"Can you say "Bumper Cars"?"

Ok, so Ridge Racer 64 might not be the most original racing game ever. So it might be a re-hash of the previous Ridge Racers. It's still pretty fun in it's ''arcady'', if not ''bouncy'', ways. Let me explain why.

Graphics-7/10
The graphics in RR64 aren't the greatest graphics seen in a racing game. Heck, they're not even as good as RR Type 4's graphics. But they are the best graphics in a racing on the Nintendo 64...so far. The game runs pretty fast, without slowdown, and looks pretty decent. The colors are bright, which could be either good or bad, depending on your viewpoint. But RR64's cars look ''cartoony'', and they jerk around wildly while on the track. This is annoying, and probably could've been fixed by the developers. Also, the textures aren't that sharp as, let's say, a PlayStation game. But this is always the case with N64 games these days. Overall, the graphics are decent, but definatly could've benefited from Expansion Pack support.

Sound-6/10
Let me say this: The sound effects in RR64 suck. The cars sound fake, the announcer is annoying, and the car collisions are scratchy and are done poorly. The music is the only thing that actually doesn't suck in the sound department, but it still isn't great. Most of the songs are ''muted'', which means they sound like they are muffled, and they all sound the same. Boring.

Control-7/10
Controlling your cars in RR64 is alright. At first the controls are hard to use, since it's an arcade game, but after a while, they grow on you. Some bad parts about the controls are that a)The powerslides are terrible, and you can spin out easily, and b)You bounce all over the place. Whenever you hit another car that's in front of you, you bounce off him like a bumper car. And when you hit the imaginary barrier around the courses, it slows you down BIG TIME. This almost reminds me of WipEout, only you don't go as fast...

Gameplay-7/10
Basically, if you've played the original Ridge Racer on the PlayStation, you know the deal. RR64 is just like the first two Ridge Racers, in that most of the courses are the same, as are the cars. Granted, there are some cars from RR Type 4, but these give the original cars a bad name. There is a Grand Prix mode, and you can win extra cars by placing first, but that's it. There is almost no depth in RR64. It's just a straight arcade game, which is sorta sad. I was hoping for more. At least they included a 4-player mode, but this is choppy, and isn't worth playing.

Buy/Rent
If you liked the original Ridge Racers, or love arcade racing games, then go on and buy RR64. But for others, a rental will do fine.

Overall-7/10
RR64 is a great addition to any N64 gamer's racing lineup. It's by far the best racing game on the 64 to date, and is good, arcade fun. Be warned though, it's not very deep, and you'll feel like you're playing ''bumper cars'' instead of a racing game.


RECAP:
Graphics-7/10
Sound-6/10
Control-7/10
Gameplay-7/10
Buy/Rent-Rent
Overall-7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/00, Updated 01/13/01