Saturday, May 21, 2011

Ridge Racer PSP Game Review (2005)

By Bill Huiting


Ridge Racer is a classic racing series by Namco, and it incorporates an arcade racing feel with a Gran Turismo feel. It has great driving looks and cars that look realistic, while incorporating that arcade feel when driving.

Ridge Racer was a great racing game when it launched with the PSP in North America, and I still enjoy taking it out to play. Ridge Racer is probably my favorite racing game on the PSP next to Burnout. While Burnout came out later, and it had a lot more of an arcade extreme feel to it. Ridge Racer has a more racing feel to it, while keeping some of those arcade ideas. What I mean with the arcade ideas, is the realism of the game. Sometimes your car heads toward a sharp turn at 100mph, yet it turns with ease. And the cars resemble real cars, but have fake made up names. But the realism comes in with the driving, and some of the physics. The cars react well like they would in real life, and the driving has no ?hitches? like rockets or giant crashes. I think Namco was looking for more of a realistic game, but the arcade feel to it makes it really fun.

The game can be played in tour mode (career mode) single race, time attack, or ad-hoc multiplayer (8 players max). The tour mode is easy and demands no understanding of the game. You just need to complete distinct sets of races (typically about three races in a set), and at the end of every race, you typically unlock a course or a automobile. Although games like these at times fail because there is nearly no point to the game, it is ok for this game, since it was created to be an arcade racer.

The controls are very simple, and they are what you would anticipate from a standard PS2 or PS3 racing button layout. X is accelerate,  is brake, and R is nitrous. You also have your view change button but it's rarely touched. So, even if you are a hard-core PS2/PS3 racer or a causal gamer/ the controls are guaranteed fool-proof.

Drifting is a huge part of Ridge Racer. When you go around turns, the vehicle automatically starts drifting, and you can gain nitrous this way. It makes the game more fun and cool looking. It's occasionally hard to keep the drift steady, but it really is a cool way to add a little fun to the game.

Ratings:

Gameplay:

It's foolproof and enjoyable, it gets progressively harder, but it starts out simple enough for the average person/gamer to determine. There's a simple goal and it really is progressive through the game. Even though this was developed as an arcade styled game, I?m sure Namco could have stuck something in there that would brighten up the game a bit bit. Whilst the gameplay might be just a little dry, it is going to maintain you busy for awhile, and I rate the gameplay an 8.4/10

Graphics:

The graphics had been top of the line compared to other people when it launched, and I do give it credit for that. In some situations, it can compete with other PSP games. This game wasn?t meant for graphics though, but the cut-scenes and intro are really outstanding should you want to search for some sweet graphics. Back when this game was launched, I would have given this games graphics an extremely high score, but now they are average, so I give it a 9.0/10. I know Namco couldn?t do anything about the graphics following the release, but compared to PSP games now, its average-excellent.

Sound:

The ability to choose your song prior to a race (not from your memory stick although) was a cool thought, and also the overall engine sounds as well as other things like that are excellent. Not to mention that mysterious guy who is always telling you, ?You can pass him!? or ?Hey! Watch where you might be driving!? The sound is excellent, but I feel they could have offered other types of music within the game besides techno/disco music. The music is great for racing although. Overall I give the sound a 9.5/10, even though I?ll never listen to techno.

This was a great game which I rented from blockbuster shortly following I got my PSP back in 2005. I liked it so significantly that I decided to go back recently and rent it again. I've nearly completed the game, and it's really enjoyable. Ridge Racer is a fantastic game, but you should rent it very first. This really is 1 of those games that some people will like and some folks will not like. Overall, I give the game an 8.7/10.




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