Ridge Racer (video game)
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| Ridge Racer | |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Mobile phone, Zeebo |
| Release date(s) | Arcade JPN October 7, 1993 PlayStation [1] JPN December 3, 1994 USA September 9, 1995 PAL September 29, 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Cabinet | Sitdown |
| Arcade system | Namco System 22 |
Ridge Racer (リッジレーサー Rijji Rēsā) is a racing game created by Namco. It was released in 1993 on the Namco System 22 arcade system board. It is the first title in the Ridge Racer series. It is the first Ridge Racer series game released in the PlayStation console.
Ridge Racer was ported to the PlayStation in Japan in 1994 and in the United States and Europe in 1995 as a launch title. It was also included in the NamCollection for the PlayStation 2 in 2005, released exclusively in Japan. This game followed by Ridge Racer Revolution.
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[edit] Gameplay
Ridge Racer was very innovative for its time, introducing minor car sim elements intertwined with the gameplay. The player could choose from the options of Course Select, Transmission, Car Select, Sound Select, Start, and Options. Course Select allowed the player to choose a course, each of varying difficulty, and choose between the two modes of a Race (against 11 other cars) and Time Trial (against one other car). The Course Select screen also displays data about the course's shape and difficulty.
The Transmission menu allowed the player to select the between Automatic or Manual transmission. Automatic transmission (AT) permits less experienced players easier turns and drifts, while manual transmission (MT) restricts the AI from assisting but allows more experienced players to gain faster track times.
Normally only 4 cars are selectable, but all 12 (excluding the Black No.13 'Devil' Car) are selectable if a player is able to defeat 100% of the enemies on the Galaxian loading game before the title screen.
Car Select introduces the selectable vehicles for racing. The mode also served as a gallery, serving the player with multiple views by rotating the camera with the L1 and R1 triggers on the PlayStation controller. Sound Select allowed the player to change between 1 of six background music tracks, while the Options menu allowed button configuration and the lap records to be viewed.
The game consists of 4 race course modes. They are the "Beginner", "Mid-Level", "High-Level" and "Time Trial" (on the screen will show "T.T" instead). The "Beginner" and the "Mid-Level" would be racing on the same circuit. However, the Beginner mode only had 2 laps and there were no night racing. On the Mid-Level mode, the cars would be faster. The race would run 3 laps instead of 2 and there would be night racing in the middle. Once the player advanced to "High-Level" and "Time Trial", the circuit would be longer as a technical section was added with more sharp and difficult curves. The "Beginner", "Mid-Level" and the "High-Level" would be a 12 cars battle but the "Time Trial" would be the battle of 2 cars only.
After the players won all the race modes, extra game (extra courses) would be given. The player would be racing on the same tracks but in reverse directions. The extra tracks lack one checkpoint and therefore the player is at a much higher risk of running out of time, making the game more difficult.
Also, at this point, the "Time Trial" (either regular or extra) race mode would turn into a 3 car battle. The player would have to face one more extra car- "Devil 13th Racing" car. This car was very fast and extremely difficult to beat due to a lack of rear view mirror. To win, the player must learn the perfect racing line of the track. By sticking to racing line around the track, the Devil car would be blocked from passing and would crash into the back to the player. If the player managed to block the car for all 3 laps and won the race, they would obtain the Devil car. This was especially important for Time Trial mode. After the player obtained the Devil car, the player could use that car to race in all the courses including extra courses in order to complete the entire game.
A special 'mirror mode' version of the track could be played by turning the car around on the starting line and driving into the wall behind at top speed. The car would pass through the wall and the track would revert to the mirror of the normal track. Another bonus for the original PlayStation version released in 1995 allowed the player to listen to music through the PlayStation by removing the game disc and inserting a music CD. This was because the entire game code ran within the RAM of the PlayStation and the CD was used only for playing music tracks from the disc once the game was loaded. However, players could not switch tracks, and the music was started on a random track.
The audio-tracks on the Ridge Racer game CD can be played in a standard CD-audio player, as game CD was mastered in Mixed Mode CD format. Track 1 is used for data.
