Incredible to believe that Ridge Racer has been around since 1993. whilst the latest instalment leaves much to be desired, join us as we take a look back at the highs and lows of perhaps one of the most incredible race franchises of all time.
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Ridge Racer Arcade Game and Ports
In 1993 a racing video game was released into the world by Namco. That game was Ridge Racer. It was initially released on the Namco System 22 arcade system board, and was later ported to the PlayStation console. It was released in competition to the rift of racing games released at the time by Sega such as Daytona and VR Racing and became an instant hit owing to the photo realistic nature of the graphics and arcadey style driving engine which was easy to pick up and hard to put down.
The first home version of Ridge Racer was released in Japan in 1994 as a launch title for the original Sony PlayStation console. Some players may say that it was an ‘arcade perfect port’ which was a term that was banded around at the time but I still would say otherwise. One thing is for sure is that the game played a major role in establishing Playstation console and in giving it an early edge over its nearest competitor, the Sega Saturn. Nice touches included the option to change the in game music by removing the game disc and inserting your own favourite CD – a move that has never been repeated since.
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Ridge Racer Revolution
Firmly following the mantra of ‘if it isn’t broke don’t fix it’ Ridge Racer Revolution’ simply offered more of the same. I personally did not like it as it had dodgy collision detection, but I know loads of players who loved it as it had a two-player link-up mode which when played allowed the players access to the two courses from the original Ridge Racer game known as ‘Special 1’ and ‘Special 2’.
Normally only 4 cars are selectable, but all 12 are selectable if a player is able to defeat 100% of the enemies on the Galaga ’88 game before the title screen. In addition if this was done in less than 44 shots, not only were all the cars selectable, but the car bodies were smaller and the wheels bigger, looking much like buggies. Other changes included a commentator with a higher-pitched voice and different handling of the cars. However, while you can still race the three bonus cars, you cannot win them in the buggy mode. One way to easily access the buggy mode from the beginning is to hold L1, R1 select, down and triangle all simultaneously from when the game loads until the space invaders game – a special laser then emitted from the ship to kill all of the enemies on the space invaders game. Don’t say I don’t give away secrets.
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Rage Racer
Whilst arcade gamers got Rave Racer, Playstation owners got Rage Racer. They sound similar but believe me they are anything but. Visually the game took a different approach compared to the previous PlayStation titles. It looked more realistic and had a darker colour scheme. For the first time in the Ridge Racer series, Rage Racer introduced a brand new advanced single player career system which used credits which were received from winning races which then could be used to buy and upgrade cars. I rate this as a low because although I loved the way it brought something new to the genre and I have fond memories of taking a Beetle look-alike round the track at break-neck speed the graphics were really rough around the edges and the music was horrendous.
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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
This was the fourth game in the Ridge Racer series on the PlayStation.
With Namco now properly turning the attention to the home market this title was solely made for the home console. There were eight tracks and a whopping 321 vehicles, Having realized their mistakes in the previous title back came gouraud shading on the polygons, giving the game a visual depth that was really lovely to the eye. The intro and presentation of the game was incredible. It was also the first Ridge Racer game on the Sony system to feature a two-player split screen mode, and featured two different driving models.
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Ridge Racer 64
This was the next in the racing instalment developed by Namco and Nintendo Software Technology for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. It featured tracks from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution and its very own set of desert tracks exclusive to the Nintendo 64. On the Car Select screen you could join the Dig Racing Team, Pac Racing Club, Racing Team Solvalou and R.C. Micro Mouse Mappy all from Ridge Racer Type 4. It marked ahigh point of the series and you could also change the colours of the car instead of the normal colours. The music was equally great and moving away from solely producing titles for Sony’s home machines Nintendo 64 owners finally had a racing game they could be proud of.
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Ridge Racer V 
(RRV), was the fifth game in the Ridge Racer series on the PlayStation. It was in one word Incredible. One of the launch games for the PlayStation 2. It featured 14 tracks and 18 vehicles, with 5 modes of play. Taking full advantage of the new spec hardware available in the next generation console the colours were bright, the in game graphics and speed was insatiable and the music was banging. I remember going over one ridge in the game and having the lens flare coarse into my eyes furthermore the night time tracks too were amazing; dimly lit streets that forced you to really peer ahead on the road to see the next hairpin bend. One other thing that is worthy of note was the ‘endurance race’ 99 laps of hardcore racing that tested even the most veteran of racing games. When you completed it all you got was a well done screen though, although you still had bragging rights to your friends for doing so.
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R: Racing Evolution
This title marked a low point in the franchise. Released in Japanin November 27, 2003, in North America on December 9, 2003 and in Europeon April 2, 2004, R is a racing-sim. Much like considered a cross over like Rage Racing and Gran Turismo. Opting to feature 33 licensed cars and in-depth customization options the game also featured a system referred to as the pressure meter, a fighting game-esque gauge that filled up as the player gets closer to a rival car; the higher the meter, the greater the likelihood that the AI will make a critical mistake.
The game offered a story mode where the player followed the racing career of Rena Hayami as she struggles to deal with the busy life of a professional race car driver and the politics of the sport. The mode featured some 14 chapters that were supposed to bring something new to the franchise, however none of these factors could protect the game from critical feedback. ‘Boring as hell’ said one reviewer; ‘If I wanted to play a racing sim I would have bought Gran Turismo’ said another.
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Ridge Racer 6
This was the sixth instalment in the Ridge Racer series. Released exclusively on Xbox 360 in 2006, it was marked as an achievement for Xbox owners who previously never had a Ridge Racer title. The game featured a Full Motion Video opening, which showed the series mascot the gorgeous Reiko Nagase in full action. Defending their decision to produce a game for another even rival console Namco announced that it expected to sell over 500,000 copies of Ridge Racer 6 for the Xbox 360, although in reality that never happened; far fewer copies were actually sold; although that does not stop it from being a good game in its own right. Ridge Racer 7 for the PlayStation 3 is something of a “remix “of Ridge Racer 6, but with major differences such as new vehicles that were not seen in Ridge Racer 6 such as Sinseong, a Korean brand company, for the first time.
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Ridge Racer 7
This was the seventh console instalment in the Ridge Racer series of racing games, released exclusively on the PlayStation 3. The game has around 40 cars, many of which return from Ridge Racer 6 and the PSP incarnations of the game. There are also 22 courses, available in forward, reverse and mirror mode. The game runs at 1080p resolution and at 60 frames per second. It also features Dolby Digital 5.1 surroundI’m not going to say why here all you need to know is it is a real low point in the series. You can find my review in Frostmagazine’s very pages to find out
Great games leave some terrific memories don’t they? For me it was seeing the helicopter on the last lap…and the 99 Lap Endurance Race of course…I remember the phone going, the door bell ringing, my sister being locked out and I just had to ignore it all.
…still remember firing up Ridge Racer day one with Battle Arena Toshinden and SF:The Movie (bleh). What a great racing game. Taking that turn around the mountain was always magical if done right ” Whoo! That was a great counter. You must be one genius of a driver. You gotta teach me!”
-OK. It’s the last stretch! Keep going