Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer on the PlayStation

Ridge Racer is a series of arcade racing games developed and published by Namco for both the arcade and various consoles.

Ridge Racer involves tracks which take place in the fictional city of Ridge City. Ridge City contains varied landscapes such as cities, beaches, woods, and mountains. In some of the earlier games, all of the tracks share the same starting line and finish line, but open or close off different parts of the track to yield a different course. The soundtrack predominantly features fairly up-beat techno music.

Ridge Racer games

• Ridge Racer (1993), for Namco System 22
• Ridge Racer Full Scale (1994), for Namco System 22, controlled by a full scale model car
• Ridge Racer (1994), for PlayStation, similar to the arcade with an optional 3rd person view (Launch Game)
• Ridge Racer 2 (1994), for Namco System 22, an update to the original arcade game with multiplayer support, remixed soundtrack, and a rear view mirror
• Ridge Racer Revolution (1995), for PlayStation
• Rave Racer (1995), for Namco System 22
• Rage Racer (1996), for Playstation
• R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998), for PlayStation
• Ridge Racer 64 (1999), for Nintendo 64
• Ridge Racer V (2000), for PlayStation 2 (Launch Game)
• Ridge Racer V: Arcade Battle (2000), for Namco System 246
• R:Racing Evolution (2003), for the Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, and Microsoft Xbox (off-shoot installment)
• Ridge Racer DS (2004), for Nintendo DS, a port of Ridge Racer 64 with the additional feature of being able to steer by using the touch screen
• Ridge Racers (2004), for PlayStation Portable (Launch Game)
• Ridge Racer 6 (2005), for Xbox 360 (Launch Game)
• Ridge Racer 3D (2006), for Mobile Phones, a port of Ridge Racer
• Ridge Racer 7 (TBA), for PlayStation 3

Interesting facts

Opponent cars are decorated with logos from various other Namco games.

All the games feature "mascot girls". In the first few games, this was Reiko Nagase, but in Ridge Racer V she was replaced by Ai Fukami. However Reiko is back in Ridge Racers on Sony PSP and in Ridge Racer 6 on Xbox 360.

Ridge Racer Full Scale is projected onto a wide screen in front of a real automobile, a Eunos Roadster (the Japanese version of a Mazda Miata). The car's steering, accelerator, and brake are connected to the game. The car itself does not move, but its brakelights work. The game code is modified slightly to make the player's car look like the real automobile being used.

Ridge Racer Revolution uses the soundtrack from the arcade Ridge Racer 2, though the meat of the game itself is completely new.

Ridge Racer 64 contains subtle cameos from a few Transformers characters, such as Optimus Prime, occasionally spotted in vehicle mode across bridges and in other places.

Ridge Racer Type 4 includes a bonus disc containing a new version of the original Ridge Racer game, named Ridge Racer Turbo, (known in Europe as Ridge Racer Hi-Spec Demo) which runs at 60 frames per second with improved graphics models. Special editions of this game were also packaged with the Namco JogCon controller.

Ridge Racer V includes the tracks from the original Ridge Racer, Sunny Beach is the short track and Green Field is the long track.

Ridge Racer for Sony PSP includes tracks from several of the previous Ridge Racer games: two tracks from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer V, two tracks from Ridge Racer Revolution, two tracks from Rage Racer, two tracks from Ridge Racer Type 4 and two tracks from Rave Racer.

In Ridge Racer Revolution, if you can place first on all three tracks (Novice, Intermediate, and Expert), three supercars challenge you. Novice pits you against 13th Racing (a black exotic with a gold devil silhouette on its hood), Intermediate against 13th Racing Kid (a smaller version of 13th Racing with the same gold devil silhouette shared with the car described above), and Expert has you against the fastest car in the game, White Angel (a fast, white exotic with a turquoise angel silhouette on its hood which has a top speed of 368 mph in Ridge Racer V as the Kamata Angelus).

If you come in first place in the Time Trial mode against these cars, they will be available to you in all game modes, but remember to save to your memory card.

Strangely enough in Ridge Racer DS, White Angel is strangely named "Galaxian Paradise", while in Ridge Racer 64, 13th Racing is called "Lizard Nightmare".

A related game is R: Racing Evolution, released by Namco in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles. Although some of the classic Ridge Racer elements are retained, the emphasis is on simulation type driving and having an appreciation of the forces that affect a track car.

Criticism

Ridge Racer in the past has sometimes been criticized of an overly arcade oriented style of game play. An example of this is the fact that one could enter a hairpin turn at over 100 MPH and powerslide through while maintaining the same amount of speed in the process. This leads to a constantly fast paced game that is accented highly by the soundtrack.

