"You can play with White Angel on the Nintendo 64? Cool!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what have we here? It's Namco's Ridge Racer...on an unusual system, the Nintendo 64.

Thumbs-up:
*All the tracks and classic cars are in the game
*Challenging difficulty
*Harmonic engine noises for some cars

Thumbs-down:
*White Angel not done right--looks like a ripped-off Corvette (-5) and also NOT the fastest car in the game (-5)
*Lizard Nightmare and Screamin' Eagle too difficult in Car Attack
*WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY do 6 LAPS on the Ridge Racer Extreme course?

Overview:
Playing this for the first time, I couldn't get past Stage 2...and had to remove the expansion pack and place the original pak back in. This lowered the difficulty of the opponents and I was able to move on, winning a few cars. Then I moved on to stage 4, in which this review begins.

Back in 1993, Sega had already set the mark with their Daytona USA arcade game, but we didn't get it until 1994. However, gaming powerhouse Namco in Japan sent a message that anything Sega could do they could do better. The result: Ridge Racer was born on 10/7/93 (coinciding with Rachel McAdams' 17th birthday). Then seven years later, Ridge Racer 64 was released for the Nintendo 64. With the Ridge Racer series, Namco will always (gulp) be ready to bury Sega in marketing sales and customer count. Keep your eyes peeled--you'll never know what Sega is going to do next with their driving games.

GAMEPLAY (41/41) "PERFECT!"
Each race, like all the other Ridge Racer games, has 12 cars, but the higher you advance in the game the tougher the opponents get, and White Angel on stage 3 is no exception. 6 laps seems a little excruciating on the speed course, don't you think? If you think there aren't enough hours in the day, come back later and try it.

GRAPHICS (36/41) (I'm still mad about White Angel NOT being drawn right)
Nintendo Software Technologies lost 5 points for not recreating White Angel like its Ridge Racer and Revolution incarnations. And in addition, they made the red car, Ultra 64 (like the last car from Rage Racer you can buy) the fastest one in the entire game, when EVERY Ridge Racer fan knows to heart that #0 is always the fastest in the series. The tracks are OK, but some of the cars look flat and uninspired. This White Angel sure was butt-ugly, and that's why I deducted five points. White Angel (real car name: Kamata Angelus--used in Ridge Racers 5 and 6) was SUPPOSED to look like on the edge of too fast, sexy, and exotic. The menu screens are jazzed-up and incredibly cool. I have a small gripe about the Revolution courses...they were supposed to be near the beaches--NOT the Midwest!

SOUND (36/41)
And speaking of White Angel, the legendary white and turquoise #0 car driven by Jennifer Lutzenkirchen (Time Crisis) and Jun Kazama (Tekken 2)'s engine is a bit too loud, sounding a bit like F/A Racing (#3) in this game as well. Some of the cars sound like old motorcycles, some sound like V8s, some sound like V12s. The announcer can be annoying at times, but he says some things from past games like Ridge Racer and Revolution (i.e. "Crush them!", "Sparks are flying!", "Commence attack!", "Excellent cornering!", etc.) that will have every Ridge Racer fans wanting to come back for more.

REPLAY VALUE (41/41) "PERFECT!"
With three of your friends near, prepare for a LOT of competition. If any of your friends are fans of White Angel and YOU select it, don't be surprised by the expressions on their faces as they're forced to choose another car. This would also make for a really good party game or tournament, too.

THE VERDICT: Rent before buying. If you're a die-hard Ridge Racer fan, then go ahead and buy it. You can't EVER go wrong with Namco driving games.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/06