The nitrous boosting racing game everybody knows and loves is now available on the Sony PSP. Scorch some asphalt in 24 circuits of breakneck speed and exhilaration - that's all that stands between you and glory. Beat the clock in Time Attack Mode or test your racing skills against up to 8 players in WiFi compatible Wireless Battle Mode. Drive in style and rise through the ranks to unlock hidden bonuses in World Tour Mode. Features popular racecourses from arcade classic Rave Racer and the entire Ridge Racer series -- old favorites like Seaside Route 765, Crimsonrock Pass and Greenpeak Highlands.
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31 of 34 found the following review helpful:
Best Racing Game for PSP so farApr 09, 2005
By GamerGirl Currently, there are only 3 racing games available for PSP, and Ridge Racer is definitely the best of the three. You should be able to pick it up and learn the basic mechanics of the game fairly quickly. Most of the courses (of which there are many) are designed so that you are supposed to drift, rather than brake, through the turns. Drifting also builds up your nitrous so you can get boosts later on.
My only complaint is that the game gets pretty difficult. It seems that a cheap tactic was used to make the game more difficult. You see, it is fairly easy to drive the courses faster than all of the other racers. Unfortunately, this does not always mean you win. You will start out in last place out of 12 cars every single time. The lead car will start out with about a 20 second lead and you have three laps to catch up. So it's not like you can ever get a good start and jump into first place and just worry about holding onto the lead for the rest of the race. You are chasing another car almost the entire race. What gets frustrating is that you will often finish a few seconds behind the first place car and realize that you technically finished the race faster than he did, but you still lost the race.
I guess I learned to get over that annoying detail since the game itself was just incredible. Until Gran Turismo 4 comes out (and maybe even after, who knows?), this is the best racing game on the PSP.
20 of 23 found the following review helpful:
Fun But OverratedMay 21, 2005
By M. Boone
"DaClint"
This game is pretty fun. The game modes include time trial, arcade race, world circuit, and multiplayer mode. You can choose from three cars (in beginner circuit) and up to seven cars to race from in the more advanced circuits. This may be a fun game, but the fun doesn't last long.
You race other drivers to unlock new things. But that is about the only objective. Also, beating the races are very easy. The only hard part about this game might be learning how to drift, turn, and powerslide, but that only takes about five minutes to learn.
Also, the races are barely any fun. You start out in last place and the car in front of you is always like 30 seconds ahead. There's no qualifying or practice, you always start last.
Also, gaining nitrous is hard and doesn't help much. You gain the nitrous by powersliding (which slows you down), and you only gain about 1/5 - 1/4 of a tank (depending on the turn and speed) After you get it, it lasts for about 5 seconds and you gain a little bit of speed, but then after that, you go back to the speed you were at before you ignited the nitrous.
And the last thing I have to say about this game that it is overrated. All the reviews I've seen say this is an awesome PSP launch game, but to me it an okay game. I would recommend buying Need For Speed Underground Rivals instead of this. But some people seem to love this game so I would recommend renting this game first at gamefly.com (that's what I did and I'm glad I did it because I didn't like it very much). (Please refer to me at gamefly.com).
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Great fun and amazing graphicsAug 16, 2005
By Markus Egger
"www.MarkusEgger.com/blog"
This game is just plain amazing in terms of graphical power for a handheld-device game. Plus, it plays well. I am not a huge fan of racing games on consoles or PCs (unless they are true similations), but this game is very entertaining. You can also play it in short bursts, a race or two at a time, which makes this game ideal for a handheld.
Unless you completely hate the idea of owning a racing game, you probably want to get this one.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Fun and not too hard eitherMar 29, 2005
By B. Gibbs If you want a safe bet for fun, buy this game. It's not just great looking but it's really fun too, especially the World Tour with its ability to unlock tracks and cars.
At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle the complexity of the racing cars but it's actually quite easy and there's no complexity at all. To win you have to learn to "drift" which is what I would call "skid" around corners. In fact, for the Pro Tour races which open up as you progress through the World Tour, skidding is essential because the more you skid, the more Nitrous Oxide will fill your tanks for that important boost. Yeah, I'm not sure how that works either, but that's the way the game plays! To effectively skid around the corner just lift your finger off the gas for half a second before you hit the turn and then hold on for dear life as you scream through it sideways!
The game gives you different classes of cars and there are 3 cars in each class. Although they look different and have different makes and colors, they all have the same top speed and differ only in how much they skid, from low to high. I found the "Mild" car the easiest but if you're insane choose the "Dynamic" car and watch yourself slip and slide all over the place.
If you win a round on the tour, you'll get a new car, delivered to you and some new tracks will be opened up for both the tour and the time attack or single race modes. As the tours progress they will become harder and faster. I've just finished all the Basic tours and I'm onto the Pro ones and they certainly seem to be a much bigger challenge. I came 1st in almost every basic race but got mashed by the Pros, mainly because I was trying to skid on almost every corner to get some Nitrous!
In addition to the World Tour, you can race any of the tracks you've opened up with any of the cars you've opened up, either just for practice/fun or in a time attack mode. Time attack is just you against the track: try to get around as fast as you can. If you want it'll show a ghost car - a phantom car that mimics how you drove that track last time.
For me, having the World Tour provides a structure to this game that I find very appealing. It's a challenge and it enables you to learn gradually how to race without dropping you into the deep end. The game's graphics are awesome, and the running commentary from your co-driver(?) is highly appropriate and funny, although he's been wrong a few times when he says "You're in 2nd place!" when I've actually just clinched 1st - must be a timing issue.
There a lot of nice touches in this game: the attractive menus, professional voice overs and even a mini game of what looks like the 80's version of Ridge Racer. This comes up during game loading and contrasts nicely with the mind-blowing 3D reality of PSP Ridge Racer. There's also a gratuitous introduction video that features a disturbingly cute computer generated Japanese woman who seems to be timing a race with a stopwatch, who then lies on a car, dreams for a bit and then realizes she's forgotton to stop the stopwatch. This might mean more to those of you who have seen her before but it didn't mean much to me! Fun intro though!
Over all, well worth the money. I only hope that other PSP games will be able to match the production values found in Ridge Racer, which are at or close to 100%.
17 of 21 found the following review helpful:
StunnedApr 01, 2005
By Matthew A. Brown
"Matt"
I've only played one other title on the PSP so far, Wipeout Pure and I must say I was initially impressed with what this little handheld device can do. Today, I loaded up Ridge Racer and I have to say there is no comparison.
The first thing I notice is the music. It's adrenaline pumping music which goes hand-in-hand with the unbelievable graphics. There are at least 6 or 7 different music "discs" to listen to, each with around 7 or 8 songs.
Once the game got going, I played the first track Seaside Route 765 over and over again until I got through it. I quickly went on to the second and third routes and then on to other world tours. It's thrilling to find yourself in first place in a race and I'm compelled to keep competing to see what other tracks are like. I'm enjoying this game so much, I must say I hope it takes me a while to get through all the tracks. It's also great trying out different cars and getting to know their unique handling style.
After the race, you can watch an instant replay from the perspective of a television camera following all the action. The cars are about as close to photo-realistic as any graphics I've seen in a video game. The city-scapes and rural scenery alike are absolutely beautiful, although not quite like a photograph. I think this adds to the appeal.
Also, the game that is available when you first load Ridge Racers was a nice touch. I remember playing that as a stand-up arcade game and although quite a different experience from Ridge Racer itself, it's a fun little diversion.
I want to see who will come out with a better title than Ridge Racers on the PSP.
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