Namco's Ridge Racer is one of the most popular arcade racing games of all time.
Not only did it show the arcade-going public just what was possible with texture-mapped 3D graphics, it also helped Sony launch the PS1 in 1994, becoming the console's earliest killer app.
Like so many racing games of its time, Ridge Racer offered the player an alternative to the basic 'behind the car' perspective, but now, a modder has given us a mode we never realised we needed: a top-down view.
According to the modder, the bird's-eye view is achieved by "tweaking with some RAM addresses", making the game feel like an offshoot of Micro Machines.
Ridge Racer has sadly been dormant for the past few years, but Bandai Namco has at least given us the excellent Ridge Racer 2 on Sony's PlayStation Plus Premium service.
Comments 6
It's interesting to see that viewpoint on Ridge Racer. I wouldn't be able to play it that way with the camera being locked to the car so that it feels like you're spinning the background as opposed to controlling a car. I find that unpleasant and it might cause motion sickness for those prone to it. I realize it may be a limitation of this modification as opposed to if they built a game from the ground up.
This viewpoint would be helpful for figuring out ideal racing lines.
I once created some cheat codes to do this in a PS1 golf game that didn't support certain camera angles during putting. I mapped them to a button, effectively adding a feature to the game.
Also there's a game with this viewpoint in PlayStation, Rush Hour, by the developers Clockwork Games who went on to make Vanishing Point (DC/PS1). https://www.mobygames.com/game/3111/rush-hour/
Ironically I think that’s probably a better camera angle than the one in Micro Machines. I was replaying MMV3 the other day and the camera picks really unhelpful angles most of the time. There’s the occasional tantalising moment where it’s just right, but sadly it doesn’t happen often enough!
That's not the way to handle the camera on a racer. Interesting concept, but ehhhh.
The car is driving to Sen's Fortress.
Why have Namco never done a Ridge Racer / Ridge Racer 2 / Rave Racer compilation? Go the extra mile and include the PS1 games with upscaled options - would be absolutely amazing.
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