With Formula 1 now on its summer break, we needed to get our racing fix this weekend, and there are few better places to start than Namco Namcot's PlayStation classic: Ridge Racer.
You could argue that seeing Ridge Racer running on your TV at home was a seismic moment in gaming history, it felt like arcade-quality games were now available at home.
With striking colours, ridiculous physics and a stonking soundtrack Nacmo's racer was an assault on the senses; but in the best possible way. Whilst only having "one" track felt like a step backwards in some respects, it was the replayability that kept people coming back again and again, shaving those lap times.
We've been longing for an HD remaster of this one for what feels like decades now with no sign of it happening. Please, someone, have a word and do the right thing... we've already been waiting far too long for it.
What are your memories of Ridge Racer? Which version did you first play? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 7
Love the original ridge racer and I would definitely buy a remastered version but with the same controls and physics managed to get myself a negcon in lockdown got me interested in the game again now I have it mastered there is nothing else that controls like it still an amazing game just the graphics are looking really choppy but playability is still definitely there
For a long time this was the only game I owned for the PS1 and I played it to death. I first played it on the demo disk that came with the PS1 (remember that?) and I knew it was the game I needed to get from the launch lineup.
Played the arcade version to death as a teenager during my college years. Didn't really play it during the PS1 era as I was all Nintendo, with my import USA SNES and N64, and my friends who had a PS1 hadn't bought it. When I finally played the PS version I didn't like it at first 😅 but grew to love it over time. The 60fps Hi Spec version that came with RR Type 4 was nice and shiny though.
It was Ridge Racer Revolution I spent the most time with. It had more tracks or layouts of the same track (I think?), but also had the white car to beat and unlock as well as the black car. I remember playing it for hours until I unlocked both, I had a real sense of achievement when I did. I seem to remember the way to beat it was to block it from passing you as once it did pass it was gone.
90s classic arcade racers!!! Absolutely timeless.
A retro bundle of the Ridge Racer games, up through, say, R4 would be an immediate purchase for me.
I bought the Jap version of Ridge Racer on PS1 as it was full screen and 60fps speed compared to the slower PAL version. Today I have the PAL enhanced version of Ridge Racer (HD & 60fps) which I still sometimes play.
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