(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[nakamura]

Making my way through extra class on Rage Racer. This game shames the modern Ridge games, it has so much depth and is very difficult to beat. Some cars force manual and you really need to use manual to get the best out of the game. The cars all feel so different too, one with low acceleration will struggle uphill etc. Fantastic.

[Kit]

Got a few hours of Ridge Racer in last night. First time I've played since Type 4 and man, everything in this game is just geared towards fun - which is a nice contrast after playing a bit of Gran Turismo PSP. My only critiques so far are the annoying announcer ('man they're right on yo tail!') and there being only two camera angles to choose from; the second one seeming far to close to me. Graphics are really nice but I am already wondering how visually better Ridge Racer 2 looks in comparison.

[nakamura]

Ridge 2 is exactly the same, just had more tracks.

Turn the announcer off and play in first person. The only way to play Ridge Racer.

[J0e Musashi]

there being only two camera angles to choose from; the second one seeming far to close to me.

There have only ever been two views in Ridge Racer. RR2 is considerably better than the first IMO. It has "real" cars instead of the spaceships in the first game.

[Brad]

Re: what have you been playing this week (retro)?

There is no such game as portable ops. Pretend it doesn't exist.

[danholo]

Ridge Racer for the PSP also forces manual in order to win. So does NFS: Underground (released 2001, -02?).

[Kit]

There have only ever been two views in Ridge Racer. RR2 is considerably better than the first IMO. It has "real" cars instead of the spaceships in the first game.

The second has licensed cars? I like the 'machines' in the first few games. The design look really neat.

Tried a game I've never heard of from the Sega Mega Drive Collection called Ristar. Not a bad little game at all. I like the grabbing mechanic which is great fun, and the art direction has that timeless quality to it; which is always a good sign.

[sj33]

Ristar is actually by Sonic Team. It was intended to be a mascot to stand alongside Sonic, but that didn't exactly work out. You still see the character every now and again though e.g as the flagman in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

[noobish hat]

Still trying to get a copy of Ristar for the Game Gear.

Am I right in thinking he was originally going to be a rabbit, grabbing things with his ears? Or did I imagine that?

[danstan21]

You're sort of right, according to Wikipedia. It says during the conception of Sonic the Hedgehog they originally had rabbit who grabbed things with his ears, but that was later turned into a hedgehog that rolled into a ball to slam into things. They then took some of the gameplay ideas for the rabbit-grabber game and turned it into Ristar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ristar#Conception

[Jay]

Been playing Gekisha Boy on the PC Engine and saw it right through to the end

Such a lovely game. Now I've completed it, I think I'll probably track down the PS2 sequel as long it isn't ridiculously expensive.

[Pikate]

I've decided to buy all Sega's recent retro XBLA releases (in the vague hope it'll encourage them to do more Dreamcast/Arcade games and JSRF). Started with Jet Set Radio which I completed and loved, then NiGHTS into Dreams which I really wanted to like but I just didn't get (I mean WTF am I even supposed to be doing?) so I abandoned that after 20 mins and moved on to Daytona USA which I'm becoming slightly addicted to...

[dataDave]

WTF am I even supposed to be doing?

Score attacking. Imagine Sonic inside a horizontal pinball machine, whilst forgetting about Sonic Spinball.



Keep your eye on the 'Link' (collection combo) at the bottom.

Collect 20 blue pearls/gems ASAP and deliver them to the floating globe to unlock the 2x score crystal, then go mental for the remainder of your time on the clock (by getting a high 'Link' count). It leads to some very deep play eventually as you have to work out the best patterns and wrap them all up within the time you've set for yourself without failing to return to the checkpoint in time. It's #3 on my all time top 10.

And Daytona is the 2nd best racing game of all time, behind F-Zero AX/GX, which was co-developed by roughly the same people.

Between Nights and Daytona alone you have around five years of gaming on your hands. Maybe three years if you have no job. Some people have been playing Daytona for nearly 20 years.

[Kit]

More Ristar. Up to the second world which is an underwater stage. This really is one of the Mega Drives hidden gems isn't it?

[buzz909]

I've been playing old computer games recently. I have been playing Zarch (converted to other systems as Virus) on an Archimedes emulator for about 4 months now. I just play about 20-30 mins a day when i can. It's really hard but that's why i like it, because any progress is hard-won