[edit] Courses
- 1. Beginner
- 2. Mid-Level
- 3. High-Level
- 4. T.T. (Time Trial)
- 5. Beginner Extra (reverse)
- 6. Mid-Level Extra (reverse)
- 7. High-Level Extra (reverse)
- 8. T.T. (Time Trial) Extra (reverse)
[edit] Cars
[edit] The original 4
[edit] The extra 8
- Car #15: RT Pink Mappy (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #5: RT Blue Mappy (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #16: Galaga RT Plid's (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #6: Galaga RT Carrot (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #18: RT Bosconian (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #8: RT Nebulasray (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #7: RT Xevious Red (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
- Car #17: RT Xevious Green (Unlockable by beating the game of Galaxian with all the enemies defeated)
[edit] The special machine
- Car #13: 13" Racing (a.k.a. Devil car) (Unlockable by beating him on the Time Trial race mode after the first 4 regular Grand Prixs were won.)
[edit] Music list
- 0. Random Play
- 1. Ridge Racer
- 2. Rare Hero
- 3. Feeling Over
- 4. Rotterdam Nation
- 5. Speedster
- 6. Rhythm Shift
[edit] Reception
Ridge Racer was awarded Best Driving Game of 1995 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[1]
The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon #221 by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Jay did not rate the game, but Dee gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[2]
[edit] Ridge Racer Full Scale
Ridge Racer was simultaneously released in 1993 in what Namco called the Full Scale version. Players sat inside an adapted red Eunos Roadster, the Japanese right-hand-drive version of the Mazda MX-5 Miata, and controlled the same car on-screen. The game was played in front of a 10 ft/3 m-wide, front-projected triple screen (which required dimmed ambient lighting), with the car's wheel, gear stick and pedals functioning as the game's controls. The ignition key was used to start the game, the speed and RPM gauges were fully functional, and fans blew wind on the player from inside the air vents. Speakers concealed inside the car provided realistic engine and tire sounds, while overhead speakers provided surround music. In almost all locations, an operator stood by a console, to collect payment and control the operation. The game's P.C.B. was located under the hood of the car.
The steering wheel could be relinked to the rack & pinion steering of the car, making it a lot easier to move about.
Past locations of Full Scale setups:
- Hollywood Bowl (Now AMF Bowling), Washington, Tyne & Wear, UK
- Hollywood Bowl, Teesside Park, Stockton, UK
- The Edge, St Georges centre, UK (The same RR:FS that was previously at Teesside Park Stockton)
- Clarence Pier Arcade, Southsea, UK
- Beta, Southern Gales, Australia
- Maremagnum shopping mall, Barcelona, Spain
- New Park Arcade at La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain
- Codonas Pleasurefair, Aberdeen, UK
- Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, UK (unattended, 2 GBP)
- Fun World (later Sega World, later FunLand) at the Trocadero (London) (5 GBP)
- Meadowhall Namco Station, Sheffield, UK (unattended, 2 GBP)
- Sega Virtualand at the Luxor Casino, Las Vegas, USA
- Mutiny Bay Arcade at the Treasure Island Hotel, Las Vegas, USA
- Dreamland at Margate, Kent, UK
- Funworld in Nashua NH USA
- Pier 39, San Francisco, USA
- Timezone Arcade, Singapore International Airport
- Wonderpark, Milpitas, CA, USA
- Namco, Southbank, London, UK
- "PLAZA" Skegness, Lincolnshire, UK
- Namco Wonderpark at Rothschild Mall, Rishon Lezzion, Israel (Now Defunct)
[edit] Ridge Racer: 3 Screen Edition
A version of Ridge Racer with 3 screens was also released in the arcades to give a 'peripheral vision' effect. The machine used multiple Model 22 arcade boards to drive the additional monitors and was only available in the sit down version.
[edit] Ridge Racer Turbo
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 includes a bonus disc containing a new version of the original Ridge Racer, called Ridge Racer Turbo (known in Europe as Ridge Racer Hi-Spec Demo). This game runs at 60 frames per second with Gouraud shading utilised on the car models, as seen in R4. It only features the beginner mode version of the track. The gameplay was pretty much the same as the original Ridge Racer. Like usual, after the regular courses were beaten, the extra courses were unlocked. At the same time, the player would be required to race against the duel cars. They were the #13 Devil 13" Racing car and the #0 White Angel car.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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