Though Ridge Racer 6 is objectively a step up from its handheld predecessors in terms of gameplay, its graphics and soundtrack leave quite a bit to be desired. Not to mention, the AI in this game feels annoying rather than challenging in a fun way. Aside from some hiccups, anyone looking for an arcade racer on the Xbox 360 won't be disappointed with this one.

Gorgeous graphics, great soundtrack, and with unbelievably tightclean racing controls, Ridge Racer 6 does nearly everything necessary to bring the series to the heights it needed to except having confidence in the series itself. The first mainline entry with drifting causing a boost to charge after RR PSP introduced the idea. I preferred the pure focus on the core driving in the earlier entries like type 4 and 5 but didn't mind letting a drift rip here and there in the more modern games until I got to the end of this one and understood that the rate at which the AI were getting their boosts refilled were almost certainly impossible. Dealing with it in the late game challenge races required optimizing not my ability to maneuver my car through the turns as quickly as possible but rather getting ideal drift charges (which feels arbitrary, inconsistent, and often divorced from any connection with what would have been the best way todo the corner sans drift charge). In addition to the unreliability of the charging mechanic, you need to know that drifts pulled right as/after a boost ends charge the boost at a ridiculous rate. The game became a test of learning where I could start boosts so that I'd end on turns, and figuring out where turns were that I could consistently hit for good charges. Ridge Racer is fun because its drift controls, first person view, and tight but simple racing gameplay creates a stylish and engaging racing game where the feeling of pulling the perfect line out of tight drift through a corner to squeak by your opponent cleanly was perfected to a level on the ps1 with RR Type 4 that is unmatched by any other franchise or developer. Idk if sales went down with RR 5, and they thought the average gamer wanted a boring passive boost charging mechanic to a game already about drifting because then they could hit a button and go faster every once in a while. Maybe they really thought this was the best way to evolve the series (I hope not), but the decision to balance the difficulty of late game challenges around at least somewhat optimized use of boost charging mechanics which is a mechanic I preferred to largely ignore except to activate my boost whenever it happened to come. The challenge races unlocked after reaching the end of the standard tree and some of the last few normal races suddenly made me have to move away from what I actually liked and focus on optimal boost charging while still racing competently. Nothing about optimally charging boost is even remotely enjoyable. Drifting is satisfying enough that doing it well enough is plenty a reward, and boost charge earned has very little to do directly with what's actually fun and nuanced about the drift mechanic (the actual control over movement during turns the mechanic allows, NOT the boost meter filling up super quick because I started my boost at a specific place on the map I've learned set me up well post boost to Ultimate Charge). I haven't played much of 7 but maybe it handles it better. Ridge Racer Vita kind of does once you unlock all the potential modifiers there's some methods of making boost way more interesting and improvisational, but RR vita has many many much larger issues. However, realizing that the developers had chosen to force proper boost charging to be the focus of what skill is tested rather than actually driving the courses as well as possible. Passing is now, more often than not, done in a single quick burst of speed since out boosting the AIs is how I was being forced to play it. Once I realized that they had spent the series last few entries potentially ever ingraining and iterating on a mechanic which has no business anywhere near the series, and that the design of the games (type 4 and 5) I had really fallen in love with were abandoned in favor of more homogenized car handling and the beautiful simplicity of RR drifting marred by the imaginary complexity of optimizing drift charge I became depressed and haven't touch 6 since. Instead of using the simple to learn but hard to fully master mechanic the series was built on to focus on shaving as much time off the corners and otherwise implausible precise maneuvering, RR 6 ends up being a game about holding your self back from boosting liberally and knowing if your speed is going to be enough to get a sizable charge off a drift. In becoming this it loses the appeal it had for me while adding boosting attracted approximately 12 new fans of Ridge Racer. All 12 have since tragically passed due to advanced lead poisoning from 11 unique cases. This game also puts the first nail in the coffin of the now long forgotten once titan of a series. I can't help but feel a focus on core gameplay wouldn't have lost much in sales from not having boost, and it would've been more likely to leave an impression if it was a well designed game. Tldr I really really really hate charging boost. One of the worst designed mechanics in any game. (not proof reading, apologies for typos)

This one is the best in my opinion. Even better than RR7. What's shine ? Well i'm on Series S and texture filtering in this game is like Anisotropic Filtering 16x where RR7 on PS3 got 2x maybe. Loadings in RR6 on Series S are about 2 seconds where my PS3 RR7 version running from SSD takes like 6 or 7 seconds to get to race. But the the most important thing is joypad, its far better to play RR on Series S controller than DS3 in my opinion at least. Get this one it is shining !