Ridge Racer

Offering silky smooth visuals with some of the most frantic gameplay we’ve seen to date on the diminutive, yet highly capable, machine.

Serious racers and arcade fans alike are going to love this.

A fantastic achievement for a first gen PSP title, it is immensely playable and arguably the best Ridge Racer on any console or hand-held to date.

It's simplicity is it's beauty, and it's a testament to Namco's skill that they've managed to make basic arcade racing so fun and so damn addictive. It doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, the AI isn't great (indeed, in places it's seriously poor) and there is no real selling point - apart from the overriding fact that it's pure, unadulterated arcade fun. [JPN Import]

It exudes a sense of style that perfectly accentuates the game's over-the-top racing maxim. Still, players and fans who are hoping for something new or different are apt to be disappointed. Beneath the gorgeous exterior lies a game that, while fun, is a bit archaic.

Far and away the best racing game on the system, combining slick looks, beautiful sound, and content overload to create a title that every PSP owner should take a look at.

While for me not quite as addictive overall as another recent PSP racer, "Wipeout Pure," Ridge Racer is more than worth the money. If you are a fan of the series or if you just love arcade racing, you certainly cannot afford to pass this one up.

The PSP rendition of Ridge Racer is an excellent racer on the go, featuring high-speed drift racing through the streets of Ridge City and rural landscapes. It is jam-packed with an incredible soundtrack that can be listened to through the AV Player and plenty of content to keep players coming back for more. The driving controls feel great, reminiscent of previous titles in the series, but personally, the machines aren't as fast as I'd like them to be. The tracks can also be a mixed bag—some of them are smooth to race on, while others (looking at you Greenpeak Highlands) are practically hell on earth for lesser-experienced drivers. Aside from some hiccups here and there, Namco succeeded in delivering a well-made portable Ridge Racer game for Sony's once-only PlayStation handheld.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I never played a Ridge Racer game prior to playing this one, so I have no history to look back on in regards to the series, so my review won’t touch on any sort of comparisons. With that said, even 15 years later, the game still looks and plays fantastic! You could tell Namco went all-out for this title and, remembering this was a launch title for the PSP, it made quite the statement on what the little handheld could do. Visually, the game is stunning. Cars, lighting, backgrounds…they all look impressive and are very detailed. The game is also really fast with zero framerate issues which gives you a tremendous sensation of speed as you’re playing. The sound is good with a few exceptions (i.e. hitting the wall or another car) and the soundtrack is noteworthy (even though that style of music is not my thing). I realize Ridge Racer is an arcade racer, but where it falls short sometimes is the physics. For one, running into another car yields an unsatisfying knock sound and nothing resembling what would really happen…the other car doesn’t slide or spin out, nothing happens to your car other than slowing down, etc. I can live with the fact there’s no visible damage, but if I hit a car in the rear quarter panel, I’d expect it to slide out of the way. The other instance where the physics fails is in the drifting. If you do it right, it’s quite the sensation and is very satisfying. However, if you start to drift the wrong way (i.e. the turn is to the right but you misjudge it and start to turn/drift to the left), you will still drift in around the turn even though you’re facing the wrong way! That takes you out of the game for a moment. Otherwise, the controls are good and the game is a lot of fun…up to a point. As you progress, the game gets harder and harder until you reach a point where you feel like you have to run a perfect 3-lap race with absolutely zero mistakes to win. Keep in mind, you start every race in last place so you have to pass 11 other cars while also negotiating the track without ever slipping up. That standard of perfection becomes frustrating after a while and takes away from the enjoyment and the desire to keep playing. But Ridge Racer is still a phenomenal game and one that proved that console-level gaming could be had on the go!

An extremely slick and attractive arcade racer but the lack of traffic and damage and its rather over-simplified handling makes it slightly short on thrills. A good, solid racing game though.

Complete bullcrap. Literally zero handling ,car slips on the road like a Bugatti on an ice lake. I literally got 4 360° spins after braking while turning on a simple corner. And when not braking, the doesn't even turn slightly when you want it to.