| Ridge Racers review |
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The launch of a new Sony console wouldn’t be the same without a version Namco’s Ridge Racer to accompany it, and the release of Sony’s Playstation Portable is no exception. This new instalment comes under the moniker of Ridge Racers (note the plural use there); an amalgamation of cars, tracks and music from all the previous games in the series, including the coin-op only Rave Racer - essentially a greatest hits compilation and every Ridge fan’s wet dream.
Amongst the usual single race and time trial modes, the main staple of this version is the World Tour. Here you’ll find a collection of race events spread across three difficulty groups - Basic, Pro and Expert; complete each series of races and new events, tracks and cars are unlocked. Having remained relatively intact since the series coin-op debut over a decade ago, the play mechanics are simple - start in last place and work up to a podium position within three laps. The only major addition to this latest iteration is the ability to boost by use of nitrous boosts that gradually fill up the more the car drifts.
With this version of the game promoting drifting on corners that wouldn’t usually be tackled sideward (well, not the original versions anyway), some Ridge purists may sneer, but it has been so expertly implemented it feels like an integral part of the Ridge Racer experience, adding a whole new dimension to the game. It’s perfectly possible to win a lot of the earlier Basic events without even laying a finger on the nitrous trigger but, when it comes down to the tougher Pro and Expert races, it often becomes a necessity.
The handling of the cars has also received a slight overhaul: drifting can be adapted to the gamer’s taste, much more so than in previous versions, with the cars now coming in three different drift flavours - Standard, Mild and Dynamic, each representing styles from earlier games. With some slight nuances between the two, the Standard and Mild are from the same school of drifting - they’re easy to handle and fairly forgiving in the bends – set a drift in motion and the car is carried through the corner by seemingly other-worldly forces, leaving the player to concentrate on the race. The Dynamic type, on the other hand, gets a tad unruly once that backend slips out, but obviously garners more drift due to its slidey nature, is much more responsive and stands-out as the one to master. That said, some later courses require very tight cornering with zero drift: in Ridge Racers, drift slows the car fractionally more than in earlier versions – only by tenths of seconds but, when you are aiming to beat an opponent as tough as Angelus, for example, tenths really rack-up. Knowledge of all car drift responses is therefore essential, and you’ll find the cars you unlock become increasingly worthy as the difficulty levels rise.
Regardless which car is chosen, the ride around the rollercoaster-highways of Ridge city is - as it’s always been - an exhilarating one. There are twenty-four circuits (half of which are raced in reverse) cherry picked from the series’ past and brought up to date with a welcomed face lift. Everyone has their favourite courses, and it’s quite likely that some of those haven’t made it into the final line-up. That said Namco has done a fine job of delivering a tidy selection of tracks that represent all that is great about the much loved series.
The Ridge Racer games have always been a good showcase of Sony’s new-fangled hardware and the same is true of Ridge Racers. At first glance you’ll be rubbing your eyes in disbelief that this game is actually running on a handheld system – the visual quality surpasses all previous Ridge Racer titles, helped somewhat by the clarity of the stunning LCD screen. There is some slight ‘ghosting’ when racing, where certain colours will leave trails as objects move across the screen, but this is inevitable when using current LCD technology - especially with a game of this speed. Thankfully it doesn’t do the game any harmful damage. The whole package screams quality from the get-go – from the beautifully rendered intro (featuring the return of everyone’s favorite digital totty – Reiko), to the stylish menu design and the sultry female voice that narrates – all the while showing no sign of its restricted development time.
The soundtrack is the only area of the game that has received any real new content, with twelve brand new music tracks rubbing shoulders with old favourites and a handful of remixes. Music is split up into five hypothetical discs, each boasting six tracks, which can be browsed through before the start of the race. There’s a nice blend of thumping techno and chilled-out jazz…that the internal speakers of the PSP aren’t capable of doing any justice, so it’s best to played with a set of earphones plugged in.
Those wanting to pit their drifting skills against fellow racers are well catered for. Namco has included support for eight players via the PSP’s wireless connection, which runs absolutely flawlessly (although it does put some extra strain on the battery life). Also, equipment (and patience) permitting, you can also race online using one of the freeware tunnelling applications (XLink Kai is currently proving popular). Although it was never Namco’s intent to have Ridge Racers played over the internet, the game handles it pretty well. It’s the multiplayer portion of the game where the new nitrous feature comes into its own, adding a new element of strategy to the races.
Ridge Racers was unarguably one of the best racing, if not gaming, experiences of 2004 - it is really that good. The sheer thrill of being able to play better-than-arcade versions of the Rave Racer tracks (probably some of the best in the series) in the palm of your hand is almost worth the price of admission alone. Once the World Tour has been done-and-dusted and every piece of the game has been unlocked, there are limitless amounts of fun to be had in multiplayer and even just plain old time trialling, where ghosts can be saved and transferred to a PC for distribution over the internet. If this is the quality of games we can expect on the PSP, then the future for Sony’s so-called ‘Walkman for the 21st century’ is looking very bright indeed. The best Ridge Racer game to date? Without a doubt. |
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System: Sony PlayStation Portable
Genre: Racing
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Players: 1-8
Version: Japan
Reviewed: Jan 2005
Writer: Dave Ward
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Pros:
- All that’s good about RR rolled into one
- It has Rave Racer tracks
- Stunning visuals
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Cons:
- No original RRV tracks
- Some difficult events
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Ridge Racers Video: 2.5MB
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