front Straight
S1: +Tatsuya Shima (Tomoya)+
S2: Akio Asakura (Jun Kitami)
Recommended setup: 11-1 or 10-2
Use the same setup that you used for stage 62; very similar situation here.

Stage 68 - ACE32 GT-R Start
Yokohane inward to C1 Outbound / Double Reverse
S: Tomoya
Recommended setup: 4-8
Just the one, just for fun, just another routine win.

Stage 69 - Raise Standards
C1 Outbound to New Belt Line short / Bridge
S1: Tomoya
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 11-1 or 10-2
Back to the bridge; essentially the same as 62.

Stage 70 - From Today
New Belt Line reverse to New Belt Line long / Front Straight
S1: ##Tomoya## [quit]
S2: ##Tatsuya Shima## [quit]
J: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 11-1
Steady nerves and sure cornering will be on demand.  You not only have a long
way to go, you'll face a ferocious charge by Akio at the Turnabout, and unless
you can somehow block him, he *will* be ahead of you running to the line.
*Immediately* find an opening and attack it HARD.  It'll be close, but the good
kind of close.  This is the second "stumbling block" after stage 60, and success
depends in large part on whether your machine is up to it.

++ THE LEGENDARY F1 TURBINE 1 ++
Stage 71 - Sound of a Heart Beat
C1 Outbound complete / chicanes
S: Makoto Morishita (Hiroki)
NC:  Akio Asakura
Recommended setup: 4-8
Heeeere's...Momo!  (A bit underwhelming after all the superstars and legacies
we've seen, but what the hey.)  As always, favor handling and be generous with
the brakes.

Stage 72 - Even Temperature
C1 Outbound to New Belt Line short / Bridge
S: Reina Akikawa (Makoto Morishita)
Recommended setup: 11-1
You've been here before (twice, in fact); you know what to do.

Stage 73 - Anthropomorphism
Yokohane inward / easy
S: Yamashita
NC: Tatsuya Shima
Recommended setup: 11-1
This really is an easy part of Yokohane.  In fact, if you want to go to 12-0, go
right ahead.

Stage 74 - Heads And Tails
New Belt Line reverse / Bridge
S1: Makoto Morishita
S2: +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 10-2 or 11-1
The bridge approach has more corners to deal with than the straight-and-up
dashes you're used to in the normal direction.  2A isn't pushing it here, so you
might want a *little* more handling than usual.

Stage 75 - The True Image
Wangan inward to shared road / Hillcrest  
S: Yamashita (Makoto Morishita)
Recommended setup: 5-7
No need to take risks here.  Balance favoring handling, as always, is the
ticket.

++ THE LEGENDARY F1 TURBINE 2 ++
Stage 76 - The Legendary F1 Turbine
Yokohane inward to New Belt Line reverse / straightaway
S: Reina Akikawa (Ko Tominaga)
Recommended setup: 11-1
You're almost certainly going to take some hits in the early going.  Remember,
roll with the punches; make sure Reina doesn't make a big lead an overwhelming
one.  You have plenty of time on New Belt Line for a counterattack.

Stage 77 - Authentic Traction
C1 Outbound to Yokohane outward to New Belt Line Long / Front Straight
S1: Yamashita (Ko Tominaga)
S2: +Akio Asakura (Makoto Morishita)+
Recommended setup: 11-1 or 12-0
First Taz is hellbent on putting 2A out of commission, then he assists him
against a bunch of mutual foes, and now he's letting him *drive his car*??  Man,
almost unbelievable how much someone can change in a mere 33 volumes. ;-)
Anyway,
since the Turnabout is out of play, it's largely a clean shot from the Yokohane
exit to the Front Straight.  11P will get the job done, of course, but if you
want to get a little daring with 12P, that's fine too.

Stage 78 - Essence
C1 Inbound complete / Twister
S1: +Reina Akikawa (Jun Kitami)+
S2: Makoto Morishita (Ko Tominaga)
Recommended setup: 4-8
Your last C1 circuit.  I don't need to tell you of the need for handling or how
to take the Twister, right?

Stage 79 - Beyond The Wall
C1 Inbound to New Belt Line short to New Belt Line long / Back Straight
S1: +Tatsuya Shima+
S2: Akio Asakura
Recommended setup: 12-0
Crunch time, and appropriately enough, it's a pure power battle.  Taz will be
absolutely *flying* down the Back Straight; you need to as well.  Oh, and try
not to wreck in that little corner connecting the Front Straight to the Back
Straight, easier said than done with a Dangerous setup.

