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Ridge Racer (2004 video game)

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This article is about the first Ridge Racer title for the PlayStation Portable. For the 1993 arcade game, see Ridge Racer (1993 video game). For the game released for the PlayStation Vita, see Ridge Racer (2011 video game).
Ridge Racer
North American version cover art
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco[a]
Director(s)Masaya Kobayashi
Producer(s)Isao Nakamura
Designer(s)Hisashi Kawamura
Composer(s)Hiroshi Okubo, Tetsukazu Nakanishi, Yū Miyake, Junichi Nakatsuru, Keiki Kobayashi, Kouji Nakagawa
SeriesRidge Racer
Platform(s)PlayStation Portable
Release
  • JP: 12 December 2004
  • NA: 24 March 2005
  • PAL: 1 September 2005[1]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Ridge Racer, released in Japan as Ridge Racers[b], is a 2004 arcade-style racing video game developed by Namco for the PlayStation Portable, named after the eponymous Ridge Racer video game series to which it belongs. The game was released as a global launch title for the system, on 12 December 2004 in Japan and overseas in 2005. Ridge Racer has been described as a 'compilation' of the series, featuring tracks, cars and remixed soundtrack from previous titles of the 1990s.[2] Gameplay-wise, it marked the change from the "classic" style last seen in Ridge Racer V to the new drifting mechanic and nitrous boost that the series would incorporate from there on, including on Ridge Racer 6 and Ridge Racer 7.[3]

Ridge Racer was critically acclaimed, praised for its visuals, gameplay and soundtrack; it was notable at the time for providing home console-like graphics at a smooth 60 fps framerate on a mobile gaming system, harnessing the PSP's graphical abilities.[3] An updated version with more tracks and modes was released for the PSP in 2006 titled Ridge Racer 2; seven years after Ridge Racer on PSP came Ridge Racer on PlayStation Vita.

Gameplay

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Gameplay screenshot

The core aspect of the entire Ridge Racer series is drift racing, that is traditional lap racing against opponents with the added twist of intentionally oversteering and sliding the car through sharp corners and turns, known as "drifting", which earns the player several bonuses during a race.

There are a total of 24 courses in the game.[4] Game modes are World Tour, Single race, Time Trial, and Wireless Battle, which supports up to 8 player multiplayer over the PSP's ad hoc Wi-Fi network capability.[5] World Tour consists of 2 to 6 races per tour, representing a specific world of Ridge Racer.[6]

Notable in the game is the "nitrous boost" system. The player has a Nitrous Gauge made up of three nitrous tanks, which at the start of a race are either completely depleted or only partially full. As the player drifts through the corners (especially at very high slip angles) during the race, their nitrous gauge fills up. When the player fills up one of the three nitrous tanks, it can be activated to achieve a temporary speed boost. The nitrous tanks cannot be recharged while any tank is in use though, but the residual speed increase when the nitrous boost expires can be used just before entering corners to recharge the player's nitrous tanks at a faster rate than normal.

The game also features a full motion video opening, that shows series mascot Reiko Nagase, marking her return following her absence from Ridge Racer V.[4] Available in the game is a fully playable version of the 1980 Namco arcade game Rally-X, which appears when the game initially loads up.[7]

Development

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The game was announced under the title New Ridge Racer at E3 2004.[8] An updated demo build was playable at the Tokyo Games Show later that year.[9][10] Sony confirmed on November 5, 2004 that Ridge Racers would be a launch title.[11] The title, with the additional 'S' at the end to make it a plural, was made to represent the game as a unified gathering of all the previous Ridge Racer games.[12] Development took approximately 9 months. The director, Kenya Kobayashi, said their goals were to "hit the sweet spot for fans" and "make the most of the hardware specifications".[13]

Soundtrack

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The music in the game is a collection of new songs and songs taken from previous Ridge Racer games, arranged across several "discs". The "Red" and "Blue" discs contain all-new songs put together specifically for the game while the two "Classic" discs contains a collection of remastered songs from Ridge Racer titles. Lastly, the "Remix" disc contains songs from past titles remixed by their original composers.

Red Disc

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  1. Highride
  2. Warp Trooper
  3. Bassrider
  4. Pulse Phaze
  5. Chrome Drive
  6. Synthetic Life

Blue Disc

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  1. Disco Ball
  2. Night Stream
  3. Light Groove
  4. Vanishing Horizon
  5. Tunnel Visionary
  6. Tek Trek

Remix Disc

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  1. Rotterdam Nation Remix - from the PlayStation titles, Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution.
  2. Speedster Remix - from the PlayStation titles, Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution.
  3. Drive U 2 Dancing Remix - from the arcade title Ridge Racer 2 and the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Revolution.
  4. Rareheroes - featured in many past Ridge Racer titles.
  5. Blue Topaz Remix - from the arcade title, Rave Racer.
  6. Motor Species Remix - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4.

