It's weird to see a Initial D game released before the anime, so the official version of the game lacks the classic Eurobeat soundtrack. This may take away half of the fun, but thankfully there's a mod that fixes it, which turns the game into a an early 32-bit version of the Arcade Stages that people are more used too.

The driving is kinda weird but its between the Special Stage and the Extreme Stage games in terms of handling.

It's perfectly beatable if you put some effort on it and memorize the turns in each race.