Stage 80 - The Last Race
New Belt Line long to Wangan to Yokohane / chicane and short straight
S1: Makoto Morishita
S2: ##Tatsuya Shima## [quit]
J:  +Akio Asakura+
Recommended setup: 11-1
Sheesh, this has got to be the most anticlimactic Last Race ever.  Not only is
Momo...*Momo*, fer chrissake...one of the competitors, she actually outlasts
*Taz*, by god.  Well, you've been here a lot of times already, and the finish is
nothing special...gentle right, gentle left, little straight, been there, done
that.  In fact, you'll probably be so far ahead going into the final corners,
you might be able to hit a wall and still not even have to block Akio.  And if
you *do* have to, it's a breeze on ribbon-thin Yokohane.  Seriously, just get
this over with.  (And if you laid odds that I'd ever say THAT regarding the
final stage of a Maximum Tune game, well, you could probably buy a dragon that
could challenge even the Devil Z. :-D)


7. 10 OPPONENT OUTRUN
---------------------
This is a fun little challenge where the object is to pass a total of ten
opponents travelling at a fixed speed.  All the courses are open, and they've
been converted into full circuits.  After making a pass, you are automatically
moved a few hundred meters ahead to face the next opponent.

There are 10 levels per course, each starting at one of either three or five
locations, except for Hakone with two and Hanshin Line with one.  Each of the
starting points are used in order as many times as it takes to get through 10
levels.  With three starting points, levels 1, 4, 7, and 10 start in the same
location, as do 2, 5, and 8 and 3, 6, and 9.  With five, it's 1/6, 2/7, 3/8,
4/9,
and 5/10.

You start with a limited amount of time and get a few seconds for every opponent
you pass.  A good rule of thumb is if the 20 second warning pops up before the
9th opponent, you're in trouble.

You get a letter grade at the end based on how long you took.  The best possible
grade is S; the worst is E.  If you get an S, the screen will declare a "SUDDEEN
KILL"...yeah, I can't believe they missed that one too...and the level indicator
will turn gold.  If you get an A, you get "VANQUISHED", and the indicator turns
silver.  A clear of B (the lowest) is branded "COMPLETE", which gives you a
copper indicator.  Failure gets you a grade of either C, D, or E.

Getting an S on every level makes the "?" level available, an entertaining
slugfest where you face 31 opponents.

There's no penalty for failure, and you can retry any level as many times as you
like.  You can even redo a level you've gotten an S on, although of course
there's no point except for, ah, research purposes.

You gain one rank for every course you get all S's on (unlike MT2, there's no
credit for all clears).  If, and *only* if, you clear all 10 levels in order
*and* without failing any of them, you get a title for that course.  It's
"[course] Fighter" for all B's or better, "[course] Champ" for all A's or
better,
and "[course] Emperor" for all S's.  As long as you clear 1-10 in order with no
fails, whatever grades you get, you can get Champ and/or Emperor at a later
time.
Clearing all 80 stages in order without a fail gives you a "Metropolitan" title,
which progresses from Fighter to Champ to Emperor just like the course titles.

Note that if you clear even *one* level out of order and/or fail even *one*
level, you can NEVER get a title from that course, nor can you get any
Metropolitan title.  Keep this in mind if you're going for the extremely
prestigious Metropolitan Emperor, or you're going to waste a *lot* of money
(like me).

Clearing a "?" level with an S (nothing else) gets you a title of "[course]
Instant Killer".  That's it, unfortunately, but unlike the normal course titles,
you can get them as many times as you like.

Opponents per level (same for all courses) -
    1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
  1:AkAs  Koch  ReAk  Hara  Oki   Gatc  MaMo  Yams  RiOt  TaSh
  2:Koch  Hara  Oki   Gatc  KaOt  MaMo  KeAi  KoKi  Masa  AkAs
  3:Oki   Hara  RiOt  YuKi  Masa  MaMo  KeAi  Tomo  ReAk  AkAs
  4:Hara  Gatc  Oki   MaMo  Yams  EiKa  KeAi  TaKu  TaSh  AkAs
  5:YaMi  Teiz  Sono  Moto  GeGo  Yams  Gatc  Haya  KaYa  KaOt
  6:Hara  Yams  MaMo  RiOt  KoHi  ReAk  Yamn  TaKu  GeGo  AkAs
  7:RiOt  Yamn  TaKu  YaMi  GeGo  Yams  Haya  Gatc  KaYa  KaOt
  8:Yamn  Teiz  Sono  Moto  KaYa  GeGo  Tomo  KoHi  TaKu  ReAk
  9:Yamn  MaMo  KeAi  Tomo  KoHi  KoKi  Masa  EiKa  TaKu  TaSh
 10:Tomo  KeAi  KoHir KoKi  Masa  EiKa  TaKu  ReAk  TaSh  AkAs

AkAs - Akio Asakura        Masa - Masaki
EiKa - Eiji Kamiya         Moto - CCR Motoki
Gatc - Gatchan             ReAk - Reina Akikawa
GeGo - Gen Goto            RiOt - Rikako Ota
Hara - Harada              Sono - JPP Sonoda
Haya - Hayashi             TaKu - Takayuki Kuroki
KaOt - Kazuo Ota           TaSh - Tatsuya Shima
KaYa - Kazuhiko Yamamoto   Teiz - JAPAN Teizuka
KeAi - Keiichiro Aizawa    Tomo - Tomoya
Koch - Kochan              YaMi - Yasuhiko Miki
KoHi - Koichi Hiramoto     Yamn - RGO Yamanaka
KoKi - Koichi Kijima       Yams - Yamashita
MaMo - Makoto Morishita    YuKi - Yuji Kishida

