Ridge Racer
Thirty years ago on this day, Ridge Racer was released in Japanese arcades, which helped usher in a new arcade era throughout the nineties. While I’ve covered other games in the series on 1UP, it was this title that started it all. In 1995, it became integral to Sony not only as a launch title but also for its exclusivity.
At the time, Sega was known for Daytona USA as the gold standard, released around the same time as Ridge Racer. Few dared to go against Sega AM2’s legacy but Namco had a vision. Rather than drive cars in a closed circuit, Ridge Racer featured exotic race cars on city highways and coastlines. Much as the name implies, Ridge Racer’s defining characteristic was the notorious Ridge that players happened to Race on.
There are four tracks to choose from in the original arcade release, with four bonus tracks added in the PlayStation version, for a total of eight altogether. While this is a large number for a 3D racing game released in 1993, six of the tracks are duplicates. The Novice course has been a staple in the Ridge Racer series, going by various names beginning with Sunny Beach in Ridge Racer 5 and simply “Short” in other titles. Seaside Route 765 would be the official name beginning with Ridge Racers. Regardless of the name, the iconic 8-turn highway course has been in almost every Ridge Racer game to date, appearing as a “bonus course” in the most recent titles.
Players begin the Novice course on a long stretch of road leading into a tunnel as well as the course’s first corner. Immediately following this is an s-corner that serves as the game’s first introduction to its handling mechanics. Unique to the first arcade Ridge Racer titles, the drifting mechanics are very linear. Drifting is done one of two ways. The first is to depress the accelerator, turn, and gently feather the accelerator until the grip returns to the tires. The second way is the same except the brake pedal is used for sharper corners.
Unlike future titles in the Ridge Racer series, the cars move rigidly. The iconic “magnetized” turning that locks a car’s angle in place during a drift was rough around the edges initially. Counter steering usually meant colliding with the inner wall if players weren’t careful. Drift too hard at an angle and the car will spin out. Drift for too long and the car will grind to almost a complete halt as grip returns to the tires. Each car behaves differently with varying attributes of handling and cornering so finding that sweet spot is a challenge for those used to the later games in the series.
Following the s-curve into the beach area lies a sweeping right-hander and a chicane that leads into the game’s most infamous corner—the lighthouse. This very sharp ninety-degree corner comes at the player fast, forcing them to drift into the corner as they enter and not during the turn. As the walls narrow, hitting this corner at the apex will mean the difference between winning and losing. Lastly, the player will enter another tunnel as they exit via a long hairpin back to the starting line.
The Novice and Advanced courses are the exact same, with more cars, a bonus lap, and a day and night cycle added for more ambiance. At night, the lights of the hotel by the beach are illuminated with a Pac-Man sign. Later games do away with this day-and-night cycle beginning with Ridge Racer Type 4. Ridge Racer’s Expert course, much like Novice, has had its fair share of names including the “Long” course, Green Field in Ridge Racer 5, and Ridge City Highway in Ridge Racers.
Following the second tunnel, the player continues along an extended highway route with many quick corners that skilled drivers can go at nearly top speed if they manage to find the right line. The course eventually loops back in itself back to the starting line. There is also a variant called Time Trial which pits the player against a single opponent…at first.
In the console version, getting first place in all four courses will unlock the race against the Black Car, who sits on the side menacingly waiting for the player to strike. Beating this hidden driver will unlock the 13th Racing car, which is statistically both the best and the most difficult car to drive in the game.
Ridge Racer’s success kicked off a twenty-year stint with many sequels released on various consoles and handhelds. For the release of Ridge Racer Type 4, a special Ridge Racer demo titled “Ridge Racer Turbo” was bundled with the game. It also included demos for other Namco games at the time, including Klonoa and Tekken 3.
While the demo is a stripped-down version of the main game, the Turbo version is a “proof-of-concept” demo, running the game at a stable 60 frames per second at the expense of fewer assets being used. The game’s draw distance and the number of available cars on the road were reduced but it is the smoothest way to play Ridge Racer at home without going to the arcade itself. Lately, Arcade1UP has released the arcade version of Ridge Racer as a consumer product, although it remains uncertain if Bandai Namco will ever give us a proper “arcade perfect” version of any of the Ridge Racer titles.
Regardless, I owe a lot to the series for revitalizing my interest in arcade racing titles, especially during 2020 when things were under lockdown. It has always been a childhood favorite of mine since Ridge Racer Type 4 and I don’t have any doubt that I will be playing these games for years to come. The original may not have aged well, but it still remains a fun way to experience the pinnacle of racing games during the early nineties.