Initial D Arcade Stage ver 2 vs. ver 3

Anyone else think Version 3 got way too unbalanced?

In version 2, the Integra was the undisputed god car, sure, but everything else was pretty well balanced, and players had alot of variety. In version 3, it really seems that 5 or 6 top tier cars are so far and away better than everything else, that its hopeless if you drive a car thats a rank or more below the one your racing. It really feels like every single faggot in the arcade has a 800k point rx8 in their wallet.

If you played a fighting game competitively, you know that teirs aren't  everything, and being a better player is more important, but in fighting games, its player vs player. In inital D, its player vs road vs player.

Lets say a S2000 and an RX8, both at equal points, race akagi downhill wet.
The S2000 can ace every possible corner, and hit every shift point perfectly, and follow the very best possible line you can, but it will still lose to an rx8 whos driver can race considerably worse. Theres nothing the s2000 can do about it, you can only play so good, then it just comes down to whos using a higher ranked car.

Its pretty easy to get good at inital D too, you play the same way every time, nothing changes. Just pretend that other car isnt there and you'll squeek right by him around the next turn, race like you did 100 times before.

You can always get one step ahead of someone in a fighting game, tiers change as new techniques are pioneered, its about the player first, and character second.

I know alot of people like version 3 better. The new tracks are pretty spiffy. But it really turned into the MvC2 of racing games, where everybody uses the same setup.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Yes. And not just about Initial D. This happens in far too many games. Everyone finds the ONE setups that maximizes their chaces to win, and then use nothing but that. I suppose that this is good strategy, but it does make for a fairly boring match. Just like in a fighter where someone always chooses the exact same character every time. Random VS Random fights are awesome.

So yes, I very nuch agree with this. It`s unfortunate, and people will never stop trying to find the magical win every time combination. I suppose that`s just one sad limitation of video games. They`re finite, and eventually you hit the top.

i respect the people that race with the lesser known cars, like silvias and subarus and whatnot. to me, seeing those cars being used tells me that they're trying to be way better than the usual, say, like owning shit with tron bonne in mvc2. i'd much rather race him than some stupid rx8/evo7 noob. (i race with an s14 q's)

I had an Initial D stint, only a couple months. I like the game, but there's only so much I can put into a $1/play game that only lets you play for two minutes at a time. The car balance is pretty eh. At least it isn't ONE competitive car, but the selection still isn't great, considering. I just went with the 86, knowing they wouldn't fuck over the hero's car. My other issue with the game is that Battle Level is such a joke when you can get your rank off beating people with a lower level than you. Plenty of people just wait around for easy wins. It discourages players of equal levels from playing each other, and obviously all that does is hurt the balance.

And competitive Max Tune I can't understand for the life of me.

Fighting spam, one bump at a time!