Like Story Mode, this is a pretty easy mode overall, but there *are* a few
tricky spots where getting an S can be a real hassle.  It's a great romp if
you're pretty accomplished but not an absolute megastar-level videogamer.  Like
me.  :-)

Some general tips:
  - The more tuning you have, the better, and don't be the slightest bit ashamed
about waiting until maximum tune.
  - Keep it clean!  You have to make passes everywhere, not just near a finish
line or when it's convenient, and every hit you take makes that coveted S or
even simply clearing all the harder.
  - The line in front of the vehicle shows how far ahead you have to get.  The
action comes to a halt as soon as you make the pass, so don't ever let up until
it does.
- Many opponents will try to block you, and some of them are *very* good at
it,
especially on narrow roads.  Be prepared to jump to the other side as they slam
the door on you.  Sometimes, unfortunately, you have no choice but to fight the
bastard and gain just enough clearance to nose ahead.
  - Gatchan can be particularly annoying because he *always* goes for a block
and will cross the entire width of the freeway to do so.  You can use this
aggressiveness against him, however; approach on one side, and when he moves to
block, cut across to where he used to be.  He won't seriously contest you after
you've hit an opening.
  - A useful tactic when your opponent is about to enter a turn (and one you'll
using frequently with Dangerous setups) is to move to the inside and go full-
bore, not even attempting to hold the turn.  If you're carrying enough speed,
you'll hit the line without having to brake for the turn.  Experience will tell
you when this is and isn't a good gamble.  (I'll call this an "inside cut" for
future reference.)
  - Using your opponent as a pick is a terrific technique that you'll find a lot
of use for.  If you're nearly even with your opponent approaching a sharp
corner,
don't slow down for it, but enter it with the opponent on the outside.  You'll
slam right into him, which not only keeps you off the wall but also helps you
hold the corner, and it even sometimes slows him down.  Get back in gear and
complete the pass as soon as you're out of the turn.
  - Wall passes can be a godsend, especially against pushy or particularly fast
opponents.  You get a clear line and no paint tradin' to slow you down.  This is
most effective with small, maneuverable cars like the MR2, but any vehicle can
pull it off if you have the chops.
  - Try different setups and see what's ideal.  You have to decide whether to go
for straightaway power or cornering speed, both of which require sacrificing the
other.  Don't forget that in many cases, the starting point dictates the proper
setup, especially on New Belt Line long.

Strategies for the toughest levels for each starting point.

+ C1 INBOUND +
 1/6  Kandabashi - just past Crazy Snake
 2/7  Kasumigaseki - partway down Out Ramp
 3/8  Ginza - just before the last divider in Walls of Death
 4/9  Daikan-cho - start of the last long, winding tunnel (leading to Out Ramp)
5/10  Shiba-koen - just before the hard left leading to Twister

Levels 6-8: The starting points aren't really a big deal since you're going to
be turning the wheel a lot every step of the way.  Hard cornering is the
hallmark of the Inbound, and keeping your speed up in and out of corners is
crucial.  In fact, *nothing* will hit you harder here than giving up ground in
the corners, simply because your opponents are so adept at them.  5-8 or 6-7 are
good setups for 6; I'd stick to 6-7 for 7 and 8.  Nothing fancy about getting
S's here; you just need a good feel for the course and solid cornering.

Levels 9-10: Same, except much, *much* harder, mainly because your opponents are
so fast in the easy sections.  This means that you absolutely must get an
excellent exit speed out of every corner and can't afford a single blunder.  You
*will* have to make wall passes to have a shot.  A good rule of thumb for 10 is
that if you can't pass Cake before the tunnel leading to the Walls of Death and
Speed Writer before the Suicide Left, you can forget about S (although you still
should play it out, of course).  The best setup is 7-6.


+ C1 OUTBOUND +
 1/6  Shiba-Koen - just before Trap Tunnel
 2/7  Kandabashi - nondescript?
 3/8  Ginza 8 - after the last tunnel
 4/9  Kasumigaseki - in the tunnels
5/10  Kyobashi - before the last divider in Walls of Death

All levels: Don't sweat the start points too much, because no matter where you
begin, the story is lots of hard corners interspersed with short-to-medium full-
throttle sections.  The best place to gain ground or make a pass, surprisingly,
is the Snap Hook, as your opponents are slow through both it and the ensuing
downhill straight.  Grip may suffice for the early levels, but for the most
part,
Balance is the way to go.  5-8 is good for levels 6 and 7, maybe 6-7 for one of
the slower vehicles.  For 8 and 9, you want to go with 6-7 or 7-6.  For 10,
always go with 7-6.  For some reason, the opponents don't run as hard here as on
the Inbound; any reasonably good car should manage an S on every level.


