Rage Racer

Rage Racer

released on Dec 03, 1996
by Namco

Rage Racer

released on Dec 03, 1996
by Namco

Rage Racer is the third title in the Ridge Racer series of racing games. For the first time in series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced single player career system which uses credits that player can get after winning races, then it can be used to buy or upgrade cars.


Also in series

Ridge Racer V
Ridge Racer V
Ridge Racer 64
Ridge Racer 64
Ridge Racer Type 4
Ridge Racer Type 4
Ridge Racer 2
Ridge Racer 2
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer

Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

The tracks are too tight for a Ridge Racer title, and it makes handling/drifting your car the most difficult part as the actual racers you go against are easy to beat.

when i think of ridge racer usually what comes to mind is smoothness (in both its mechanical and aesthetic prowess) and profound representation of real world context that races concurrently with the game’s own individual racers. even the first title as a rudimentary beginning still has the flair of that early-console-post-arcade mindset. jungly breakbeats of the era kick hard, perhaps being the only motivating factor to indulge at all.
rage racer sees this and for some reason decides to evolve the formula in ways that seem like they’d be no-brainers to AVOID implementing. was there any need for unnecessarily narrow corridors and roads that twist, turn, and bump up and down? racing is of course a test of reaction and muscle memory but this one leans way too much into the muscle memory factor. with the constant up-and-down-and-all-around attitude of the course design it’s basically down to memorization to survive these anti-racer extravaganzas. for some reason drifting also uncontrollably brings you to slower speeds and then manually tries to put you back into a fixed position while relieving you of all control. so much for perfect cornering.
look, i get what they were going for. cities lined up against waterfalls with roads along the countryside bridges etc etc; of course it works on paper but it’s failing to immerse me here especially when the track design conflicts with the logic behind it all. i understand these are “rage” racers who don’t participate in normal races, but it’s still possible to walk the ludonarrative fine line while making the gameplay fun. it’s a racing game. maybe it’s called rage racer because they knew how much people would rage at how unfun it can be sometimes. the soundtrack is nice but weirdly unfitting? i don’t know. i don’t think the actual game embraces late 90s immaturity as much as the soundtrack does.
we do get to see how the series evolved i suppose. i can definitely see where they built off of this for R4 and subsequent titles. this is just a boring and sometimes frustrating game to play. scuffed racer. jank racer. shit racer. Might Need A Remake. this is what this game is like

É bem melhor que os anteriores, muita variedade de carros, customização, músicas legais, e MEU DEUS, OS CONTROLES MELHORAM MUITO, nem parece aquela carniça que era no revolution, finalmente um controle decente, pelo menos para um jogo que se disponibiliza somente do D-PAD, creio eu ser um dos melhores sem analógico. Drift nunca foi tão divertido.

Sacrifices the outrun "day at the beach" aesthetic of the first 2 games for something going for a bit more grunge, which does not work for it in my opinion. The city you race around in is nice enough, but feels like a step down comparatively. Takes itself a bit too seriously in a way that is not particularly charming.

The underrated game in the series that I fondly enjoy. Yes the game looks way different and has a more edgier style to it, but it's still Ridge Racer at the core of it. Fun driving physics, amazing music and a full fledged single player campaign. Rage Racer may not be Type 4 or the original but it's still a good racing game