Ridge Racer V 2000
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
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Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
June 12, 2024
Platforms Played
It's not that Ridge Racer V is a bad game, it's just that it's not Ridge Racer Type-4. Really, it's almost unfair to compare them. How do you follow up something that so perfectly nails the feel it's trying to evoke, both mechanically and aesthetically?
Ridge Racer V adopts that late 90s/early 2000s futurist vibe, rearranges the grand prix to include time trials and reverse courses as part of its standard progression, and leans in on drifting, and it's fine. Nothing about it plays poorly, though there is a lack of variety in some of the tracks and, personally, I never cared much for the "look" of the early 2000s, so the presentation here carries less weight for me.
The ability to customize the paint job of your cars and swap engines was something I wasn't able to fully explore due to issues with (I assume) my PS2's hard drive, or the software used to read games off of it. Every time I attempted to change my car, the game crashed, so I was forced to play through the entire thing with the same starting vehicle. Between this and my Wii, I'm realizing that hard drives aren't the best way to go about playing these games due to some of the stability issues they cause. Ridge Racer V is pretty cheap on the aftermarket, but... that's probably for a reason. Why would you go for RRV when any system that can play it would also support Ridge Racer 4?
I think that's more or less where I fall on this game. It's good, but I know what my Ridge Racer of choice is, and I don't see RRV doing anything more noteworthy outside the bump in fidelity.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
Get real low, stick your face to the ground, feel the hot pavement stick to your cheek as you watch as the air above it ripples against the asphalt fumes. You know what that is? Summah! Inhale, absorb its power.
The screech of tires, the cool blast of the AC contrasting the hot air licking at your cheek as it wafts through the open driver's side window, cars fading into the distance in your rearview... I wouldn't know what that's like, I used to drive a Sazuki Swift with a busted AC belt, but I'll tell you this: you can only get heat stroke in the Summah! Boiling to death in the slow-and-go is a rite of Summah passage, and road trips to the beach are as Summah as palm trees, boardwalks, and shark attacks. The smell of the Summah is a gas station, so pick up the nozzle and breeeathe it in... Cars are so tied to the season that I make it a point to play at least one racing game every month, but the question is, does Ridge Racer V meet the lofty expectations set by the Summah index scale?
Unfortunately, no. The vibes are all wrong. Sure, many of the tracks are set near the beach, there's palm trees, but we're talking the difference between Summer and Summah here. At 65.5, we have the first game of the 2024 season to not make a passing grade, and per Summah law, I must now go into a tremendous amount of debt buying every copy so that they may be destroyed.
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Ridge Racer V adopts that late 90s/early 2000s futurist vibe, rearranges the grand prix to include time trials and reverse courses as part of its standard progression, and leans in on drifting, and it's fine. Nothing about it plays poorly, though there is a lack of variety in some of the tracks and, personally, I never cared much for the "look" of the early 2000s, so the presentation here carries less weight for me.
The ability to customize the paint job of your cars and swap engines was something I wasn't able to fully explore due to issues with (I assume) my PS2's hard drive, or the software used to read games off of it. Every time I attempted to change my car, the game crashed, so I was forced to play through the entire thing with the same starting vehicle. Between this and my Wii, I'm realizing that hard drives aren't the best way to go about playing these games due to some of the stability issues they cause. Ridge Racer V is pretty cheap on the aftermarket, but... that's probably for a reason. Why would you go for RRV when any system that can play it would also support Ridge Racer 4?
I think that's more or less where I fall on this game. It's good, but I know what my Ridge Racer of choice is, and I don't see RRV doing anything more noteworthy outside the bump in fidelity.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
Get real low, stick your face to the ground, feel the hot pavement stick to your cheek as you watch as the air above it ripples against the asphalt fumes. You know what that is? Summah! Inhale, absorb its power.
The screech of tires, the cool blast of the AC contrasting the hot air licking at your cheek as it wafts through the open driver's side window, cars fading into the distance in your rearview... I wouldn't know what that's like, I used to drive a Sazuki Swift with a busted AC belt, but I'll tell you this: you can only get heat stroke in the Summah! Boiling to death in the slow-and-go is a rite of Summah passage, and road trips to the beach are as Summah as palm trees, boardwalks, and shark attacks. The smell of the Summah is a gas station, so pick up the nozzle and breeeathe it in... Cars are so tied to the season that I make it a point to play at least one racing game every month, but the question is, does Ridge Racer V meet the lofty expectations set by the Summah index scale?
Unfortunately, no. The vibes are all wrong. Sure, many of the tracks are set near the beach, there's palm trees, but we're talking the difference between Summer and Summah here. At 65.5, we have the first game of the 2024 season to not make a passing grade, and per Summah law, I must now go into a tremendous amount of debt buying every copy so that they may be destroyed.
<< PREVIOUS REVIEW || NEXT REVIEW >>