Based on the storyline of the actual manga, this arcade game races the player through the actual Shutoku Odaiba highway of Japan, and of course, running for top speed on the famous Wangan Line (They won't go far though. After the underwater tunnel, they are dumped onto the Yokohane line heading back towards Tokyo). The popular highway tuner cars in Japan are all present, such as the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra, the NissanZ cars, and in the Japanese version, the Porsche 911 (represented by the Gemballa 3.8RS and RSR in the game). They race through certain Racer Levels e.g. C, B,A, A+. With victories they gain ranks, and the ranks change continuously if they choose to accept the rank change. With a re-writable card system, their power, rank and "in-game advancement" changes after each play. This makes Wangan Midnight one of the most updated and popular games around. With upgrades being given to the player's car once they finish your points bar (they get points after each race) players can choose to upgrade handling or power.
While Initial D is focused on the curving mountain roads in Japan's Gunma, Tochigi, and Saitama prefectures, Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune (denoted WMMT) focuses on the Tokyo Metropolitan Highway system. As such, the roads are straighter and wider than the mountain passes (even though there are plenty of sharp turns and chicanes), there are also numerous street vehicles that act as moving roadblocks, ranging from small Corollas, the larger van, HiAce, and the large moving trucks referred to as ToyoAce.