Mountain/Street-Racing Games for PS2

I recently got an NTSC-J PS2, and I'm looking to buy some mountain/street-racing games for it. I'm really only interested in games that weren't released in the US. A couple games I've been looking at are the Battle Gear series and Wangan Midnight. Which games would you recommend? Also, of those who have played them, which Battle Gear game is better?

 

Initial D. Need I say more?

 

Battle Gear 2
Battle Gear 3
Kaido Battle ("Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift" in USA)
Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction
Kaido Battle: Touge no Densetsu
Shutokou Battle 0 ("Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Zero" in USA)
Shutokou Battle 01 ("Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3" in USA)
Touge 3

Haven't played most of them, but these are the ones i know about.

Anyway, Kaido Battle 2 is great if you like tuning cars. The Battle Gear series was always a bit generic. Battle Gear 3 is cool, but Initial D: Special Stage and Kaido Battle are better.

 

I see. Is Special Stage a port the first arcade game, or something else?

 

It's a port of the Arcade Stage Ver.2 with an added Story mode which follows the manga.