Rage Racer

Rage Racer (レイジレーサー, Reiji Rēsā) is the third title in the Ridge Racer series of racing games on the PlayStation. Developed and published by Namco, it was released in Japan on December 3, 1996, with releases in the U. S. and Europe following in 1997. It was the first game in the series to feature a CGI animated introduction, and introduced a new "mascot", Reiko Nagase. Cars from four manufacturers can be purchased, each favoring a different attribute (e. g., handling, acceleration, speed). All manufacturers offer a 'standard' car and a 'secret' car, which is locked until the top racing class has been reached. Rage Racer also offers a truck as an unlockable vehicle. All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, in several stages of increasing cost. The racing is separated into five numbered classes, named 'Class 1' through to 'Class 5'. The player has three attempts to place in the top three of each class's events, before progressing to the next class. When the player has completed the five 'Normal GP' events, the 'Extra GP' is unlocked. Composed by Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Hiroshi Okubo, it marked the beginning of Namco's new primary sound team after their former members began working with other companies doing production on games such as Street Fighter EX (1996) and Driving Emotion Type S (2000). The former had previously worked on Ridge Racer Revolution. The game was unveiled at the August 1996 Tokyo Game Show, at which point it had yet to be titled.

Reviews for Rage Racer were positive, though generally mild. Critics widely approved of the use of more photo realistic visuals than the previous games in the series, Official UK PlayStation Magazine said that Namco had succeeded in developing their game even further, and praised the track and car count, before concluding: "The pick up and play experience of the original remains, only now there is more longevity because of the incentive to progress through the classes and upgrade to the fastest cars."