Wangan Midnight is a racing game developed by Genki for the PlayStation 3. It is based on the Award-winning Japanese comic of the same name created by Michiharu Kusunoki back in 1992. The Wangan Midnight PlayStation 3 Blu-ray was released in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan on July 5, 2007. The game runs in 1920x1080@60 Hz on a Full HD television. This game was preceded by a PlayStation 2 version released on March 21, 2002 and it is followed by a sequel released one month later on the PlayStation Portable. This game series is not related to the similar Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune arcade game series made by Bandai Namco.
Game modes
Basic game modes are the Story Mode that follows the manga's plot according to the main characters point of view. The Time Attack Mode is based on time trials, and the Free Run Mode allows the user to drive the Shuto Expressway selecting his starting points without racing, and can drive anywhere on the Shuto Expressway. The One Match Mode is made for head-to-head quick games against the characters. Wangan Connection is the online game mode that allows people to create, host and join online games with up to three other players. Through the game's progression, the user can unlock two extra game modes, Survival Mode and Maximum Speed Mode. Survival Mode puts the player up against characters from the series. The goal is to beat a designated amount of rivals without losing. If the player loses, the game is over. Survival Mode is divided into three classes. Rookie has 20 rivals, and runs on the C1. Runner has 50 rivals, and runs on the New Belt Line. Monster has 99 rivals, and runs on the Wangan, part of the New Belt Line, and Yokohane. Maximum Speed Mode is where the player drives a car of his choice on the Yatabe Test Course. The goal is to go as fast as you can without blowing the engine.
Featured characters and vehicles
The game features the comic's main characters plus some crossover characters taken from the developer's main game series. Story mode characters voice cast is the same as the anime series but minus Tokuyoshi Kawashima due to that of his character, Masaki being skipped in the anime. Yoshiaki Ishida is not found in the game due to vehicle licensing, however he does appear in anime. All vehicles are licensed models from the Japanese manufacturers Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Subaru. The only non-Japanese automaker is RUF, a European tuner of Porsche models.
Scenario (racers)
The game features several tuned cars taken from the original comic, new cars or upgraded versions are unlockable in the Story Mode. An express carrier truck is also available in the last scenario once unlocked. Two scenarios are available on game start, eight additional scenarios are unlockable.
Akio is the main protagonist in the series, a 19-year-old live alone student. He was driving on the Wangan on board a Nissan Fairlady Z with Ma when he was easily defeated by the "Blackbird" Porsche. He then found the scrapped body of a blue tuned Fairlady Z known as the "Devil Z" in which he bought and restored to a good condition. His racing life began since then.
A surgeon by day and a racer by night, this man drives a black RUF dubbed as the "Blackbird", he was the one racing with the original owner of the Devil Z when it crashed. A close friend of Eriko, he assumes the role of taking care of her in place of her dead brother. When he met Kitami, he asked him to tune the Blackbird to match the Devil Z.
Reina Akikawa :
A TV personality and magazine model, she does this hectic job and decides to run her GT-R on the Wangan nightly. One night, she encountered the Devil Z and the Blackbird having a race and decided to join in, but her car spun out and crashed. Her GT-R is tuned by Kazuhiko Yamamoto. The primary love interest of Akio, she also seems to harbor feelings toward Akio.
Kouichi Hiramoto
A hardworking man in the Green Auto Shop who often races on the Wangan with his friend Harada until one day, the two encountered Reina's GT-R which makes Hiramoto decide to get his own car. He then becomes obsessed with tuning his silver R32 GT-R that his pregnant wife, Megumi left him for that very reason.
Harada
Hiramoto's friend also works in the Green Auto Shop who helped him tune his R32 to race with the Devil Z and the Blackbird on the Wangan. He drives a Nissan Fairlady in which its engine overheated when he encountered the Blackbird and tried to chase after it.
Masaki :
Yamanaka
A chief mechanic of the Speed Factory RGO tuning shop. He drives a GT-R.
Keiichiro Aizawa a.k.a. "Kei"
The character who drives the Supra RZ, dubbed as the "Monster Supra" tuned by Kou Tominaga and Akio Asakura. After seeing the Devil Z, he decided to chase after him.
Takayuki Kuroki
A devoted student of street racing, he spends hours just analyzing his vast storehouse of data and coming up with strategies. He staunchly believes in the superiority of the Nissan Skyline GT-R and refuses to drive anything else. His intellect is formidable, and he puts his plans into motion with absolute precision and confidence. He's one of the very few drivers who managed to get a clean one-on-one victory over Tatsuya Shima but, when facing Akio, the engine overheated and blew. Also, he is fiercely independent, and not associated with any tuners like some of his rivals.
Yasu-san
The driver of the express carrier truck that Akio crashed the Devil Z in to.
Jun Kitami is the owner of Kitami Cycle, the shop that tuned Akio's Z and Tatsuya's Blackbird.
Yuichi Takagi :
Takagi did bodywork on the Devil Z at his Body Shop Sunday.
Kazuhiko Yamamoto :
Kazuhiko Yamamoto owns the YM Speed shop. He is the one who tuned Reina's GT-R and drives his own Skyline GT-R.
Eriko Asakura :
The sister of the Devil Z's original owner and Tatsuya's love interest, She steals the Devil Z one time and is stopped by the Blackbird and Akio.
Non Custom
Five Non-player character vehicles are unlockable in the Survival Mode's Rookie Class. These are "Non Custom" traffic vehicles owned by an anonymous driver.
Bonus cars taken from Genki's Shutokou Battle series, including famous rivals returning from Shutokou Battle X released on Xbox 360 in September 2006 are featured in this Wangan Midnight game. These special cars featuring custom paintjobs and stickers are unlocked once the Survival Mode's Monster Class is completed.
The game uses an original card system to tune the player's car and unlock extra characters scenario, game modes or vehicles. Tuning cards are known as "Ability" cards, namely: Tuner, Body, Setting, Miscellaneous and Engine Resistance. The offline game is completed once all 128 cards have been gathered. Each card is unlocked when a mission is completed in a particular game mode, though some cards need the player to reach a certain User Level through the Wangan Connection online mode.
Car Customize
Cosmetic tuning is limited to bonnet, muffler and rear spoiler change. Upgraded parts are available once their respective cards have been unlocked and used.
Official videos
A Full HD promotion video was released on the Japanese and South-East Asian PlayStation Store on June 22, 2007. This featurette was followed by the release of the Japanese TV commercial.
Reception
The game was well received in Japan since a "PlayStation 3 the Best" greatest hits re-release has been available since July 24, 2008.
