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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great way to launch the PSP, 16 Jan 2006
Ridge Racer has been entertaining the arcade masses since 1993, and has enjoyed success on consoles as well as on its home grounds. The first Ridge Racer was released at PlayStation's launch in 1995, and with 4 hugely successful sequels under its belt, it was inevitable that Ridge Racer was heading for PSP.For PSP's Ridge Racer, Namco have taken a couple of the best tracks from each Ridge game (including arcade-only Rave Racer), thrown in some new cars as well as a great soundtrack and thrown it all into a great big melting pot - and the meal from that pot is Ridge Racer. For a launch game, the graphics are spectacular - better than that of even its PS2 cousin Ridge Racer V. Each car is loaded with detail, and there are no jaggies (blocky polygons) in sight. Each car has their own original style, but all the cars look a bit sharp - and some of them look a bit ugly. The 24 tracks (12 going one way, 12 going the other) all have variety, from flat-out city freeways to twisty mountain roads, and each are small enough for a quick burst - perfect for a portable console. Some tracks that had problems in previous games - jumps that send you into the wall, corners that are too tight - have all been fixed, so it's far more forgiving. The track environments are all well detailed - sharp buildings and even cows that watch you as you powerslide past you, but some of it looks a bit chunky. Even better, you can unlock a Mirror Mode that effectively doubles the track number to 48! Powerslides are the core reason Ridge Racer is Ridge Racer, and they define the gameplay that is so unmistakeably Ridge. By oversteering into a corner or tapping the brake as you turn in, the car's tail goes further out than the nose and the car skids through the corner, evening out with opposite lock. It's the only way to corner in Ridge - and it's very forgiving - unless you'd rather do it the Gran Turismo way and brake, turn in slowly and use out-in-out. Ridge is an arcade racer through-and-through, so don't treat it like a simulation. Wi-Fi multiplayer is very easy to set up, with up to 8 players racing smoothly side-by-side on any of the courses in the game. A new addition is the Nitrous System. Powersliding at speed builds up your three Nitrous meters, with each boost more powerful than the last, and it fits into the gameplay well - nothing beats pulling a long, fast slide and activating a newly-earned boost to pass a few rivals. Ridge Racer has the usual Single Race and Time Attack modes, as well as World Tour, a structured championship mode. Players are taken through several little 'Tours' - basically mini-championships, and use different classes of car to clear the races - some use high-performance race machines, others use cars that are a bit on the slow side. Handily, in a nod to the 'Portable' in PSP, you can leave a Championship and come back to it later - handy if the train's just pulled into your stop and you're halfway through a championship. Eventually you will unlock more powerful cars and new tracks, and eventually reach the bonus cars, which - in typical Ridge fashion - are exotically styled, and the tradition of Namco including one of their characters in their racing games continues, with a car driven by Pac-Man himself. No joke. However, as you unlock the more powerful cars, the difficulty curve becomes far steeper and the game suddenly expects your skill to have suddenly increased, so it's worth taking time out in Single Race to practice. The soundtrack is great. It spans over the whole Ridge series, from original tracks to remixes and brand-new tracks made for the PSP version - and its ace. Custom soundtracks are not available for Ridge Racer, but who cares when the music is this good? The sound effects are standard fare - lots of screeching and engine revs - as is also the usual Ridge tradition of a slightly annoying commentator. The new announcer coughs up the usual phrases of "Great start!" and "Pass him, now!" but sometimes these snippets grate a bit, and can be repetitive. When you've mastered the sometimes-tricky gameplay, there's loads to do in Ridge Racer. Try out that new car or track you've just unlocked, or give a championship another go. With over 30 championships, with 2-8 courses in each, there's much to unlock and win. Ridge Racer appears to have some rivalry in the form of Colin McRae Rally 2005 Plus, TOCA Race Driver 2 and Need For Speed Underground: Rivals, but none of these opponents stand a chance in bettering Ridge. Namco's arcade classic has been bettering its arcade rivals ever since '93, and has never been beaten in terms of quality and gameplay. Ridge Racer for PSP has taken the best of the entire series and crammed it together into one ultimate package. It's the perfect launch game for PSP - demonstrating what the new machine can do. Getting a PSP? Get this in too. Graphics - 4.5/5
Gameplay - 4.5/5
Sound - 5/5
Lifespan - 5/5
Overall - 5/5
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