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> Results: Ridge Racer
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by Cary Woodham
April 27, 2005
Ridge Racer debuts on the Dual Screen and . . . how does it fare?
Reviewed for DS.
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Scroll down for our Kid Factor.
In the early 1990's, 3-D games in the arcades were just starting to enter the scene, which was then filled by numerous 2-D fighting games. It was getting increasingly harder to find the classic games that I really enjoyed playing (like Pac-Man). But even worse, it was also getting harder to find arcade games that my dad would like to play, if it so happened that he would tag along to the Dave & Busters arcade with us. Luckily, my favorite video game company pulled through for my dad with two new 3-D games that he would love. Air Combat and Ridge Racer. Ridge Racer in particular would become so memorable for my dad that years later when I was playing Ridge Racer 64, he just walked in and recognized the game as Ridge Racer just by looking at the track! Of course, Ridge Racer was a hit with lots of other gamers besides my dad, and the series really hit its stride on home versions on the PSOne. Now, Ridge Racer is zooming onto the Nintendo DS.
As much as Namco and Nintendo may try to deny it, Ridge Racer DS is essentially just a port of Ridge Racer 64 on the N64. It's the same game: you have three tracks from other games in the series that you race on as you try to overtake the other cars and get in first place. You can unlock different cars by challenging them to one-on-one races. And that's all there is to it. It's about as arcade-y as you can getﾗmuch less complex than many of today's popular racers like Gran Tourismo and Need for Speed Underground. But it's the simplicity that makes the Ridge Racer games so much fun, powersliding around corners, crashing into walls while your Mappy car stays showroom cleanﾗit's great!
Ridge Racer DS utilizes the dual screens of the DS by displaying the 3-D racing action on the top screen and all the racing stats on the bottom touch screen. Dominating the bottom screen is a steering wheel that you can use to drive the car with the stylus pen or thumbstrap. Unfortunately, driving with the touch screen is next to impossible, and using the D-pad to steer is way too sensitive. I found myself crashing into walls a lot. I'm not the best Ridge Racer player in the world, but I did unlock everything in RRV on PS2 so I'm not TOO bad. It's the poor play control that really pulls down the DS version. Plus, the information displayed on the touch screen is not very useful. The map shows your location, but none of the other racers'.
Graphics are OK but they pale in comparison to the upcoming PSP Ridge Racer game (which is about the only good thing I can say about the PSP as of this writing). Also, the track selection is fairly limited on the DS. Namco insists on still using the main track from the arcade. You know, the one with the tunnels, mountains, beachside roadsﾅand don't forget the bridge over the waterfall. I hate to say this, seeing as though the Ridge Racer games are my favorite racing titles ever, but Ridge Racer DS is rather disappointing. I think it's time the series evolved. Keep the simplistic arcade style driving, just give us more tracks and carsﾅor something.
Normally when parents want to get a racing game for their kids that doesn't involve Mario or go-karts, I always recommend Ridge Racer. The simple controls are easily accessible, and the whole package is clean as a whistle. No violence, no cursing, etc. The only slightly questionable content in the DS version is the buxom race queen from R: Racing Evolution that they slapped on the box and title screen (whatever happened to good ol' Reiko?) Sadly, the poor controls on the DS touch screen and D-pad would frustrate kids and adult gamers, so this is one Ridge Racer game that should've stayed in the garage a bit longer.
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> Results: Ridge Racer
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