Ridge Racer 6

"Who Knew Cars Could Slide from Side to Side Like That..."

When it comes to arcade racing games, no other series has had as much success as the Ridge Racer series. While the first game, released almost a decade ago on the PSX, offered a fresh spin on racing with its drifting, the series has become stale with each subsequent iteration. Ridge Racer 6 is the newest game to be added to the series, and it's also the first game in the main series that is not debuting on a Sony console. So does the new game offer a breath of fresh air and renew this well known series? Kind of.

So what kind of features does the game offer that help make the series better? Well for one, it sees the return of the nitrous feature first introduced in Ridge Racer for the PSP. While not new, it does offer a new way of using your stored nitrous. While in the PSP game you could only use the nitrous one at a time, in Ridge Racer 6 you can store up to three nitrous boost and use them one at a time, two at a time, or blast away using all three at once. Unfortunately, that's all that's been introduced to the series with Ridge Racer 6.

Getting down to the nitty gritty details, let's start with the graphics. When I booted this game up, the first thing I remember saying to myself was, "Why couldn't this game have been on PS2 or Xbox?" With that said, the game doesn't look next generation at all. When your competitor like Project Gotham Racing 3 pack so much detail into the racing scene, you just really wish they would've put more attention into making the game seem truly next gen. That's not to say the game looks bad. The graphics are crisp, and the cars shine like they were freshly washed. The framerate is always fast and never hitches up either which is important in a racing game.

So how does the game sound? Well, let's just say you better like techno and electronica because that's all you're going to hear when it comes to music. it's not bad at first but after all those races it just becomes too much for a non-fan like me to stand. Thank goodness for the custom soundtrack option. However, if you're into the music, your ears will be in heaven. When it comes to sound effects, they are only decent. The cars don't sound like high powered machines at all as the engine noise seems muffed, but at least the tire squealing is crisp and clear. Oh yeah, I can't forget about the announcer. This has got to be the most annoying announcer ever in the history games (even more annoying than the guy in Perfect Dark Zero, at least he shuts up once in a while). This guy never stops talking! He says "nitrous" so many times I felt like popping my eardrums.

Ok, so the sound wasn't that great so lets move on to how the game plays. If you are a fan of Ridge Racer, nothing will be new to you. It plays exactly as it did years ago. But for anyone new to the series, here's a quick description. When it comes to racing you need not wory about hitting the lines perfectly to make it through a turn, all you have to do is let up on the gas, turn your car in the way you want it to go, and it will automatically drift through the turn as if its on rails. Once you are out of the turn, hit the gas again. That's all there is to it! Why is the brake button even in the game? It's still fun, but after 200 races it becomes repetitive. One word describes the gameplay perfectly - ancient.

So to sum it up, Ridge Racer 6 is a decent addition to the classic series. It doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before, but it still plays great and responsively. Fans won't be disappointed, and gamers new to the series will find that it's a fairly fun arcade racer.

Note: For anyone who buys this game to unlock the 1000 achievements points, well, good luck with that. If you do get all 1000, I envy you.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/06