Ridge Racer DS

[Bojangle]

Received my copy this morning...





It's great!

Only had the one quick race so far, using the standard control mode. D-Pad to steer, A to go and B to brake.

Drifting is easy and feels right.

Visually, it's pleasing. Yes it's no Ridge Racer PSP, but it does look very nice and runs very smoothly, got a nice sense of speed in my opinion.

The musics great, not too tinny.

Now to wait for my friend to come round so we can try wireless!

Will post more as I play.

Anyone else got this yet?

[superkully]

Bojangle, have you played any of the other RRs? Or even the BOs? I want to get your views in some form of context...

[Bojangle]

I played RR64 lots when that came out, the original Ridge Racer on the Playstation as well.

I've played all the Burnout's. (1+2 on the Cube, and 3 on the XBox if that makes any difference)

[djtickle]

I played RR64 lots when that came out, the original Ridge Racer on the Playstation as well.

I've played all the Burnout's. (1+2 on the Cube, and 3 on the XBox if that makes any difference)

How does it compare visually to RR64 and ridge racer ps1?

[Bojangle]

I'd say it's better than them both to be honest. The static screenshots don't do it justice. Once it's all moving it looks lovely.

[Bojangle]

I say play it for yourself then judge.

A lot of the reviews marked it down for not actually making the most of the DS hardware. Apart from the touch screen steering, there's nothing else that couldn't be done on a standard hand held.

They also slate the graphics, which is unfair, because it does look nice once it's moving. People are unfairly putting it aside Ridge Racers, which is just wrong in my opinion.

[Oh! My Car!]

I'm really hyped for this cos I love RR64 - still play it just for some reverse-360-powerslide action. So is it basically a conversion of RR64 or is there new stuff? Also, have you tried using the touch-screen steering wheel or is it not really worth it...

[Bojangle]

I honestly can't understand the bad reviews. I think it's a really good game, if I thought otherwise I'd say.

The fact I have both Chokkan Hitofude and Touch! Made In Wario next to me, yet this is getting all my attention says more than any words in my mind.

Wireless multiplayer is a blast as well. Selecting a game is easy, just go to multiplayer, join a room and within seconds your racing. AI Cars are also in the multiplayer, so if it's just you and a friend it doesn't get too boring.

[Kron]

Have you tried the multiplayer with a single cart? would you mind doing so and posting a few impressions please

[JamesS]

We've been playing single cart multiplayer today and it works really well. You can play any of the three courses (but only, I think, in their novice versions rather than the longer expert versions). Uploads really quickly and everything works smoothly. You can toggle a handicap, which I think does catchup for the players at the back. You can have AI cars making up the numbers if you want, too.

I'm also in the "don't understand the bad reviews" camp. Seems to be a great conversion to me. Obviously not as good as Ridge Racers (at least, based on the 5 minutes I played that game for at TGS), but as a handheld version of the classic RR games, it's great. It's very much a straight port of RR64, with no new modes as far as I can tell, but that's exactly what I wanted it to be so I'm more than happy with it.

[Supergoal]

I'm interested to read people's later about this game. Since I'm tempted to get this one...

[Oh! My Car!]

I'm really hyped to get this now - can anyone post about the steering wheel way of controlling?

[Bojangle]

I've tried the touch screen method for a couple of races and switched it off, I really didn't enjoy using it. Maybe if I stuck with it, it would become more natural, much like it did whilst playing Mario 64 DS.

[Ginza]

Feel the Magic has a racing section where you have to use the stylus to control the wheel / car. I've played that and think its OK and usable but wasnt really ideal. Hopefully its better implemented with Ridge.

[JamesS]

I'm really hyped to get this now - can anyone post about the steering wheel way of controlling?

I've not tried it much, but it seemed fairly rubbish. The lack of any resistance makes it hard to keep the car straight, I found. I've just stuck with the default dpad controls, and I'm not having any problems. I've always played Ridge Racer with a dpad anyway, though.