587: Ridge Racer series

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Ridge Racer series for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[Iain[Ian]Ianson]

The first Ridge Racer is still the one for me.

Revolution is okay, but looks a bit like modded content. I find the track geometry strangely messy looking, and various corner sequences lacking in ‘flow’ for lack of a better word. Maybe I’m just rubbish.

Rage is where a bit of bloat came in, with an upgrade system that seemed more laborious than just having cool new cars to pick. And unfortunately some of the worst car sounds I’ve ever heard. Despite some amazing looking corners, I found it all looked unpleasantly dark.

Type4, while no doubt being an artistic and technical accomplishment I fell off of after trying to force myself to enjoy for quite a few hours. The pretty but fairly glacial menus, boring dialogue between races and replacing the original handling with something slightly neutered contributed to me just going back to the original, which I continue to play over and over to this day.

It was jaw dropping on release, and for me today, is basically a perfect retro video game.

I would do absolutely anything for an M2 port of the original game on the Switch. ANYTHING.

Edit: Have finally been playing the NTSC Ridge Racer V on my newly hacked PS2. Kinda feels like a ‘next-gen’ sequel to the first game in many ways.

[seansthomas]

Games cost so much money on Playstation as a kid, that when you got one, you knew you had about 6 months until you could get another. So you sure as hell got good at them.

I rarely mastered many though in that era, often seeing end credits but not being able to say 'i was great at that'. But by God, did I sink some hours into Ridge Racer. So many in fact, that I managed to pull off 3 back to back perfect laps and keep the black car that normally overtook you on lap 2 behind me until the chequered flag. And it was one of my greatest achievements in gaming ever. I felt like a God.

Never pulled it off again. Once was enough.

Ridge Racer peaked for me at that point. I rented but didn't overly like Revolution. Rage Racer was good but never gelled in the same way. Type 4 looked and sounded the part, pushing the PS1 to it's limit. But I think I prefer my racing games to have fewer, better tracks that ask you to master them than dozens to burn through once or twice.

As a statement of intent, Ridge Racer was immense. It told every kid in the world that you could now play arcade quality games in your living room. And it was amazing.

[Alex79]

The only Ridge Racer games I've ever really played for more than a couple of minutes were Type 4 on the PS1 and the PSP game. As someone who generally prefers racers towards the more simulation end of things it was never going to quite hit the spot for me. There are a handful of arcade racers I've enjoyed over the years, but Ridge Racer is just about as 'arcade' as you can get. I always found the game felt more like controlling a rectangle or a bar of soap drifting around corners than driving a car. I think that just steering the car from left to right feels heavy and sluggish, there was nothing light or nippy about any of the cars. It's not a series I have any particular affection for, and even as an arcade racer, I think the likes of Outrun 2 supercede it in every way.

THREE WORD REVIEW: Imperial Leather Racer.

EDIT: I had a look back at old posts I'd made, and I clearly seemed to enjoy Ridge Racer at the time! It's bizarre how some things either grow or sour in your mind over the years! Ridge Racer on the PSP was technically really impressive and impressed me enough to want to get a PSP. I tried playing it again a few years back though and was obviously much less enthusiastic!

[shadowless_kick]

three-word review: seriously awesome soundtrack (Ridge Racer Type 4 )