Classic Disc 1

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  1. Ridge Racer - A remastered version of the title tune from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer.
  2. Grip - from the arcade title, Ridge Racer 2, and the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Revolution.
  3. Euphoria - from the arcade title, Rave Racer.
  4. Silver Stream - from the PlayStation title, Rage Racer.
  5. Naked Glow - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4
  6. Your Vibe - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4.

Classic Disc 2

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  1. Move Me - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4.
  2. Movin' in Circles - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4.
  3. Eat 'Em Up! - from the PlayStation title, Ridge Racer Type 4 (this was a secret track acquired along with the Pac-Man car after unlocking all 320 of the cars featured in the game).
  4. TsuiTsui - from the PlayStation 2 title, Ridge Racer V.
  5. Samurai Rocket - from the PlayStation 2 title, Ridge Racer V.
  6. Daredevil - from the PlayStation 2 title, Ridge Racer V.

Reception

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Ridge Racer received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[14] Its graphical ability and visuals were incredible on a portable device in 2004, and it was further praised for its gameplay, soundtrack (which also consisted of remixed tracks from older Ridge Racer titles) and multiplayer option. PALGN praised the game's graphics and the gameplay and considered the best Ridge Racer title for PSP.[31]

In retrospect, Adam Ismail of Kotaku Australia wrote about the game: "It’s truly difficult to convey how staggering this game was to behold on a PSP. Seemingly overnight, we went from sprite-scalers and almost-but-not-quite 3D racing games on the Game Boy Advance to a 60 frames-per-second experience that could compete with anything on a home console."[3]

In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights and two nines for a total of 34 out of 40.[19]

It was re-released in 2005/2006 as a platinum title.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ van Leuveren, Luke (7 July 2005). "Ridge Racer Preview". PALGN. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. ^ Peak, Tony (April 2005). "Ridge Racer". Mobile Tech Review.
  3. ^ a b c ISMAIL, ADAM (2023-03-15). "All 12 Mainline Ridge Racer Games, Ranked". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  4. ^ a b Nix (2004-11-06). "Reiko Waves On Ridge Racers". IGN. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  5. ^ "PSP/RIDGE RACERS | コンセプト | バンダイナムコゲームス公式サイト". www.bandainamcoent.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  6. ^ "PSP/RIDGE RACERS | モード紹介 | バンダイナムコゲームス公式サイト". www.bandainamcoent.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  7. ^ I. G. N. Staff (2006-08-10). "Ridge Racer 2 Mini Game Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  8. ^ I. G. N. Staff (2004-05-15). "Sony: E3 2004 Booth Report". IGN. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  9. ^ Nix (2004-09-25). "TGS 2004: New Ridge Racer". IGN. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  10. ^ "PlayStation 2: New Ridge Racer". Gamespy. 2004-09-25. Archived from the original on 2004-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  11. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2004-11-05). "PSP Launches With Ridge Racer". IGN. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  12. ^ "PSP/RIDGE RACERS | コンセプト | バンダイナムコゲームス公式サイト". www.bandainamcoent.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  13. ^ "PSP/RIDGE RACERS | ダウンロード | バンダイナムコゲームス公式サイト". www.bandainamcoent.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  14. ^ a b "Ridge Racer for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  15. ^ Edge staff (February 2005). "Ridge Racers". Edge. No. 146. Future plc. p. 68.
  16. ^ EGM staff (May 2005). "Ridge Racer (PSP)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 191. Ziff Davis. p. 92.
  17. ^ Bramwell, Tom (24 December 2004). "Ridge Racers". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 31 December 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  18. ^ Bramwell, Tom (31 August 2005). "Ridge Racer (PSP)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  19. ^ a b "リッジレーサーズ". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. December 2004.
  20. ^ "Ridge Racer (PSP)". Game Informer. No. 145. GameStop. May 2005. p. 138.
  21. ^ GameGirl (23 March 2005). "Ridge Racer Review for PSP on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  22. ^ Ferris, Duke (30 March 2005). "Ridge Racer Review (PSP)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  23. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (18 March 2005). "Ridge Racer Review (PSP)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  24. ^ Williams, Bryn (23 March 2005). "GameSpy: Ridge Racer (PSP)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  25. ^ Aceinet (5 April 2005). "Ridge Racer - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  26. ^ Nix, Marc (17 March 2005). "Ridge Racer (PSP)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Ridge Racer (PSP)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 92. Ziff Davis. May 2005. p. 111.
  28. ^ James, Chris (27 July 2005). "Ridge Racer". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  29. ^ Hill, Jason (27 August 2005). "Slick slider". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  30. ^ McNamara, John (10 September 2005). "Ridge Racer (PSP)". The Times. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2017.(subscription required)
  31. ^ van Leuveren, Luke (1 September 2005). "Ridge Racer Review - Sony PSP Video Game Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  1. ^ Published in North America by Namco Hometek and in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
  2. ^ Japanese: リッジレーサーズ, Hepburn: Rijji Rēsāzu
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