Ridge Racer
Publisher: Namco • Developer: Namco
ESRB: E • Genre: Racing
Background
Welcome to the world of Ridge Racer, where nitrous meets drifting on the PSP. There are no characters.. there is no story.. just fast paced racing goodness.
» N/A
Gameplay and Controls
Very straight forward controls: ✕ is your accelerator, ⃞ is your brake, ∆ shifts up and ⃝ shifts down, Right Shoulder button fires your nitrous (which replenishes as you drift) and the Left Shoulder button changes the view. Steering can be accomplished with your choice of directional pad or analog nub.
Gameplay is pretty solid. There are three types of cars, each with their own drifting characteristics, and 7 machine classes (including the special class). Drifting is fairly easy most of the time, but there are times when it seems like your car becomes totally unresponsive and continues straight into a wall instead of drifting around the corner.
There are plenty of races on this game as well. Some are very easy, some are challenging. When you get to the MAX Tour races, you really get a challenge! Suddenly your competitors are highly skilled at drifting in a way that charges their nitrous quickly, their timing on the nitrous is also very good... there are times you'll just squeek into first on the final stretch, only to have the other cars blow past you a couple seconds before you finish. These races make you really refine your technique to win.. you will need timing, near perfect lines through the track and plenty of nitrous to win these.
» 9/10
Graphics and Sound
While there are no real world cars, the cars are rendered nicely and the tracks are nicely detailed too. If you drift and lay down a layer of rubber, it will be there on your next lap.. it will be there in the replays.. pretty cool. While I have no complaints about the graphics, there's nothing truly special about them, but they are good, solid graphics.
The sounds effects are nice. The voice on your radio saying "You can pass him!" and other things adds to the feel of being in a race, but on occassion he will say the -same- thing twice in a row only one second apart. It's also quite annoying when a car completely blows past you and he yells out "You got OWNED!"
» 8/10
Overview
If you like straight up arcade-style racing, this is the game for you on the PSP. There is no traffic to get in your way and no missions to complete. The selection of cars is decent, but limited in comparison to games such as Gran Turismo. The drifting is also nowhere near realistic, but it is quite fun! I would recommend this to any fan of the genre.
» 9.5/10
At a Glance
Positive:
+ Drifting is easy to do and fun
+ Good sense of speed and tight graphics
+ Good challenge in the later MAX races
Negative:
- The guy on your radio needs to just shut up sometimes
- Limited selection of cars compared to other franchises
- Occasional issues with control response