+ NEW BELT LINE CLOCKWISE (LONG) +
 1/6  Shiohama - a few turns before Dragstrip
 2/7  Shibaura - near the end of Back Straight
 3/8  Fukuzumi - steel walls area (a little before Shiohama)
 4/9  13 Gochi - the start of Dragstrip tunnel
5/10  Ginza - just after the last divider in Walls of Death

Level 6: Easy.  12-1 setup.  For all corners before the Dragstrip, brake well
before entering, maintain a moderate speed through the apex, then power out
(i.e.
slow in, fast out).  You should have 2A by the Front Straight.

Level 7: This is a tricky starting point because you get a lot of corners right
off the bat and in all likelihood will have to take on Kazuo on the Dragstrip.
This isn't a huge problem at level 7, however.  I'd go with 11-2; 10-3 should
work for most cars as well.

Level 8: Very similar to level 6.  Actually, it's essentially the same since
you'll be facing faster opponents.  Again, 12-1 is the ticket.

Level 9: This is the level where you need the right setup and smooth, sound
driving.  Go with 10-3 for the setup; I've never gotten good results with
anything else.  You should get Momo before the Turnabout and Masaki ideally just
before the start of the Walls of Death (inside cuts will help a *lot* here).
You cannot waste a single passing opportunity if you're going to S this, as it
could be a while before the next one comes up.

Level 10: If you can S or even A level 9, this is a snap.  I'd go all the way to
13-0 to deal with the Dragstrip, and absolutely no lower than 12-1.  You should
have no trouble passing 6 opponents before the Dragstrip (again, slow in, fast
out).  2A will take it to the Turnabout; just take it nice 'n easy, then attack
him hard on the Front Straight.  Even if you don't succeed, there's a whole Back
Straight to get by him.


+ NEW BELT LINE COUNTERCLOCKWISE (SHORT) +
 1/6  Kiba - nondescript area
 2/7  Kyobashi - after second divider in Walls of Death
 3/8  Ariake - at the end of the Short Line
 4/9  Hakozaki - immediately before Boomerang
5/10  Ginza - after tunnel

Levels 6-9: 10-3 served me fine throughout, and I honestly can't recommend
anything else.  This is a great course for outruns because it has no extremely
long straightaways, and the only real trouble spots are the Boomerang and Walls
of Death.  That means that you can go hard all the way without a hairy setup.
800HP is plenty enough to catch up to your opponents, so it's all up to your
driving skills and reaction times.


Level 10: Go with 11-2.  It's possible to complete this with 10-3, but it's
going to be tight.  For the S, you should have Taz just before the Boomerang and
2A on the ensuing downhill straight.


+ YOKOHANE +
   2/5/8  Haneda (inward) - about 2km before Drainpipe
   3/6/9  Shioiri (inward) - very close to Crossover
1/4/7/10  Shibaura (outward) - beginning

Level 8: This is going to the Wangan Line, so 12-1 is the ticket.  Most of the
tough cornering, including the Drainpipe, occurs in the early going with the
relatively slow opponents, so you can afford to go hard.  Just watch your
opponent's movements carefully and hit each gap as soon as it opens, as always.
If you're on at least #8 by the time you hit the Wangan, it's in the bag.  In
all, so long as you've done your time on Yokohane, it's a fairly simple level.

Level 9: This is essentially a Wangan outrun; I'd go all the way to 13-0.  Some
cars can do it with 11-2, but there's really no reason to hold back.  Just take
it easy for the first few corners, get a couple of passes, stay in control in
the turnoff to Wangan, then let 'er rip.

Level 10: This one's really tough, even for an ace machine.  Not only will you
have to fight hard simply to find an opening, you'll have to stay with it for a
while to make the pass, and on a wire-tight course with corners everywhere,
that's a lot easier said than done.  Note that whenever there's a traffic
vehicle in the other lane as your opponent, there very often will *not* be
enough room to pass on the inside, even if you try to force the issue, and rear-
ending a traffic vehicle is disastrous here.  When in doubt, just tail 'em until
the coast is clear.  To get an S, you have to get by 2A before he hits the
Superspeedway.


+ WANGAN LINE +
   2/5/8  (outward) Airport Central - around start of Sprint Junction
   3/6/9  (outward) Daikokutou - just before the turn to Yokohane
1/4/7/10  (outward) 13 Gochi - start of Dragstrip tunnel

Level 8: Even though this ends at Yokohane, you won't run into any of the real
pain spots, so you shouldn't have any qualms about 13-0.  You should manage 8
passes on Wangan without any trouble.  When you hit Yokohane, take it easy in
the turns, flatten out ASAP, and leave 'em in the dust.  Simple as that.

Level 9: This is actually the toughest level.  Not only does nearly all of it
take place on treacherous Yokohane, you hit the Crossover just as your fastest
opponents are on deck, so playing conservatively is out of the question.  12-1
is your best bet.  Brake generously for all chicanes and hard corners!  This
actually is pretty managable once you get good at Yokohane; you just need to
stay calm and keep the speed-killing hits to a minimum.

