![]() ![]() The game already has little content you might as well try to get as much out of it as possible. This is not as easy as it sounds but is worth the effort. If you manage to kill all the aliens you unlock eight additional cars. While the game is loading you can play a quick game of Galaxian. Ridge Racer has one of the coolest extras of that era. This reverses each of the game’s tracks which for some make them feel new. Placing first on each track as well as the Time Trial mode will unlock mirror mode. There are a few unlockables to soften the blow. ![]() Without even a multiplayer mode the thrills are short lived with this one. This is the game’s biggest flaw and one that hurts its replay value. The advanced level adds a new highway section but it still cannot hide the fact that you are racing on the same course. The intermediate difficulty adds a higher top speed, more laps, and aggressive AI. Technically there are three tracks separated into novice, intermediate, and advanced difficulty. Racing games during the fifth generation largely suffered from this problem but Ridge Racer was notably even worse in this regard. The one area that Ridge Racer comes up short is in its content. This makes the game very accessible although you can argue it does not have the depth of more sim focused titles. It can get a little dicey on advanced mode but it isn’t like other racing games where a single mistake means everyone surpasses you. Regardless of each track the AI is too aggressive, or at least they aren’t to my eyes. Checkpoints are generous and there is no rubber banding. Ridge Racer has always been more forgiving than its Sega counterpart. The initial four cars vary in their stats although with the exception of the yellow solvalou you won’t notice too much. The game allows for a lot of mistakes as skimming walls or outright crashes do not cause much loss of speed. The handling is just fine on its own even with d-pad control. While it is a neat skill to learn it is not mandatory. The control is looser to allow for power sliding around the tracks. ![]() You don’t have to worry about the rigid physics and aerodynamics of simulation racing. Ridge Racer sits firmly in arcade territory when it comes to its handling. While Sega would catch up quickly with the quality of their ports first impressions are everything and Namco created a strong one. It was games like Ridge Racer that helped give the PlayStation the impression that it was more powerful than the Saturn. There is some minor pop-in that is cleverly hidden by turns and the design of the track but only the most critical arcade fans will notice. But the tradeoff is a rock solid thirty frames per second which makes the control incredibly smooth. Texture resolution is lower than in the arcade so there is a minor loss of detail and a bit of pixelation. Ridge Racer embarrasses the Saturn version of Daytona in every way outside of music.Īs a conversion Ridge Racer is fantastic. This battle would continue at home and sadly in Sega’s case Namco came out on top in nearly every case. Daytona USA begat Ridge Racer, Virtua Fighter led to Tekken, and Virtua Cop inspired Time Crisis. When one would create a hit the other would follow soon after. ![]() Namco and Sega seemingly went back and forth with their arcade efforts. Namco showed the power of the system with an excellent conversion that while light on content is still pretty fun. They needed standout titles to gain respect and while Psygnosis came through with a hit list Ridge Racer was the star of the PS One launch lineup. When you have the likes of Cliffhanger and the Last Action Hero under your belt it stands to reason that people would skeptical of your ability to enter the market as a console manufacturer. Sony Imagesoft during the 16-bit era was a questionable publisher. Developer: Namco Publisher: Namco Release: 09/09/95 Genre: Racing ![]()
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