Another common complaint is the "pinball effect" which happens when a car comes into contact with another car (or objects like a wall or fence) causing it to bounce off like a pinball. This unrealistic effect was reduced but not totally wiped out in games like R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, Ridge Racer V and even the recent Ridge Racer 6.

Quotes

"3 laps to go!"

"Excellent cornering!"

"Teach this sucker a lesson." (spoken by Reiko Nagase in Rage Racer when you're about to approach any of the top four ranks)

"That was a tough race. Go after the flag next time!" (place any other rank than first)

"HEY! You're trying for a goal by going the other way around, huh? You're crazy!" (wrong way speech; this is reversed in the Rotterdam Nation songs)

"OK. The final lap! Hang in there!" (final lap; Ridge Racer 64 has "Make it your best!", Rage Racer has "Keep it cool!", and Ridge Racer V has "Can he keep the lead? It's the final lap."(first place) and "He still has a chance. Can he gain the lead? It's the final lap." (any other rank than first) instead of "Hang in there!")

"You don't seem to be yourself." (wrong way speech in Ridge Racer PSP and Ridge Racer 6--this is reversed in the Rotterdam Nation Remix song)

"It's still anybody's race!" (Ridge Racer Revolution--this is reversed in Rotterdam Nation 94)

"Ha ha! You're too slow!" (Ridge Racer Revolution--when you fail to catch an enemy)

"Hey! There's a car going the wrong way!" (wrong way speech in Ridge Racer V)

"Hey, watch it! Try finishing the race in one piece!" (hit an enemy car in Ridge Racer V)

"What's this? It looks like someone got too close for comfort." (see above)

"Ohhhhhhhh! That's going to leave a mark." (see above)

"I can WALK faster than that! Get moving!" (shouted by Reiko Nagase in Rage Racer when you don't get the best time for a track section)

"Turn AROUND!" (wrong way speech shouted by Reiko Nagase in Rage Racer in Grand Prix or Time Attack modes)

"Too bad! Game Over, man! Better luck next time!" (used in Ridge Racer Revolution if a player runs out of time on a course)

"Too bad! That race wasn't your best." (said in Ridge Racer 64 when a player runs out of time on a course.)

"Time's up. Let's get back to the starting line!" (see above)

"OK. It's the last stretch! Keep going!" (final corner--in Rage Racer, Reiko substitutes "keep going" for "Keep it up!" and the announcer from Ridge Racer V says "The finish line is just up ahead. It's the final stretch!")

"You DID IT! You're the champion!" (first place)

"There goes the winner! What an incredible race!" (first place in Ridge Racer V)

"That was close, but you made the top three!" (any other rank than first in Ridge Racer V that is good enough to pass)

"Too bad. Better luck next time." (Game Over speech in Ridge Racer V when all of your retries are used up by failing to place in the required rank by the third attempt)

"Incredible! No one can catch you! You're the real Ridge Racer!" (ending scenes when you place first on all the tracks)

"Whoo! That was a great counter. You must be one genius of a driver. You gotta teach me! (Quote was given when you made a successful turn without taking damage. Was heard in Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer Revolution, the US version of Ridge Racer for the PSP. This comment was also heard in Ridge Racer 6 but the announcer subtitutes the word genius for heck.)

"Great job, I got everything on camera so you can watch it later huh? You're the greatest!" (Heard in Ridge Racer)

"My grandma drives faster than that, get with the program." (Heard in Ridge Racer Type 4 during a time attack race when your section time is slower than the pre-recorded (game default) or your best section time.)

"You've got a new car... ready to roll." (Heard when obtaining a new car in Ridge Racer Type 4.)

"Too bad, you blew it. Better luck next time. Game over. (Spoken by Reiko Nagase in Rage Racer if you used up all of your retries.)

"Aww yea, double double. (This was said in Ridge Racer 6 when you fired off double nitrous.)

"Your cruisin' on Ultimate Charge!" (This was also said in Ridge Racer 6 after weening off nitrous and you begin to drift around a turn using the residual speed from that last boost. The nitrous gauge would glow a pinkish red and begin to refill the nitrous but would cancel out if you hit a wall or another car.)

"Whoo! Someone fired off some nitrous!" (Ridge Racer 6, nitrous being used)

"Sorry, this is the end of this game, try again." (Provided to you by the announcer in Ridge Racer Type 4 when the game was over.)

External links

• Ridge Racer DS Official Namco site
• Ridge Racer Official Namco site
• Ridge Racer 6 Official Namco site
• Namco Games Official Namco site for the cell phone game
• Photographs of Ridge Racer Full Scale
• Screenshots of Ridge Racer V for the Arcade
• A Japanese Ridge Racer fan site