Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune: My Gateway to Japanese Car Culture
From the iconic expressways of Japan, the ‘90s tuner cars, and an original soundtrack, the arcade video game “Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune” developed by Namco is a game you should definitely try the next time you visit an arcade. Whether you love cars or not, by the end of one race you’ll be wishing all you did for a living was drift the streets of Tokyo.
Officially released by Namco in 2004, the game was only available for Japan and the United States. From then, it soon became a cult favorite Japanese racing game. Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune is based around Michiharu Kusunoki’s Wangan Midnight Manga, revisiting original episodes of the anime and allowing you to experience the high-speed experience of a street racer. At the time of its release, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune was way ahead of its time. From there, things would only get better – the game was a pioneer for many of the arcade racing games that followed, being one of the most successful racing games ever, attracting both car enthusiasts and non-car enthusiasts alike.
One of the defining features of the game is the driver unit, which features a big monitor, red bucket seats, 6-speed transmission, accelerator, and brake pedals, along with big speakers, which all play a big role in immersing players into a lifelike experience of a high-speed race down the roads all over Japan. Nothing beats driving down the Wangan Line in your Skyline R-34 while having the luxury of all the gear the game provides, which for its time was something not most arcade racing games had.
Cars? Wangan Midnight is never lacking. On its current edition – Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 6RR, the game now has over 80 cars from manufacturers like Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Dodge, Honda, Lamborghini, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, and Toyota. The spectrum is wide from your favorite JDM legends such as the Toyota Supra RZ to new generation cars such as the new Nissan GTR-50.
You can’t mention Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune without talking about Yuzo Koshiro’s upbeat and electrifying original soundtrack for the game. If Initial D had Eurobeat, Maximum Tune had Wangan Trance. One of the most iconic songs, “Enjoy the Process”, was curated in WMMT 3DX+, and serves as a cult classic for the loyal players of this game. You can’t deny that hearing your favorite music while racing against other players plays a big role in satisfaction, and definitely uplifts the whole experience. Since its release in 2004, the game’s music has always been created by Yuzo Koshiro, making it one of the biggest factors for the game’s success.
Now that you’re up to speed on what the game is, let me talk about how this game opened doors for me and how it continues to inspire and influence people.
I’m Kirby Ang, an 18-year-old writer residing in Metro Manila in the Philippines. With passions in everything related to Japan, from anime, manga, and most importantly cars, this is how Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune sparked my love for the country and changed my life.
It was the night I watched 2 Fast 2 Furious which was amusing and new to me then. And then I entered our local arcade, as a kid who just watched a movie, my natural instinct was to copy whatever I found interesting that happened in the film - in this case, I wanted to drive a car and race, from then I saw the perfect game. It was calling me, booming trance music from a game that displayed cool cars and the anime characters which I knew nothing about then.
I swiped my arcade card, and the first thing the game introduced to me was a giant list of cars which I had no chance of choosing in time. But then I remembered Brian’s R-34 from the film I had just watched, found it, chose it, and jumped straight into the first race.
“Man to man. Car to car. Legend creates new legend. The Wangan story begins now...””
This is the introduction to the game's story mode. Little did I know this would be the beginning of my journey to dominate the roads of Japan, racing against the characters of the manga. Each race I took part in, the more I got hooked on the game. Wangan Midnight introduced me to different cars, different places in Japan, and it never failed to keep me interested in it. As I played, my car would get gradually upgraded, and once it was fully tuned, it opened a gateway to an entire new universe for me.
After the Story Mode of the game, the next mode, Ghost Battle Mode rewards wins by filling up the car’s dress-up points bar. With this feature, your ride is given more options like aero parts, wheels, and other cosmetics to choose from & customize it the way you want to. This allowed me to build my dream car, realize & refine my taste in car customization. Being able to complete every aspect of my car in the end might be one of the most blissful moments in my life.
Just when you think you’ve enjoyed the game to the fullest, the real fun begins: multiplayer races allowing for up to 4 players in the same arcade to go head to head. At first, it was difficult for me to keep up since the other players were veterans who knew their way around every corner of the streets, and the right tuning for each map. The biggest challenge for me was to familiarize myself with the specifics of the game. I played against friends, family, strangers, with each race exposing me to different car setups, racing styles, and racing lines.
From the cars, stories, courses, and music, the game was paramount for the car world as a whole for me, and tons more like myself. As a car enthusiast, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune played a huge role, as it served as my influence and inspiration for my pursuit, elevating my love for cars to a whole new dimension. And it all started with one swipe of my arcade card.
The game made me develop a deeper sense of connection and appreciation toward not only Japanese car culture, but Japanese culture as a whole. Maximum Tune exposed me to many different aspects of the country — anime, manga, music, places, and more. It was a rabbit hole, in a very positive manner. I dug deeper and deeper in order to learn more about the cars I found interesting, and one car I hold especially close to my heart: the Nissan Skyline R-34. Thanks to the game, I learned everything about the car that I otherwise would just have known simply as Brian O’Connor’s car from 2 Fast 2 Furious.
From there, I would eventually make my first trip to Japan. Seeing the elements of the gameplay merge into my real world was pure ecstasy. When I was around 9 years old, I caught a glimpse of the first RX-7 I’ve ever seen in my life, parked outside of Haneda Airport. To get to the hotel we were staying at, we took the tourist bus and passed by the Wangan. I was completely mind blown. There is only one thing a true Wangan Midnight fan would do on the Wangan: blast the WMMT OST, with my choice being Yuzo’s “Stay Where You Are”. To this day, this is one of the core memories I reminisce about.
This game was my childhood, my go-to, my gateway. Other than its influence on me, the game connected me to a countless amount of relationships outside of the screen. Maximum Tune would be the game I would play with my friends after class, my family, and eventually led me to meet new people. The arcades would host tournaments for WMMT, and in order to join, you needed to be part of a team. Naturally, I had to try out and race against other members to test my skills. As a kid, it was my passion to represent my team and race in any given tournament.
Even as I write this, I continue to be a proud fanatic of the arcade racer Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune. The influence I have gained from the franchise is still evident in my daily life, and one of the biggest is my continuous curiosity to learn more about Japanese culture. I continue to strive for my dream of riding around the streets of Japan in my R-34, but for now, Maximum Tune is enough to feed that fantasy.
I often look back to the good memories I made with the game. The endorphins rushing through my body when I top 300 km/h on the C1 Loop in my R-34 with “Smoldery Guest” by Yuzo in the background are irreplaceable. Shifting gears and maneuvering the wheel while burning asphalt is something you just can’t experience with any other racer arcade. Words cannot express how good the game was, you just had to be there to experience it. Take a seat at the arcade, and the game speaks for itself.
About the Author: Kirby Ang is an 18-year-old writer residing in Metro Manila, Philippines. For Sabukaru, he digs deep into the cultural influence of Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune and how it acted as a spur of interest into the Japanese car culture and other Japanese subcultures.