Level 10: A piece of cake.  A walk in the park.  A milk run.  Like taking candy
from a baby.  So easy a c...well, you get the idea.  You start at almost the
beginning of the Wangan Line, meaning that the ENTIRE OUTRUN is nothing but a
pedal-to-the-metal sprint.  And you have the advantage over any computer
opponent at that.  It's literally as easy to get an S on this as on level 1.
13-0 and forget it.  What do you even need my help for?  :-D


+ HANSHIN LINE +
All levels have the same starting point, Douton-Bori.

Level 10: Hooooo boy.  THE toughest level in *all* of 10 Opponent Outrun.  There
really isn't any one thing I can point at, it's just very easy to mess up, your
opponents are on the top of their game, and even one tiny little mistake can
ruin your chances for an S.  I've gotten pretty good results with 10-3, and it
just *might* be possible with 9-4, but no matter what, count on lots of
difficult cornering, plenty of vehicles for your opponents to slam you into, and
tight stretches where it's next to impossible to pass.  Tips: 1. If Edge makes
it to the S turn, attack him on the left (the inside).  2. When you get to Taz,
take a moment to see where the best opening is before attacking it.  3. Do your
absolute best to pull at least even with 2A before the extreme hairpin right.
If you successfully pick 'n roll him here, it's an S; if not, it'll be a mad
scramble just to clear at all.  Good luck...here's where you *really* need it.


+ HAKONE +
 1/3/5/7/9  Outbound
2/4/6/8/10  Inbound

Level 9: By the time you've beaten the previous 8 levels, you know the drill;
get up to speed ASAP, watch the opponent's movements, make your move quickly,
and (most importantly) go for the inside whenever possible.  In fact, you're
pretty much going to *need* an inside cut to get by Taz at the end, otherwise
he'll just block you and squeeze you out over and over.  They run hard on this
level, so you can't skimp on power; in fact, I'd go all the way to 7-6.

Level 10: Not much different from level 9, but it does have a nasty pitfall.
You'll reach the little jut-in-the-road section against Masaki.  When you reach
it, *keep right*.  If you can pass him on the right, fine; otherwise, just tail
him until you're past the obstacle.  If you try to pass on the left, he WILL
shove you into the wall, which kills your S if not your entire Outrun.  As for
2A, you just have to get him before the uphill serpentine corners; if he gets
that far, he's gone.  This will probably take you a few attempts, but it's
certainly doable; you just need everything to go right just once.  Again, 7-6 is
my recommended setup.

- Clean sweeping the Outrun -
It's definitely possible to S every stage in 10 Opponent Outrun, and it's
definitely easier than in MT2.  In order to avoid wasting a lot of cash,
however...and this can get *very* expensive, even compared to the other
stages...it's best to do the most difficult stages first.  Thankfully, Namco was
thoughtful enough to allow you to do just that.

Right.  The most difficult stages:

1. Hanshin Line 10 - Just plain brutal.  B is a great result anytime.
2. Yokohane 10 - Most cars can clear it, but being fast enough for the S is a
huge task.
3. C1 Inbound 10 - Strong opponents on a tight course; almost no margin for
error.
4-5. Hakone 10, C1 Inbound 9 - (Hanshin Line 9 should be here too, but they all
start at the same place, so I won't bother with the earlier levels.) Which is
tougher depends mostly on your car.  I actually didn't have much trouble with
Hakone 10 with my Evo 8, but it took me four attempts with my R34, arguably the
best overall car in the entire game, and it was really close.  At any rate, if
you can do one, you can do the other.
6-8. Hakone 9, Wangan Line 9, C1 Outbound 10 - This is "kinda murderous"
territory.  Can be intimidating for a journeyman, but they're all doable, and no
big deal once you've dealt with the 5 toughest levels.  (I'd probably put
Hanshin Line 8 around here as well.)

And then Yokohane 8, C1 Outbound 9, C1 Inbound 8, Hakone 8, etc.

The real benchmark is #3.  If you can S the three toughest stages, you can be
confident about getting #4-8, even though one or two may actually take a little
longer (especially Hakone).  Once all 8 are in the bag, the rest of the stages
should go down in short order.

Just a reminder that this strategy is to be used ONLY if you're not going for
the Metropolitan Emperor title.  If you are, you have no choice but to play each
course honestly, as I explained earlier.  If you're not sure if you (and your
car) are up to it, start with Hanshin Line and make a note of how long it takes
you to clear 10.

Incidentally, the easiest *course* to S everything, including the "?", is New
Belt Line clockwise, something to consider if you want an Outrun title without
the hassle.


8. Ghost Versus Battle Mode
---------------------------
In this mode, you select your opponent from one of ten levels and race for
cosmetic parts.  All races are regular battles, i.e. one-on-one with fixed
starting and ending points; you won't run into permutations like multiple
opponents or dropouts or anything like that.

