Old School - Ridge Racer (Classic)

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Long before highly-advanced racing games like the Gran Turismo series, the Project Gotham Racing series, the upcoming Forza Motorsport, and the upcoming Enthusia Professional Racing, there were countless other racing games that look nothing like today. It wasn't until "Pole Position" generated the new wave of how racing games should look during that time. Since then, countless racing games have come along. Atari introduced "Hard Drivin'" to the racing game world in about 1990. There were graphical sacrifices to get the game to flow beautifully, but that game would get eclipsed about three or four years later as Namco unveiled "Ridge Racer." And in this review, it's time I review this old-school racer.

REVIEW SHEET:
PROS: a nice array of automobiles; two tough tracks; music was pretty good (then); nicely-textured cars; decent car models; day-to-night-to-day transistions; the first-ever racing game with spinners (when you go to select a car, you'll see what I mean)!

CONS: mastering the drift can make or break races; the black Lamborghini-looking car can be a b*tch to beat in Time Trials after winning all the first four races; no intermediate checkpoints when racing in reverse, making for no-mistakes racing

VERDICT: Remember, this isn't Gran Turismo. This isn't Project Gotham. But back then, this had to be one of the fastest and one of the most intense racing games of the past. A game like this would later be surpassed by an arcade game made for home called... Daytona USA. But if you have a PlayStation 1 or 2 and you want some racing history, you can start with this. Maybe find this game at a game store which sells old and new games, maybe you can find Ridge Racer used. It's a classic.

DID YOU KNOW... ...that a Ridge Racer is a racer who illegally races on the street? This series just makes it fun and glamourous. But you have to admit. It's been working for years for Namco!
 
awsome game. i remember I got it when it firstcame out. Rage Racer was awsome too. i had so many awsome races.. 👍
 
The Arcade version where you actually sat in the game was awesome. It had a six speed manual with a clutch. I only saw it at one arcade at the time...I must have spent $20 on it each time I went there.

As for the PS1 versions, I thought Rage Racer was the most fun overall, I think never did beat the very last possible race against that Black Car, but I can't remember. Ridge Racer II and R4 both sucked IMO.
 
I really want to try the new PSP version, Ridge Racers.
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looks like a return to it's roots. R: racing evolution sucked major ass.
 
i played all of em up to RRT4.. Its like... super unrealistic racing that still requires skill.I hope for the next one, they give us even faster cars, and maybe add option damage.
 
Gabkicks
i played all of em up to RRT4.. Its like... super unrealistic racing that still requires skill.I hope for the next one, they give us even faster cars, and maybe add option damage.
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ridge racers for psp has very fast-looking cars. gorgeous visuals I must say.
 
i dont think i will be buying any new consoles anytime soon... still gotta buy GT4, and a video capture card. Rest of money is going towards car. :indiff:
 
The Ridge Racer intros are amazing. RR4 was not bad on PS1 and I liked RRV on PS2 too, I used to play it all the time back when I first got my PS2. Well it was either RRV or Driving Emotion..... lol :p And I used to play the RRV arcade game too even though it was exactly the same as the PS2 version, but it was one of those games where you can continue racing if you won the race! I can sit there for around 20mins with 1 credit to beat the game :D
 
Let me tell you something. The PSP version of Ridge Racer is going to be hellishly insane. The graphics look wonderful with some nice machines to race with. The first Ridge Racer had cars that look like a middle or high school student would probably texture up the cars with. Now look at cars in Ridge Racer Type 4, Ridge Racer V, and this upcoming build. I own only three games in the series, Ridge Racer classic, Rage Racer, and Ridge Racer V. Actually, I have Ridge Racer Type 4 as well, but it's my cousin's. This series is only going to get better and better, that is, if it hasn't been already. In fact, when RRT4 came out, one magazine said that this game had better graphics than Gran Turismo... 1 or 2. I don't know which game was out that time.

I think I seen the arcade unit to Ridge Racer once. I think I seen it at one of the game rooms at the University of Houston back around 1996 or 1997. You don't see too many 6-speed shifters for arcade games. I'll admit. It was a nice setup for an already-nice game.
 
In fact, when RRT4 came out, one magazine said that this game had better graphics than Gran Turismo... 1 or 2. I don't know which game was out that time.
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RRT4 was in battle with GT2. if you remember sony claimed that GT2 used nearly 100% power of the PS1, through the use of the much vaunted 'system analizer' which could extract every ounce of power from the PS1. GT2 was a technically superior game to RRT4, but it was not graphically. pd had to split the PS1's resources between the graphics and the physics, resulting in compromises, but not failings.

because of its arcade roots RRT4 didnt have a complex physical model like GT2, infact, it was rather basic, and unrealistic. this inturn meant that it didnt need too much processing power, leaving more resources for the graphics. to this day, i believe that RRT4 was porbably the best looking racer on the PS1. graphically, it easily equalled everything GT2 had, and in many ways it surpassed GT2. RRT4s real-time lighting effects are far superior, as are the spot effects. RRT4 had a nice atmospheric touch where each track was raced at a certain time of the day (ranging from sunrise to sunset). imo namco managed to capture perfectly the time of day, and translate it into game terms. to this day, i am still impressed with the graphics in RRT4.
 
yupperz. i bought both games and enjoyed em both. RRT4 was really fun. Good music, good CG movies, good gameplay. 👍 Awsome 2 player battles
 
I got Ridge Racer for 6 bucks a few months ago. even with GT3 and soon to have GT4 I've been playing RR ever since I got it. Its a completely different game then GT but it is a whole lot of fun.
 
I never played any Ridge Racer before Type 4 on PS-One.The game was quite fun and i loved all of those fantasy cars.The first time i saw Utopia i was like wtf.It's basically a mini sub with a rocket engine in the back,with an afterburner sticking out.It went really fast.
 
CFM
The Arcade version where you actually sat in the game was awesome. It had a six speed manual with a clutch. I only saw it at one arcade at the time...I must have spent $20 on it each time I went there.
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Me and my friend were obbessed with this in october becuase it was at the haunted house we worked at. We would go to work early just soo we could mess around and play it. I love games with clutch.
 

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