Retro|Spective 017: Ridge Racer

[Neon Ignition]

Game 13 - Ridge Racer
You wanted another PSP style game? Well, here we are... well, a bit of one. Namco launched a new platform with a new Ridge Racer but this time made the ill informed and outsourced entry that stripped a lot away with the aims of having the user microtransaction the package together. Much of the content was taken from Ridge Racer 7 and only the Japanese version can hold all the games content in full. Perhaps the most notable element that belongs to the game is its Daytona DLC, but the game was panned due to its approach.



Did you gleam any joy from this abandoned attempt?

[Dogg Thang]

Wait, what was this for?

[Atticus]

I think it might be the PS Vita game

[Dogg Thang]

Ah okay. Yeah, the Vita game was a total mess as a result of not being a complete package. It was a collection of bits and, even if you bought the bits, it still felt like bits - it wasn't a coherent, easy to play package in any way. And if I remember correctly, its performance wasn't great and so was still overshadowed by the PSP entries.

[Asura]

The Vita version is a very odd game that doesn't make a lot of sense unless you consider that it might've been conceived as an always-online game, with the Vita's 3G capabilities being overstated during its development.

When 3G was on the way, telecoms people were really trying to sell that it might allow for synchronous mobile gaming. In practice this was totally over-sold and by the time it came to market, everyone had realised this, which is why so few mobile games of the era had synchronous play.

The Vita released with 3G with very few good reasons for its inclusion. You could browse the internet or use the leaderboards, but the only compelling game use was for turn-based games like golf.

But Vita Ridge Racer really feels like it was meant to be always-online; it's structured like this weird MMO thing, almost like Chrome Hounds was on 360, where you pick a racing team and upgrade a persistent car.

I've always maintained the belief that Namco was hoodwinked here, and thought that the Vita's online capabilities were just going to be more capable than they eventually were.

[wakka]

I think both of you guys are absolutely spot on. I ended up with the game and a good amount of the DLC for it, because the card could be acquired cheaply and IIRC a lot of the DLC ended up being given away free. And it was just kind of this random collection of stuff with no rhyme or reason behind it. The only fun I reckon you could glean from it was maybe just time trialling the maps? You could rarely get a race in online mode as the Vita, and the game itself, just weren't remotely popular enough I guess.

Even if the 3G gaming thing had actually worked, I'm not 100% on whether the actual game structure they had thought up would have worked well. You were separated into one of four teams and had to work to get points for your team, and then at the end of the week or month they'd announce which team won. Which begs the question, who cares?

It was badly thought out and the technology wasn't there for it.

Never knew about the Daytona DLC though, that looks kind of interesting.

[nakamura]

The 3DS game has a rough frame rate but I do really like the 3D and surprisingly, the chase camera. Only good one in the game.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 14 - Critical Velocity
We're going back! Back to the days of the PS2 with this little played game from Namco's arcade studio that the company had largely attempted to bury. Critical Velocity was developed as a response to the impact that the launch of GTA3 had had on the videogaming industry. That games open world design had inspired many so Critical Velocity was born out of experimenting with creating an open world game, in this case the missions cover a range of driving objectives such as racing, chasing, taxi serving, deliveries etc and are book ended by Namco's CG sequences that advance the story. The game was also made to be incredibly long to ensure that it carried value for money. It drew some criticism for the police system who would pursue you if you sped too fast and the mission difficulty which became very hard quite quickly. However, the game is a curio as parts of its open world and the races you have come from the Ridge Racer series making the open world somewhat of an attempt to make the famous courses a unified city. Car brands and vehicles from the main games also sit alongside new additions. Namco only ever gave this a quiet Japanese release.




Did you ever experience the critical velocity?

[Atticus]

I remember having the Vita game and loads and loads of the dlc but it never felt more than a random hotchpotch of content just thrown together in the hope it would eventually make something decent ... and we all know it didn't. The game did have some pluses but it had no heart. I never bother with it on the Vita, I play the PSP game instead (I wish RR2 was available on PSN).

[wakka]

That's really intriguing and I know very little about that. Must give it a try at some point soon. I dimly remember the title but don't remember it being a GTA-a-like.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Game 14 - Critical Velocity
We're going back! Back to the days of the PS2 with this little played game from Namco's arcade studio that the company had largely attempted to bury. Critical Velocity was developed as a response to the impact that the launch of GTA3 had had on the videogaming industry. That games open world design had inspired many so Critical Velocity was born out of experimenting with creating an open world game, in this case the missions cover a range of driving objectives such as racing, chasing, taxi serving, deliveries etc and are book ended by Namco's CG sequences that advance the story. The game was also made to be incredibly long to ensure that it carried value for money. It drew some criticism for the police system who would pursue you if you sped too fast and the mission difficulty which became very hard quite quickly. However, the game is a curio as parts of its open world and the races you have come from the Ridge Racer series making the open world somewhat of an attempt to make the famous courses a unified city. Car brands and vehicles from the main games also sit alongside new additions. Namco only ever gave this a quiet Japanese release.




Did you ever experience the critical velocity?

Not a Ridge Racer game in any way, shape or form and so really shouldn't be in this thread.

[Neon Ignition]

It has more RR content in it than R:Racing Evolution though

[wakka]

Also, it's interesting to talk about. I'd be curious if anyone here has played it. Paging obscure PS2 game expert [MENTION=3985]chopemon[/MENTION] to thread.

[chopemon]

Also, it's interesting to talk about. I'd be curious if anyone here has played it. Paging obscure PS2 game expert @chopemon to thread.

This is the first time I've ever heard of this. it is going On The List. I love the idea of them trying to stitch the existing RR courses into some kind of open world. That sounds cool as hell.

[chopemon]

I love the box art.