Since it's release in Japan, fans of the series have been foaming at the mouth waiting for the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 from Bandai Namco, which is based on the popular comic series Wangan Midnight, to finally arrive at one of their local arcades. This month has seen that wait come to an end with the game being released in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia so far this month. Fans in Australia, and New Zealand can expect their own Maximum Tune 4's in January 2013 with the worldwide release. Although there is no concrete date, this should be enough to sate fans who have been inundating the WMMT4 Official Facebook, Twitter and web pages with the question 'When is this coming to my country?!'.
Naturally, the WMMT4 global community is very excited about this release, and rightly so! There are so many features to get excited about with this game for both old and new players. For instance, all data from previous games, like your car and dress-ups, are transferable, so you don't have to worry about losing any data or having to start all over again. Everything is stored on your Banapassport Card, which can now register up to 100 cars and no longer needs to be renewed.
Other changes include a whole range of new features and gadgets for players to enjoy. There are eight new car models which now includes overseas manufacturers RUF and Chevrolet, one new race course titled 'The Minato Mirai Line' where players can race across the representative port city of Japan, Yokohama, 20 new dress-up parts for exterior customization of the players cars, and when fully tuned players can reach the new 830 horsepower. That's not all though! There is also a whole new BGM playlist for the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4, composed by the famous Yuzo Koshiro, who did the background music for the previous games in the series. Bandai Namco expects that there will be further improvements and updates in the future as well.
One of the main attractions about this game has to be how extensive it is, with four different modes of game play, it is highly versatile and allows for hours upon hours of epic racing fun. Story mode is undoubtedly the main aspect of the game, as it runs for 60 'episodes' and is where the original comic characters appear as your rivals whom you must race against and defeat. In story mode you choose tour rival's level, then an opponent from that level, and race! Your can race one-on-one or in a group of three or more depending on the story. You win if you cross the finish line before your rivals, and lose if they cross the finish line before you. In addition, during story mode is when you can tune your car; every race you win earns you tuning points, and once your tuning bar is full you can tune either your cars Power or Handling.
The other modes include Local Arcade Versus Battle, Ghost Versus Battle, and Time Attack. Local Arcade Versus Battle mode allows you and your friends to links seats when your together in the same arcade and race each other in real-time. The racing area and time zone are decided by majority vote (where everyone selects what they want by pressing their brake pedal), and if all players push their brakes on the same time zone selection, a hardcore race will occur where there is no horsepower handicap! However the start ramp is decided automatically, and the path to take at branching points in the game are decided by which ever player is in 1st place.
The opposite to this is Ghost Versus Battle, which uses a type of technology that can map your habits and style as a player and mimic it with a ghost racer, so you can race against Facebook friends who may live on the other side of the world. Also, if one of your friends beats your ghost car, it activates the 'Getting Revenge List' so you can get even with your competitors, and you score higher points when it's payback.
Then we have Time Attack, the game mode where you drive alone and race against the clock. Your record time result will be displayed. Players can strive to improve their personal bests, as the top 100 personal best scores in each vehicle type in each country will be put on display for other players in your country to see. To see all full run down of the game description and the background music tracks (which you can also listen to) it's all on the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4.
A very long story short, this game is a big deal and if you love driving/racing games with grunt then you need to get excited about WMMT4. If that's not enough though, I have also sourced the trailer (which can also be seen on the website) and a player review that takes you step by step through how to start and play the game. Enjoy!
Teaser Trailer for Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4:
Player start-up walk-through and review, sourced from Jmabashi:
