R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

"The best Ridge Racer to date on PS1"

I've always been a fan of racing games and this is one of my favourites of all time. You get two discs with this game. A disc containing The original Ridge Racer and the second with R4.

I'll start with the first disc. This one has got a demo of the original Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer Enhanced and some demos of other Namco games. The demo of Ridge Racer puts you in the time-trial section of the first game with only one car. RR Enhanced, however, is completely different. It seems like a full game because there are 8 different races to win. By winning Galaxian in the loading screen you unlock the extra 8 cars just like RR1. The only levels in this though are time trial and time attack with variations. Also, you can unlock not only the black car, but also a white car in Time trial extra. This disc is almost worth the price of the whole game.

I haven't mentioned the second disc either yet. R4 is the most graphically detailed Ridge Racer to date. There are 320 cars to unlock. I doubt anyone will be able to do this without help from a gameshark. There are 8 different tracks in the entire game. In grand prix mode you have to race on all these tracks. Qualifyng in the heats and winning the Final GP. Winning will give you different cars to use in your garage. Depending on your scenario in GP mode you will unlock the cars you used. For example, a poor position will only give you an upgrade of your previous car. Whereas 1st place all the time will give you a better car to use. This doesn't make the game easier though, because the other drivers upgrade their cars too.

I said that there were 320 cars, but if you get all of those you will unlock a special car that has it's own tune to it. Making 321 cars in the game. This game is very good value for money, but I only gave it a 9 because it is almost impossible to unlock every car. Players will probably give up in frustration after about 100 or so. Still, with the other disc included, this game is a must buy if you are a fan of arcade-style racing games.

Graphics 10/10 (better than GT!)
Sound 10/10
Replay value 10/10 (if you want to unlock every car)
Rent/Buy Buy!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/02, Updated 04/07/02