The first choice to make is your opponent level, with the default being based on
your tuning.  Then you select one of the "ghosts" to battle.  Actually, they're
all actual vehicles, not "ghosts" in the usual sense (images of cars in previous
runs).  Then you select the area.  After the game confirms your selections, you
get the setup screen, as usual, and then the battle is on.  There are a total of
seven default (computer) opponents per level in addition to any player ghosts
that have registered on that machine from previous battles.

Just because you start in a certain area doesn't mean that you finish in it.
Switching courses is common, and a few battles may switch twice.  The opponents
will *usually* pick the same finishing point for each starting point, but not
always.  In general, they like to attack obvious weaknesses, e.g. if you use a
Dangerous setup, they'll switch to an area with lots of corners.  It's always
advisable to have *enough* power or handling for the course you start on while
leaving enough leeway should your opponent pull a changeup on you.

All levels *except 10* have boost in effect, so it's usually possible to make up
a deficit unless it's completely hopeless.  Level 10 opponents run at a fixed
speed; there is no boost.

The higher the level, the more points you get for winning (and losing).  A
successful "revenge" (beating a player ghost that beat you before) earns 1.5x
the normal reward.  However, beating a level 10 opponent *always* gets you the
maximum number of points possible for that level of tuning.

You can see where I'm going with this, right?  :-)  Level 10 is the way to go.
If you have maximum tune, your opponents are virtually helpless.  I've won some
battles by over 500m.  It's a piece of cake.  Level 9, strangely enough, is the
hardest level of all, and you're most likely going to struggle on it (especially
with boost, which your opponents REALLY take advantage of), and all for fewer
points than for 10.  If you're looking for a challenge...and I admit that there
isn't a ton of it in this game outside of time attack...go ahead and have some
fun with 9.  But if you want to get the parts (and that's probably why you're
doing this in the first place), stick with 10.

There are a total of 46 parts.  For the first 10, beating a level 10 opponent
actually gives you more than 100% of a bar.  Unfortunately, any extra isn't
saved, so it'll take you 10 wins to get the first 10 parts.  For parts 11-20, a
win gets 75% of the bar, so a total of 20 wins are needed for the next 10 parts.
(Losing to a level 9 opponent gets you 25%, so you can take the opportunity to
face the toughest opponents in this mode without risk if you like.) For parts
21-30, a win is worth 50%, so another 20 wins are needed to obtain them.
Afterward, a win gets 30%, which means 4 wins per part, so another 64 wins are
required for the remaining parts.  In all, "full customize" (or whatever)
requires 114 wins.  Whenever you obtain a new part, you can choose either it or
any of the previous parts of that type you've obtained to go on your car.

IMPORTANT!  WARNING!  DANGER!  The *only* time you can select a different part
is in this mode.  Not during startup, not during renewal, NO other time.  In
other words, if you add a part you don't like, you're stuck with it until you
get a new one *of the same type*.  So be careful with your choices, especially
if you're not willing to spend well into three figures on this mode (and trust
me, it can reach this amount very easily).  Once you have all the parts, filling
the bar again (you still get a maximum of 30% per win) allows you to change
*one* component, and this is your only recourse once you have all the parts of a
certain type.  Fortunately, there's no limit to the number of times you can do
this.


9. The Parts Box
----------------
This is all the incidental/miscellaneous/because-it's-my-FAQ-dangit stuff that
doesn't go anywhere else.

- Battles! -
Battles can be initiated at any time (and I do mean *any*) so long as at least
one person playing at the moment is permitting challenges.  When the challenge
is made, all players who haven't turned off challenges get thrown into the
battle.  Challenger selects time of day; players currently on select the course.
If there's a conflict, the course is chosen randomly.

The default is boost on, which gives the cars behind the leader extra power to
prevent blowouts (and permit really cheap last-second passes, which you just
have to get used to.  If ALL players agree to turn boost off, it will be.

The interesting addition for MT3 is that whenever there's a choice of two
different roads to take (e.g. Turnabout/Sprint Junction), the leader gets to
decide which to take!  In fact, you can even switch courses like this...for
example, you can go to the Snap Hook and stay on C1 Outbound or take the
twisting connecting road which leads to New Belt Line Long.  Needless to say,
this gives the leader a lot of power (I mean, come *on*, C1 Outbound versus New
Belt Line Long??).

Other than that, it's the same old up-to-4-player melee you're used to.  Pick
something you're comfortable with and get ready for a fight.

Oh yeah, you get a bunch of levels from the stars you pick up (one star for each
opponent finished ahead of); if you are going for the coveted SSS, or even a
high A, this is necessary.

- Lousy grammar and really giving kids the wrong message -
You'll notice that Gatchan says "I isn't quitting." during one of his stages.
This, of course, used to be "I ain't quitting.", but apparently SOMEONE objected
to it.  So we've gone from a sentence that has an inappropriate word to a
sentence that looks really, really stupid.

Not just Gatchan, either.  Remember "I have no lost my sense yet?"

