Ridge Racer (PSP) Review (no fat)

Game Description

Ridge Racer Gameplay

Being one of the most polished and good looking games of the series, Ridge Racer does not disappoint in content either (just don’t expect it to be the next Gran Turismo 4). There are game modes varying from on-off races to world tours and time trails. However, playing against friends with the wireless built in support of PSP is quite a different experience altogether.

Interestingly, you do not earn your pole position for the race. You ALWAYS start last on the grid. That may seem ok, but as the game evolves in the World Tour Mode you might be hard pushed to win races, even getting to the 3rd position might more than a cakewalk.

Although the series has evolved in graphics, sound etc., there have only been minor changes in gameplay material. Collisions don't slow you down as much as they should according to the rules of Physics. And, you have to use power-slides at the corners to turn.

Ridge Racer Cars

Slower cars, faster cars… just like any racing game Ridge Racer has a pack of cars ready for your ride. However, there are no famous brands to thrill you in Ridge Racer… in fact, there are no non-famous brands either. The cars just have different colors, looks and different top speeds.

As for the number of cars in the game, they are as many as the tracks, and each one is slightly different. So that might make you stop and think over the choice you are going to make for each race.

Ridge Racer Nitro Gauge

Just to make things tad more thrilling, Namco introduces nitro boosts that are earned by sliding through curves and pushing the back wheels into skids. While these boosts are not supposed to give you an out and out advantage ahead of the other races, they can certainly help tilt a close encounter in your favor.

Ridge Racer AI

The AI isn’t anything to write home about; it never seizes to amaze why the AI drivers don’t try to stop your attempts to pass…perhaps we should start considering the AI courteous rather than dumb.

Having said that, you can’t take things too easy as the AI certainly knows how to use its Nitros just when you are about to try an steal its glory. As the game proceeds the difficulty level really goes uphill… so if you are a person who likes to win, after mastering the power-slides the best option is to race with friends.

Ridge Racer Graphics

Graphics are the best part of the game. The developers took full advantage of the PSP machine creating a sense of high speed by creating a game that does not skip a single frame. The faster the car, the faster you see yourself move. To top things off there is a great amount of details on offer; you can feel the high speeds of the game through the fast moving environment as well.

The environment also looks great because of Namco's precise programming of graphics. Things have definitely been altered to make Ridge Racer better than it has been in its previous versions. For instance, the RR-Big screen monitor is turned into an animating billboard. Leaving that aside there is no reason to say that this game looks bad, in fact it looks great… best for the series.

Ridge Racer Sound

The soundtrack of the game includes 30 tunes; some of them are remixes along with some original versions of old Ridge Racer songs. These help lend the game some nostalgic value. And as Ridge Racer created good electronic music in the past, we can have little complaints about the old music being reused. However, this gives us all the more reason to feel that we might have had some good new tracks as well. The drawback with the sound track is the fact that you can only listen to the songs inside the game.

The sound effects, overall, are well implemented and they help raise the adrenaline level for the gamer and keep you focused on the job at hand…get to front of the pack.

Ridge Racer – The Final Word

Ridge Racer is a great arcade racer. The main drawback of it is that it sucks up your batteries. You can play RR for about 3 hours only, the flip side is that it looks great and it feels great to play.

If you never liked the Ridge Racer series you probably won't like it this time round either. But if you start with an open mind and a liking for arcade racing, you might be won over yet.

Ridge Racer Game Cost

Ridge Racer for PSP currently retails for $39.99.