Ridge Racer (1993 video game)

1993 racing video game

A single course is featured comprising four configurations of increasing difficulty: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Time Trial (the latter two are extended). The player races eleven opponents except in Time Trial, where there is only one. The greater the difficulty, the faster the cars run; Time Trial is the fastest. Each race consists of three laps (two on the beginner course). Checkpoints that grant additional time when passed through are present throughout. In the PlayStation version, after every race is won, reversed ones become available, and an additional opponent is encountered in Time Trial: the 13th Racing (also known as the "Devil" car), the fastest car. On winning, the car is unlocked. The PlayStation version features a hidden "mirror" version of the tracks. It becomes a "mirror image" of itself; left turns become right turns and vice versa, and the surroundings switch sides of the road. In the arcade version, the winning player's score is saved in action replay highlights after finishing the game. Once the game has loaded, the CD is only needed to play six music tracks. The disc can be replaced during gameplay, although the game does not update; regardless of what disc is inserted, there will always be six tracks, corresponding to the starting points of the tracks on the game disc.

At the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA) 1992 Amusement Machine Show (AM Show) in Japan, held during 17–19 August, Namco debuted a racing game called SimRoad for the Namco System 22 arcade system board. Its 3D polygon graphics stood out for the use of Gouraud shading and texture mapping. After a location test at the show, The development team was under pressure to complete it before their rivals, and designer Fumihiro Tanaka commented that "the other company" (Sega) was in the same position. During the release for arcade system board, Namco described Ridge Racer as "the most realistic driving game ever". It featured three dimensional polygon graphics with texture mapping.

The Ridge Racer Full Scale arcade version was released along with the standard arcade version in 1993. This version was designed to give the player a more realistic driving experience. Players (a passenger could sit in the car next to the driver) sat inside an adapted red Eunos Roadster, the Japanese right hand drive version of the Mazda MX 5 Miata and controlled the same car on screen. The game was played in front of a wide, front projected triple screen (which benefited from dimmed ambient lighting), with the wheel, gear stick and pedals functioning as the controls. The ignition key was used to start, the speed and RPM gauges were functional, and fans blew wind on the player from inside the air vents. Speakers concealed inside the car provided realistic engine and tire sounds; overhead speakers provided surround music. This version was developed by the same team. Because of technical limitations, it was difficult to program and run at a lower resolution, lower framerate (30 frames per second for NTSC, 25 for PAL), and was less detailed. Specialised graphics libraries were developed because it was felt the standard ones provided by Sony were too limited. Visual director Yozo Sakagami remarked that the hardest element to port was the experience of driving a car. It was felt that the NeGcon controller would provide a more analogue feel than the standard PlayStation controller. which Namco denied. Ridge Racer was released in Japan on 3 December 1994, in North America on 9 September 1995, and in Europe on 29 September 1995 as a launch title for the PlayStation.

The soundtrack was produced at the same time as the game by Shinji Hosoe, with contributions from Nobuyoshi Sano and Ayako Saso, as the development team did not have enough time to produce them separately. Initially, the team did not plan to have music, but ended up producing techno, hardcore and gabber, which Tanaka believed helped players to enjoy a fun feeling while playing. This was commemorated by the release of Namco Game Sound Express Vol. 11 by Victor Entertainment on 21 January 1994 in Japan, which features remixed versions of the themes.

The PlayStation version was re released for The Best, Greatest Hits, and Platinum ranges in 1997. Ridge Racer received a number of ports and spin offs:

A version with three screens was released for arcades to give a peripheral vision effect. The machine used multiple System 22 arcade boards to drive the additional monitors and was only available in the sit down version. A similar game is included in Ridge Racer Revolution using the same cars under the name Pretty Racer (also known as buggy mode), the inspiration for this game.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (released on 3 December 1998 in Japan, 1 May 1999 in North America, and on 1 September in Europe) includes a bonus disc containing a new version of the original Ridge Racer, called Ridge Racer Turbo in North America, Ridge Racer Hi Spec Demo in Europe, and Ridge Racer Hi Spec Version (リッジレーサーハイスペックバージョン) in Japan. It features improved graphics, runs at 60 frames per second (50 for PAL), as opposed to the original 30, and supports vibration feedback and the Jogcon controller. There is only one opponent (two in time trial boss races), and the White Angel from Ridge Racer Revolution appears in addition to the 13th Racing as a boss and unlockable car. A Time Attack mode is added, in which the player attempts to beat the time record with no opponent cars. This is distinct from Time Trial, where there are opponent cars.

A version for mobile phones (J2ME platform) was released on 31 December 2005. It received mixed reviews. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann gave the game 6.1/10. He praised graphics as "somewhat impressive for a mobile game", but criticised the steering. Levi Buchanan of IGN gave Ridge Racer 6.2/10, complaining about the problematic controls and saying that the game without the analogue control "feels really lacking". (not to be confused with the later Ridge Racer 3D for the Nintendo 3DS). This version was ported to Zeebo in August 2009.