rrvreview

The most successful PSOne racing game speeds onto PS2 in time for launch but hits a few bumps along the way.

Let's get the unpleasantness out of the way first, shall we?
It's not anti-aliased, it's a LOT like the last two Ridge Racer
games and the new "mascot" girl errs on the skanky side of
pretty. But that's not so bad, is it? I mean, subtract those
niggling issues and you have one of the best arcade racing games ever made - and yes, that does include the graphics. If you're after a simulation and you like collecting and upgrading your cars, you might want to wait for GT 3, but if you're after an adrenaline fix and a fun racing game, then
look no further.

For those unfamiliar with the Ridge Racer series, and that group would include Encino Man, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and Austin Powers, let's explain: Namco debuted the first Ridge Racer in arcades to dropped jaws and boggled minds all over the world. It featured fully realized 3D texture mapped backgrounds and high-resolution graphics -- and, in short, looked more realistic than any game before it. Then Namco upped the bafflement quotient by releasing a brilliant
conversion for the then-neophyte PlayStation system. "Boing!" said the world, adamantly.

Several sequels followed (including a couple of arcade-only deals), and so here we are at number five, the best one yet. Allow us to get the graphics talk out of the way. Although it has some minor jaggies and doesn't look as good as the video we've seen of GT 3, this is some fancy-looking driving game nonetheless, with shiny cars, beautifully detailed buildings and great-gosh-a-mighty, hyper-realistic trees. As a magazine, we truly believe that good-looking trees are the benchmark of graphic success. These are arboreal doozies.

One of the weirder criticisms of Ridge Racer is its reliance on fictional cars. Ironically, the fictional cars allow for greater graphical and technical variety than found in today's homogenized group of tedious two- and four-door sedans - the potatoes and gravy of the GT series. Namco has opted to create its own, with evocative names hinting at Japanese and Italian ancestry. And, being Namco, it's hidden plenty of secret vehicles, including a Pac-Man scooter. Do you
need any better impetus to complete a game?

The gameplay style, for the single player at least, follows the ladder theme of earlier Ridges. Start with a couple of cars and tracks available, keep coming in first and soon you'll have a blessed cornucopia of tracks (well, variations of the city route at least) and vehicles at your disposal. But this is a racing game, and it wouldn't be complete without a splitscreen two-player mode. Although a thin, almost shy bank of fog can be seen in the distance, the splitscreen mode is terribly technically impressive. Oh yes, and it's fun
too.

Car collectors and vehicle geeks aren't completely abandoned in this fun, arcadey romp, since there's a ton of engine and chassis management, if that's what tickles your fancy. But the arcadey physics will upset people who think it's cool to spin out of control on a slight bend at 20 miles an hour. Most Ridge Racer vehicles allow players to hurtle through L-bends at full speed, letting off the gas for a fraction of a second, having the rear spin out (these are almost all mid or front-engined cars) and hammering the gas again to regain traction - and, of course, bring you back onto the perfect racing line. It's done in roughly the same
way as flying in Mario 64 -- to hell with the real world. The use of 'touch sensitivity' (the analog function of the regular O, X and square buttons) makes the process all the more delightful.

The Bottom Line: The presentation is delicious - in spite of the new Skank-fest mascot. Wonderful selection screens, cool options menus and amazingly non-cheesy but still eminently Japanese music tracks all add to the experience. This is a launch title, and it more than does its job. Cool, cool stuff.