Ridge Racer 6

Ridge Racer first graced consoles with its outrageous handling and eccentric tracks way back in 1995, on Sony’s newborn Playstation.  Since then, we have seen 4 sequels, as well as handheld editions, but only lacklustre spin off ‘R: Racing’ has made it onto a Microsoft console.  Almost 11 years since the original’s release, Namco have blessed us with Ridge Racer’s next-gen debutant, ‘Ridge Racer 6’.

Inevitably, any Xbox 360 racer is going to be compared to the top selling Project Gotham Racing 3.  However, such a comparison is completely unfair.  Granted, both are of the racing genre, but they are at completely opposite ends of the scale.  Project Gotham aims to be realistic, and arguably achieves this in many ways.  Ridge Racer aims to be fun.  Namco are not trying to kid anyone, this is a purely arcade racer with unrealistic handling, made-up cars, and cities that I certainly have not come across.  If you demand ultra realistic handling and all the latest tracks and licenses, you are simply not going to like this game.  But can Rieko, ridge racer lady mascot, win back the hordes of arcade racing fans after the disappointments of Ridge Racer 5 and ‘R: Racing’, for a drift through next-generation ‘Ridge Racer 6’?

Ridge Racer 6 uses the same old formula that arcade racers have been adopting since the days of Outrun, and it is essentially the same to earlier Ridge Racer’s with the recent PSP edition being its closest relative.  Looking at a still screenshot of Ridge Racer, it may look relatively realistic, but the first time you take a corner you’ll realise you have one of the arcadeiest racers around on your hands.  While PGR3 is not a simulator like the Gran Turismo series, compared to this it’s like driving a real car.

In most racers, you slow down to take a corner, in Ridge Racer 6 you ‘drift’.  This basically involves releasing the accelerator for a second and pressing it straight back down, resulting in your car drifting sideways around corners, often perpendicular to the track.  Racing purists will most likely cry “Blasphemy!” upon experiencing this, but drifting means that the pace never lets up.  U turns are no obstacle in Ridge Racer as cars whip around them barely dropping a few MPH speed.  This element of constant speed undoubtedly makes for a frantic, fast-paced exciting racing experience.  A new element for Ridge Racer 6, only seen before in the PSP edition, is the addition of nitrous tanks.  Namco obviously thought that the elimination of braking didn’t provide enough speed, but the introduction of rocket boosts is most welcome.  There are 3 tanks, which are filled up by drifting at fast speeds.  Racers have the choice to either use just one tank for a normal boost, two for a double boost, or all 3 for a super boost!  As well as pushing cars past their speed limits, the nitrous addition adds a new element of thought into car choice.  Cars are all of a certain drift type: mild, standard and dynamic.  While dynamic cars may be difficult to handle and often drift too much, more nitrous will be gained.  Of course the other way around applies for mild, and standard is in between, meaning racers have to strike a balance between to the two aspects, and find what’s best for them. 

While the likes of NFS: MW implement a story between races, Ridge Racer follows a no-nonsense approach.  In ‘World Xplorer’ mode, a unique ‘web’ system of races is used.  The main section is 111 races, but by progressing and unlocking new ones, altogether there are a massive 235.  Players have the choice to move along or up the web, with moving along getting closer to the goals, or moving up providing more of a challenge, but the availability of more rewarding goals.  There can be no complaints about the longevity of the game with all 235 races taking an age to complete.  While earlier races may seem somewhat easy, as you go up the web, use higher classes of cars and delve into the expert and advanced sections, I guarantee you’ll be tearing your hair out.  While hardcore gamers will thrive on such a challenge, this can make latter areas inaccessible and provide nothing but frustration for less-skilled players.  Single Race and Time attack modes are also included, as well as a Pac-Man game!

All courses and cars in the game are made-up.  There are many cars in the game, but many are merely variations of the same car, with identical performance.  While customisation of cars is unlockable, it’s nothing more than a change of colour.  There isn’t going to be any time spent tweaking or admiring your collection here, although retro fans may get some pleasure out of the fact many cars are themed on Namco classics.

Of course Xbox Live achievements have been implemented here, but unlike with many games these are a real challenge and often a mystery to gain.  Players could clock many an hour and have obtained fewer than 200 gamerscore points.  Some are obvious, many are obtained online and some you’ll come across by pure chance.  It certainly is nice to see a developer putting some effort into them though.