Ridge Racer

"Now I know why Ridge Racer Fans " Live for Drift"..........."

INTRODUCTION

To be honest with all readers, this installment on the PSP was my first time playing a Ridge Racer game. I was expecting a mediocre rendition of the Need for Speed PSP series when I ordered RR off of Amazon. I was completely wrong. This is one of the only PSP games currently available that will blow you away. When I turned the game on, I was amused by the old NES-looking game that was running on the loading screen. But that didn't prove anything. Next was the cinematic, where a bunch of credits were rolling with this Japanese girl sitting on a car in the background. Sure, I thought, the graphics are nice, but this is just a cinematic and doesn't prove anything. I started to believe that this game was great when the menu popped up, and I played for the first time. The gameplay kicked the NFS series square in the balls, and I mean it. While Most Wanted had choppy gameplay and good graphics, Ridge Racer supplied even better graphics and the smoothest gameplay that has ever crossed a 3-D portable console. But enough about the raving of this game. It's time to get in-depth.

PRESENTATION

The presentation of Ridge Racer PSP has been unrivaled to this day ever since it's release. Easily usable menus (with some good html added effects), countless cars and tracks, the milky white moving globe background, and the impressive '80's car simulation loading screen leads up to one incredible presentation. Speaking of loading screens, the RR loads are almost negligible. World Tour race loading screens, which probably take the longest, having a duration of five seconds at most. The all-new replay system is also astounding. It's amazing: you'll actually want to watch the replay because of its multiple perspectives and the showing of true speed. Outstanding doesn't even begin to describe how the whole Ridge Racer PSP package holds up without even playing the game.

GRAPHICS

This is the section that I was looking the most forward to. IGN is true to its word- this should be exactly how Gran Turismo should be pulled off on the PSP. The great various natural backgrounds set the tone for the race, whether it be morning, day, evening, or night. The tracks are well detailed in 3-D (as is the standard these days), and the car models are stunning. The colorful numbers that show your position and lap times are also a nice touch to the incredibility of the game. Overall, the graphics on this game could have passed with a good score on IGN if it was for the PS2. This game quietly set the standard for graphics on the PSP, and still to this day I don't think that any PSP game has matched them.

SOUND

Another impressive aspect of Ridge Racer PSP is the sound quality. A huge assortment of tunes and excellent car sounds pretty much cover most of the gameplay pieces of the sound package. But, of course, this game could have definitely done without the annoying background voice during races. I am sure that all of us RR PSP fans wanted to bang their head repeatedly against the wall because of this guy. He constantly tells you encouraging phrases like "you can pass'em!", and after him saying the same thing 5 times over in one race, I think that we could do without him. The menu tracks are also catchy, especially the techno car selection music (I still have that stuck in my head after three weeks). Overall, Ridge Racer's sound might not be the most powerful on the system, but it still holds itself up with exceptional detail.

GAMEPLAY

While all racing games for PSP boast "smooth quality", the epitome of this statement is Ridge Racer's gameplay. Ridge Racer runs at a solid 30 FPS that never, ever skips a beat. The controls react to even the smallest twitch on the joystick, and the concept of drifting through turns from the original console series makes a beautiful transition to the PSP, unlike the DS version that supposedly embarrassed the series. While the smoothness of the gameplay might be exceptional, the actual races itself still has it's hitches. I don't think that the fluidity had something to do with it. it was just an error made by Namco. For instance, when you run into someone from behind, you are blasted back fifty feet while the other racer zooms ahead. In addition to that, you cannot fly over someone when in the air. No matter how high you are above them, the game will always act as if you are hitting him from behind. But, overall, applause for the Namco team that really came through with the fluid gameplay and the excellent effects.

LASTING APPEAL

This, unfortunately, is where Ridge Racer PSP falls criminally short. After a couple hours of gameplay, the game becomes overly monotonous, and you will keep coming back to it in hourly phases because of this. The absence of GameSharing and Online is also a huge disappointment, but back in 2004, the PSN was only getting started, so I will give them a pass on that one. But, there could have been more customization options than just the color of your car, and the World Tour could have been longer, but hey, sometimes we can't take good things for granted. This leads me to say that besides all of this, Ridge Racer PSP is an entertaining arcade experience for the magical little box called the PSP.

CONCLUSION

I wouldn't say that Ridge Racer PSP was the best game for the system (with Syphon Filter and Wipeout as pure examples), but it does what most portable games do not do these days- a true arcade experience. The graphics will blow you away, the gameplay is extremely entertaining, and although the World Tour is criminally short, this game will have you coming back every once in a while. Plain and simple, Ridge Racer PSP is an easy $20 pickup off of Amazon that is really worth the cash.


Reader's Ratings for Ridge Racer
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide

9.8 Presentation
Far and away some of the most beautiful menus I have ever seen. Nice coloring, good graphics and a fair amount of materials to unlock makes this look like one of the best PSP presentations out there.
9.7 Graphics
Stunning for a Portable System. It looks like Gran Turismo for PSP, but you might just have to check the box again just to make sure it isn't.
9.1 Sound
While not stellar, Ridge Racer PSP gives an excellent soundtrack and good sound effects to an already great PSP package.
9.5 Gameplay
Good gameplay features, along with the new nitrous, make this one of the best Ridge Racer installments to date. Easy control schemes give you the full arcade experience.
7.3 Lasting Appeal
Not a good enough effort by Namco for a player to play this game for more than five hours. The World Tour is also criminally short, but, that's what you get on a portable system nowadays.
9.4 OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/08

Game Release: Ridge Racer (US, 03/22/05)