I don't know why, really.  Namco has accurate translators, and while there are a
few really egregious examples of horrible translations (e.g. the ending text for
Dragon Spirit), for the most part, it's been at least readable.  Apparently,
they figured most players wouldn't mind and took the past of least resistance.
Or maybe they've gotten a little complacent in being one of the few arcade big
names left (and even bigger after the merger with Bandai).

It's something a player must get used to, granted.  That said..."I isn't
quitting"??  There's Engrish, and there's just plain gibberish.  This isn't
good.
Neither is "Suddeen Kill", for that matter.

- Rice (and the extremely minor relevance it has to this game) -
"Ricing" refers to making modifications and accessorizations to a car that don't
improve its performance in (or only improve it slightly), but give it the
appearance (more or less) of a high-powered vehicle.  Some "ricers" honestly
believe these useless changes make the car faster; others know that they don't
but outwardly maintain the lie, mostly out of pride, or sometimes as a cheap
attempt to intimidate potential opponents.  Sometimes ricing is done purely for
appearance, the driver having no intention of getting into a battle.

Some of the ways to "rice" a car:
* Big spoilers designed for much more powerful vehicles, or *any* spoilers on a
vehicle that clearly has no use for them (FF, subcompact, flatbed truck, etc.)
* Parts/design from some other car (Altezza lights, Viper racing stripe, etc.)
* Other useless parts (air intake, dual tips, carbon fiber hood, etc.)
* Excess headlights
* Useless brake rotors
* Lots of stickers (esp. for parts the car doesn't have)
* Oversized muffler/exhaust tip
* Clear taillights
* Cut springs to lower the vehicle
* Anything to produce excess engine noise
* Single windshield wiper
* All identifying (incriminating!) emblems and badges removed

Note, however, that the one universal fact of riced vehicles (commonly known as
"ricemobiles") is that *they're not actually fast*.  They're the same old slow,
pedestrian passenger vehicles made to look otherwise.

That is why the Celsior in this game is NOT a ricemobile.  Not only is it
genuinely fast (not the fast*est*, of course, but definitely fast), but the vast
majority of the "useless" upgrades aren't intended to make the car look fast.
The whole point is *luxury*.  Specifically, the "VIP racecar", a luxurious car
that can also race.  Gatchan, of course, grossly exaggerates how much the parts
benefit ("With this you'll obtain 10,000 HP!"), but the fact remains that they
*do* benefit, all of them.

Of course, there are a lot of things that go into the Celsior that don't improve
a car's performance...clear taillights, an air horn, colorful cables, what have
you.  The thing is, though, they DO help in this game.  So while the kind of
Celsior Gatchan builds could be considered at least ricey in real life, it
doesn't qualify in any way, shape, or form as rice in this game.

And while there are plenty of dress-up parts, that's all they are...dress-up
parts.  Since there's no pretense of improving speed or handling, this isn't
ricing, this is just plain 'ol customization, like the kind "hot rods" undergo.
In fact, a lot of the paint schemes are in fact classic hot rod designs.

Anyway way you slice it, while WMMT3 does have faint traces of ricer culture,
it's not a ricer game, not a single vehicle is a ricemobile, and rice plays at
most a tiny role in the game.  There.  I said it and I'm glad.

- How the drivers talk to each other during a race -
They don't.  Well, they're not supposed to, anyway.  Most of the time.

I'll explain.  The whole point of Story Mode, in addition to providing your
vital tuning, is to give some insight into the Wangan Midnight manga.  In the
manga, there are all kinds of conversations and explanations and jabs and barbs
and good ol' buddies shooting the breeze, and as you might expect, plenty of
time away from the freeway.  In this game, however, there's *no* downtime...it's
racing, first and last.  All the dialogue has to be incorporated into this
framework somehow.

So what you're seeing is actually one of the following:
1. Dialogue that took place during an actual drive
This happens a number of times.  Generally it's two people talking to each other
in the vehicle; stage 22 is a good example.  Or else it's just a driver, and
he's not actually talking to anybody (or thinking instead of talking).

2. Conversation that happened off the freeway or before the actual battle
Buddy chat, tearful pleading, spec talk.  This is the case for nearly all the
non-drivers in this game.  Stage 11 is the most obvious example (Megumi is never
seen in *any* car in the manga).

3. Words from two drivers during a battle, but not to each other
Strictly private words that may or may not have been spoken, e.g. stage 37.

4. Talk originally directed at someone else in the manga
Kochan, Reina Akikawa, and Keiichiro Aizawa do this all the time, and Gatchan
turns it into an art form in stage 26.  This is just for your benefit, since in
this game you're supposed to hear everything that's going on.  Less common now
than in MT1 and MT2.

5. Made-up dialogue
Surprisingly, this is the *least* common instance.  Namco has followed the manga
religiously and resorts to inventing dialogue only as a last resort.

And just for the record, the cell phone/radio contact between the R200 Club
members is the only instance in the manga or game of anyone using any actual
remote communication during a race.

