How familiar are people with Ridge Racer? I'm still a little peeved about how thoroughly the internet mocked Kaz Hirai for his enthusiasm in 2006. I've seen a lot of people discovering Type 4 in the last decade, and it's been very gratifying to see the newfound appreciation for it, but that's not all Ridge Racer is. After 5, the series took a dramatic turn - A big magnetic drift. They adopted nitro boosts and dumbed themselves down quite considerably. I don't think it's something to resent. It's became more of the wild arcade racer that many thought they were getting when they first heard about the games, and I enjoy it too. I just think it's worth clarifying that the bulk of the series is fairly distinct from the one that's in vogue at the moment.
Ridge Racer 2 (or Ridge Racer*s* 2, as it's titled, slightly more helpfully, in Japan) is something of a soft compilation. Every PS1 Ridge Racer track appears here, alongside a couple from the arcade-only Rave Racer. Like Mario Kart's retro cups, they've all been pulled into the new style of ridge racing. Think of it like a Tekken Tag Tournament or Mortal Kombat Trilogy, but for stylish Namco racers. After spending months tied to PS+'s ludicrously expensive Premium tier, Namco have finally opted to make their retro downloads available as individual purchases on PS4 and 5. Go check. You've probably got a freebie or two if you were excited about this stuff back on the PS3. The PSP emulation comes with some presentational quirks, and you're forced into a smoothing filter that diminishes the 2D assets, but the thought of Bandai Namco executives seeing new income from Ridge Racer enthusiasts should allay any frustration caused by blurry Tower of Druaga logos.
Where with Ridge Racer 1 (the actual one, not the thing they called the first PSP one) it's debatable whether or not you actually want to drift, drifting is the very core of New Ridge Racer. Do a drift and it builds your nitro boost meter. You can put up to three nitro boosts in reserve before you determine when's the best time to use them. Simple courses with long straight sections make boosting a bit of a no-brainer, but narrow, windy tracks are constantly building your meter, and push you to boost in some risky moments. You rarely feel too out of control in New Ridge Racer, as there's always a bit of guiding hand making sure you don't fall too far off the main racing line. Again, it's dumbed down, but that's justified by how quick and complicated the races can get.
Something that may deter fans of the older games is that the newer ones are huge. There was a time when a game consisted of one or two tracks, and the ability to play Time Trials were the big bonus. Before writing this, I completed 48 cups, varying in length from 2 to 5 races each. And those early ones were very slow and easy. It takes dozens of hours before you get to see how fast and exciting the game can be. It's a serious time investment, and I wouldn't blame you at all for turning to the instant action of the PS1 titles instead.
48 cups might sound like a lot of content. That's really stretching it. There's a lot of variants of the same tracks throughout. Some open up a slightly different route. Half of them are just the same tracks played in reverse. Most of them are just the same races played at different speed classes. A lot of cups feature a line of variants of a single track over and over again. It gets samey and repetitive. The game starts to wash over you.
A lot of this can be understood when you remember that this is a PSP game, back when they thought handheld games had to be different from home console ones. The idea of just making proper games and offering a power-efficient sleep mode hadn't quite caught on yet. Ridge Racer 2 was designed for commuters, in a pre-smartphone world. It's supposed to be the bit of Ridge Racer you play to kill time, slowly chipping away at it until you finally get the grand reward of some compressed PS1 intros in a gallery. The difficulty curve is very gentle, never threatening to make you sweat. It's still fun. Just tame. It's not a criticism I'd level at Ridge Racer 6 or 7. After many hours of introductory races, those games eventually become thrilling. Here, even the post-game content that's too hard for me is just kind of plain.
It serves a different purpose from the Ridge Racer games that people are passionate about. And as an £8 app on your PS5 home screen, it serves that purpose pretty well. It's a big slab of Ridge Racer for whenever you want to play that. Unlike Type 4, you're not locked into little stories, worrying about which placement you need to unlock the right cars. Unlike the first couple games, you're not getting exactly the same 20 minute experience every time you turn it on. This is a more practical option. There's even a "Custom Tour" mode that creates a cup for you based on how much time you have to play. If you're a series fan, there's good reason to pick it up. It doesn't have the unique quirks or atmosphere of those earlier titles, and it feels purposefully genericised, but that's fine. Big tub o' Ridge Racer you got from the wholesalers. Eight quid. Bargain.
