Best Ridge Racer

[MarioMark]

Thanks to this thread I just need to get something off of my chest.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii dddddddddddddddddggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeee raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Thank you.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaBUeINW_3s

[SharkSkin-Man]

RR V and 7 are the best. Type 4 is the worst.

[jamesy]

RR V and 7 are the best. Type 4 is the worst.

For me RR V was the worst! hard to pick a favourite but the music in type4 was the best i thought. I would probably go with type4 or 7 overall tho. maybe rage racer tho...

like i said it's a hard choice to make.

[Wools]

No one's said it... For shame.

Ridge Racer 2 on the PSP is the most pure, joyfull and as Edge said, the last ever Ridge Racer to really get it.

[mezzanine]

Agree with the people who like RRV and Rage Racer. Both are even better with a NeGcon as well Shame about the grinding in the early part of RR6, it's pretty good apart from that.

It's so long ago that I played the original arcade game that I can't remember what I thought of it at the time! Least favourites have to be Ridge Racer Type 4 and RR on the PSP.

[dvdmike]

Its between VII and Rage for me

[bingowings]

it's a toss-up between Rage and Type4.

Rage has the circuits (the updated version(s) on Ridge Racers are bliss, although it's a shame some of the cars are too powerful for them) but Type4 has the cars and music.

thinking about it, i'll go for Rage - bombing along the opening straight, up the hill and past that waterfall? c'mon.

[Fastware]

Ridge Racer Revolution for me, just perfect and includes the original Ridge Racer game as a hidden link up mode.

[Leon Retro]

The original is the best. The overall look, with its vibrant colours and arcade exuberance, make it the most attractive. Everything about the visual design is solid. The tunnel is still the best tunnel ever.

Obviously, it looks blocky these days, but if they remade it for the 360, it could look really impressive again.

Look at Outrun2. Sega took the original, made it 3D, and it worked. They didn't need to make it darker, with a modern tone. They stuck to the vibrant colours and overall over-the-top style, and it worked.

I wish Namco would create a new Ridge Racer that shared the colour and style of the 1994 original.



It has the best commentator too.

[katamari]

Type 4.
That game was the whole package. It was so strong in every respect.

That said, I do love the original and Rage Racer. RR7's remade original course is almost worth the price of entry alone.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Type 4 for me, played that game to death when it came out. The music, atmosphere and just everything about the game was sheer brilliance and for its time it looked stunning.

I need to pick up five at some point because I missed that due to being fully enveloped in the world of Dreamcast at the time of the PS2's launch.

I despise the newer versions due to the stupid boost mechanic.

[samanosuke]

I love Revolution for nostalgia as it was the first RR I played. Sorry, but Daytona USA had (and still has) stolen all my love in the arcades at the time of the original's release.

Then, for the pure RR experience Rave Racer is my favourite. I find it a much more refined RR/RRR without all the car changes/upgrades of the later games.

Out of the new-age 'Racers, my vote goes to Rage. Can't explain why I love it but I do. Maybe it's the unique visuals.

[C']

I always struggle to pick a favourite but it always comes down to the following three.

Ridge Racer 2 (Arcade): The original game’s near perfect designed course (and extension) topped off with the best soundtrack Namco have created in a Ridge game (Drive U 2 Dancing, Grip and Rare Hero 2 are all immense), the rear view mirror and, best of all, the link up battle play.

Rave Racer (Arcade): Often the forgotten child of the Ridge series thanks mostly to it’s lack of a home conversion (although Namco did have a version of the game running on PC utilising the PowerVR chipset but was never commercially released). Another great soundtrack (although lacking compared to RR2) but what made Rave Racer were the 2 new tracks. City is a more open course with long straights and wide sweeping corners, making a great course for battles. Mountain is a much more technically demanding course with narrower roads and sharper turns with the infamous drop should you mess up your drift taking forcing you to take a new, longer route.

Ridge Racer Revolution (Playstation): Probably the most perfect home version of Ridge Racer. The brilliant RR2 soundtrack, the bold colour scheme (why Namco felt the need to go all muted from Rage onwards I’ll never know) and the best use of the Playstation Link Cable (which also unlocked the RR2 version of the original course). The Novice course is a little disappointing but Advanced and Expert are an absolute joy to play especially the narrow tunnel sections on Expert. The feeling of satisfaction when you finally nail Expert without touching the brake once is gaming nirvana.

The middle era of Ridge games (Rage, Type 4 and 64) are the ones I’ve enjoyed the least and whilst the most recent games have been a return to form (Ridge 7 and Ridge Racers 2 notably, shame about the awful nitrous feature) but never quite hit the highs of the mid-nineties Ridge games. I echo Leon’s statements about Namco looking back at the early era of games for Ridge Racer 8. Bring back Yellow Solvalou, Pink Mappy and Xevious Green.

Strider, is this a hint at an upcoming Ridge feature in RG?

[kernow]

yeah, the nitrous feature sucks, how many times have I lost due to someone banging it out before the finish line etc. blech

[J0e Musashi]

My favourite series of games, even more than SF2.

"Wow, that was a great counter. You must be one genius of a driver. You gotta teach me!"

1. Rave Racer
2. Ridge Racer Hi-Resolution
3. Ridge Racer Revolution
4. Ridge Racer
5. Ridge Racer 2
6. Ridge Racers 2
7. Ridge Racer 7
8. Ridge Racer 5
9. Ridge Racers
10. Rage Racer
11. R4:Ridge Racer Type 4
12. Ridge Racer 6
13. Ridge Racer 64
14. Ridge Racer DS