- Ranks -
Here's how you gain ranks:
* Completing Story Mode the first time, 9 ranks in all
* Completing Story Mode each additional time (1 each)
* Winning in Ghost Versus Battle Mode.  1 rank at 20, 50, 100, and 200 wins,
more for truly astronomical totals.
* Earning stars in battle (again, the requirement is pretty high).
* Clearing an Outrun stage with all S's.

As you might expect, it's tough to get the highest possible rank, SSS.  I
certainly wouldn't bother.

- Differences from Initial D -
I *really* never wanted to go here, but given that Wangan Midnight finally got
an anime release and the discussions are flying right now.  Everyone else has
said their piece; here's mine.

First off, though, the thing you really need to understand is that in any street
racing manga, the "hero car" ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT be a car you'd expect to be a
nigh-unbeatable juggernaut, *especially* if it's a highly popular model.  Why
don't you ever see a dominant Skyline, LanEvo, WRX, RX-7, Fairlady Z Type S, or
Silvia S15?  Because nobody wants to *read* a story about a dominant Skyline,
LanEvo, WRX, RX-7, Fairlady Z Type S, or Silvia S15 precisely *because* that's
the reality.  No one with half a brain honestly expects a Trueno, no matter how
juiced up, to be able to take down LanEvos and RX-7's, or a Z30, or even a
Porsche 911, for that matter, to be *that* incredibly dominant.  It's fantasy.
It's an *appealing* fantasy, and it makes for a compelling manga, which is why
that's what we see.

+What it's about+
A somewhat subtle but significant difference.  Initial D is about being a racer.
Wangan Midnight is, quite simply, about being a *driver*, and racing is actually
just a small part of it.  If you have access to the Wangan Midnight manga, make
a note of how many heated battles end in no-contests, one person quitting midway
through, or even complete confusion.  We're not even told what the *point* of
spending a lot of money tuning up a vehicle and engaging in dangerous runs is,
other than the simple desire to do it.  Competition is fierce and incredibly
heated in Initial D; in Wangan Midnight, "There are no winners or losers, only
those that race and those that walk away." (This is from the Hiramoto arc, BTW,
and there is no better example of WM's general attitude toward "winning".)

+The hero+
The vital component of any shonen story.  Initial D's hero, the inimitable
Takumi Fujiwara, is an enigma when we first see him.  He doesn't seem all that
interested in anything.  Eventually, we see what he's capable of doing with a
car, and in true shonen hero fashion, he never loses.  (Well, he did lose that
one time, but it wasn't a *loss* loss...go read it, it'll become clear.) He
eventually betrays something of a mean streak and is hardened by his
experiences.
Wangan Midnight has *two* heroes, both passionate about racing from day one.
Akio Asakura is one of the cool kids, a dashing gearhead with a bit of
punkishness, and he drives fast because he just plain loves to.  So much so, in
fact, that he gets others in on the game every chance he gets (test driving a
bevy of high-performance rumblers in the process).  Tatsuya Shima is the
established professional, the legend in the black Porsche 911.  He's much more
low-key than Akio but otherwise shares the same passion, even if he has to
overcome occasional crises of faith.  Going back to the overall premises, the
main difference is that whereas Takumi is ferociously driven to win, Akio is
enamored more of the *idea* of being a feared unstoppable juggernaut than
actually fighting for #1, and Tatsuya does it mostly out of emotional need and
racer's pride...he has a reputation to defend, you know.

+Car capabilities+
A huge difference here.  Initial D is a lot more about the sheer awesomeness of
a Trueno taking on a Skyline or Evo 3 or S2000 than even trying to accurately
depict how it would actually win.  The reason Takumi can win is...well, he just
*can*.  It's preordained.  In Wangan Midnight, specs (especially horsepower!)
are all-important, and only a real powerhouse has any chance of competing on the
unforgiving freeways, much less the Wangan Line.  You'll never see a Levin, a
Cappuccino, or even an Altezza making a serious go of it.  Yes, the Devil Z is
incredibly difficult to beat, but that's because it really is that damn good.

+Accidents+
Vehicle damage in Initial D is usually very minor, and outright wrecks are a
rarity, pretty remarkable given all the spinouts and misjudged corners on tight
roads.  It's reached the point where suffering any significant damage is a mark
of gross incompetence.  In Wangan Midnight, crashes are very common, simply
because that's what happens when extreme high-powered vehicles make lots of
dangerous maneuvers amidst a lot of traffic.  Nearly everyone wrecks
spectacularly at least once at some point, and Akio Asakura *himself* suffers
several collisions (though he's a fast learner and eventually manages to stay
completely out of trouble).

+Pro aspirations+
Wangan Midnight is a paean to amateurism...nobody is getting paid for this.  In
fact, the only ones who were ever professional at any point are a few tuners,
and they've long since settled down to their less dangerous professions.  While
most of the drivers in Initial D are dedicated amateurs (mainly because they're
not good enough to turn pro), there's always the unwritten goal of the big
leagues.  Takumi himself said point-blank that he wants to turn pro.

---------------------------------------
FAQ copyright 2008 by Darrell Wong (DKW)
All rights reserved