Ridge Racer 2 (or Ridge Racer*s* 2, as it's titled, slightly more helpfully, in Japan) is something of a soft compilation. Every PS1 Ridge Racer track appears here, alongside a couple from the arcade-only Rave Racer. Like Mario Kart's retro cups, they've all been pulled into the new style of ridge racing. Think of it like a Tekken Tag Tournament or Mortal Kombat Trilogy, but for stylish Namco racers. After spending months tied to PS+'s ludicrously expensive Premium tier, Namco have finally opted to make their retro downloads available as individual purchases on PS4 and 5. Go check. You've probably got a freebie or two if you were excited about this stuff back on the PS3. The PSP emulation comes with some presentational quirks, and you're forced into a smoothing filter that diminishes the 2D assets, but the thought of Bandai Namco executives seeing new income from Ridge Racer enthusiasts should allay any frustration caused by blurry Tower of Druaga logos.
Where with Ridge Racer 1 (the actual one, not the thing they called the first PSP one) it's debatable whether or not you actually want to drift, drifting is the very core of New Ridge Racer. Do a drift and it builds your nitro boost meter. You can put up to three nitro boosts in reserve before you determine when's the best time to use them. Simple courses with long straight sections make boosting a bit of a no-brainer, but narrow, windy tracks are constantly building your meter, and push you to boost in some risky moments. You rarely feel too out of control in New Ridge Racer, as there's always a bit of guiding hand making sure you don't fall too far off the main racing line. Again, it's dumbed down, but that's justified by how quick and complicated the races can get.
Something that may deter fans of the older games is that the newer ones are huge. There was a time when a game consisted of one or two tracks, and the ability to play Time Trials were the big bonus. Before writing this, I completed 48 cups, varying in length from 2 to 5 races each. And those early ones were very slow and easy. It takes dozens of hours before you get to see how fast and exciting the game can be. It's a serious time investment, and I wouldn't blame you at all for turning to the instant action of the PS1 titles instead.
48 cups might sound like a lot of content. That's really stretching it. There's a lot of variants of the same tracks throughout. Some open up a slightly different route. Half of them are just the same tracks played in reverse. Most of them are just the same races played at different speed classes. A lot of cups feature a line of variants of a single track over and over again. It gets samey and repetitive. The game starts to wash over you.
A lot of this can be understood when you remember that this is a PSP game, back when they thought handheld games had to be different from home console ones. The idea of just making proper games and offering a power-efficient sleep mode hadn't quite caught on yet. Ridge Racer 2 was designed for commuters, in a pre-smartphone world. It's supposed to be the bit of Ridge Racer you play to kill time, slowly chipping away at it until you finally get the grand reward of some compressed PS1 intros in a gallery. The difficulty curve is very gentle, never threatening to make you sweat. It's still fun. Just tame. It's not a criticism I'd level at Ridge Racer 6 or 7. After many hours of introductory races, those games eventually become thrilling. Here, even the post-game content that's too hard for me is just kind of plain.
It serves a different purpose from the Ridge Racer games that people are passionate about. And as an £8 app on your PS5 home screen, it serves that purpose pretty well. It's a big slab of Ridge Racer for whenever you want to play that. Unlike Type 4, you're not locked into little stories, worrying about which placement you need to unlock the right cars. Unlike the first couple games, you're not getting exactly the same 20 minute experience every time you turn it on. This is a more practical option. There's even a "Custom Tour" mode that creates a cup for you based on how much time you have to play. If you're a series fan, there's good reason to pick it up. It doesn't have the unique quirks or atmosphere of those earlier titles, and it feels purposefully genericised, but that's fine. Big tub o' Ridge Racer you got from the wholesalers. Eight quid. Bargain.