Ridge Racer for PSP Review

The Checkered Flag—Gameplay

Ridge Racer is a racing game, so guess what you have to do? That’s right, race circuit type races placing first, second, third, or fourth (depending on the race) to unlock other races, cars, and other goodies that Namco has included (original Ridge Racer intro movies, to name one). There are four Tours, each with a series of races that themselves have anywhere from two to four races. You won’t be finishing this game in an evening. Luckily, you can save your game after each race of a circuit so you won’t be wasting your time if you lose.

The Tours start out pretty easy with cars having minimal speed, acceleration and power. As you move up in Tour (Basic, Pro, Expert, Max), the difficulty curve quickly increases. The Max Tour is almost impossible and it will take much diligence on your part to complete the game 100%. The racers in the Max Tour are perfect. You basically have to cheat your way to the finish line in first place by bumping and blocking your opponents. That’s not to say it can’t be done, just be prepared to race the same track over and over.

During the race you’ll be performing a lot of drifting. Any player of Ridge Racer games should know this is part of the game. In Ridge Racer for the PSP, Drifting increases your Nitro meter. You can carry up to three Nitros. After all 3 are full, you’ll be wasting your drifts because there’s nothing to fill up. Hitting the Right shoulder button engages your nitro. Between drifting and boosting, you’ll find more strategy to winning than in previous installments. Sometimes you can be devious and other times you can just use brute force against the computer cars.

I feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty--Graphics

Out of the PSP launch gates, Ridge Racer is the most beautiful game you’ll see. I would classify the graphics as near-PS2 quality. Everything is crisp and colorful and runs without any pause or jerkiness. The PSP is using a lot of power to push those kinds of graphics, but you can’t tell because of how smooth it is.

Track design should be familiar to those who have played any Ridge Racer game before. You have your standard track types: a lakeside track, a mountain track, a full-on speed track - you know the types. There are original tracks from each of the 5 Ridge Racer games that are used in different ways. Routes are blocked at different sections, but you mostly be racing most of the same track with few changes.

Confessions On a Dancefloor—Sound

Every Ridge Racer has the same thing in common: cool music. They are original songs that range from Dance, to Hip Hop, to Trance, basically anything you can dance to. In Ridge Racer for the PSP you’ll find classics from the first Ridge Racer, the hits of Ridge Racer Revolution, new ones and remixes of the old ones.

As far as sound effects, Ridge Racer reproduces the sounds of the car pretty well. Since the cars are high performance machines, you’ll hear them whine to a crescendo, then pop the exhaust as if it’s backfiring. But you know that’s just speed waiting to happen.

More Smoothness—Control

Once again, I am torn between the digital pad and the analog stick. I much prefer the digital pad for comfort, though the analog stick is adequate. It does take some getting use to, especially on the PSP, but after a while, you find the nuances of the small thumbstick and can drift with your eyes closed.

You can tell a lot of difference in the handling of the cars, especially when you get to the supercharged cars. Some can turn on a dime (the Pac-Man, and Lego-looking car), and others seem to slide into the walls whenever you take a corner. This is a good thing because the control is spot-on.

Thompson’s Two Cents

Get this game. The graphics will impress you, the controls will sucker you in, and you might just find yourself downloading the music since it’s so catchy. If you need to get a racer for your PSP, buy Ridge Racer. If you need a game period, buy Ridge Racer.

Then go out and get the previous editions of Ridge Racer because you need to experience it all.