ridge racer 64 Preview

Ridge Racer 64

Ah, the perennial Ridge Racer update. Itâs good to know some things never change. What number are we up to⦠But wait! Whatâs this! This isnât on a CD! This isnât even on the PlayStation! Whatâs going onâ¦this is Ridge Racer on the N64! And while original creators Namco arenât at the wheel, RR64 is doubtless very welcome to park its wheels in the N64 garage (and donât doubt for a moment there are more car references to come).

Ridge Racer, as we all know, started life as one of the arcade games that brought arcades back from the brink of death. Made by Namco, they of Pacman, Ms Pacman and Pacman world fame, it included little more than a single track and a few cars, but somehow managed to be a hit in the arcades, and helped the PlayStation rise to fame when it was released as one of the first titles on the machine. And, as inevitably as night follows day, the sequel, Ridge Racer Revolution, appeared. And then the threquel, the slightly-different Rage Racer, and most recently, Ridge Racer Type 4, which sent people, once again, wild with hype.

And here it is on Nintendoâs box oâ magic. Though Namco are not making it, they have given Nintendo permission to set their own team to work. The game is under construction at NOAâs (Nintendo of America) new games studios, NTS, and they have something of a baptism of fire in RR64. Though, presumably, Nintendo have whispered in their ear all the dirty tricks of the trade to keep them ahead of the pack.

RR 64 is a combined, expanded version of Ridge Racer and the first sequel, Revolution, taking all the tracks included in these and sticking in another three just for good measure. Gone are the pixelated looks of the PS originals, and in breeze some of the smoothest visuals youâll have seen in a long time. Even though the game includes the tracks from RR and Revolution, the visuals have undergone a major overhaul. Fogging and pixelation are not an issue, and gone are those blasted 2D trees. Rest assured, the trees in RR64 will not spin around to face you. And all this without the use of an expansion pak. Clearly, NTS have a promising future ahead of them.

Naturally, the replay mode, as pioneered by Gran Turismo, is de rigeur, making the most of the graphics on the 20 cars that are yours to control and smash into people (if only). At the start of the game, there are only 4 to control (including, for the first time in a game, the Lada!), and you must Grand Prix mode to unlock the one-on-one race mode that you use to gain the extra cars.

Ridge Racer 64 still bears a striking similarity to its predecessors, which is, depending on which way you look at it, both good and bad. Good: RR64 maintains the tight control system for which the original was famous. Bad: RR64 also maintains the ludicrous canât-touch-the-course-edges of the originals. Good: lots of new additions and 3 new tracks. Bad: the rest of the tracks are based on a 4-year-old game. But without a doubt the greatest improvement is the 4-player mode, which is now possible for the first time in a Ridge Racer game. With only a slight drop in visual standards, the game maintains the 30fps of the 1-player game, which is quite a feat â“ even World Driver Championship couldnât manage that.

Ridge Racer 64 is very similar to the PlayStation originals, and itâs a shame that NTS havenât taken the time to innovate more. And while it would have been guaranteed a huge audience a year ago, the N64 is no longer stuck for great racers â“ weâve now got FIWGP, V-Rally and World Driver. However, for those that love the RR games, this is the most faithful port you can find. It looks fantastic, itâs got a 4-player mode, a good number of tracks and cars, and plenty of additions. If youâve never played a Ridge Racer game before, we recommend you test drive it next February (I told you those car references would be back).

Noel Brady