Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer 6
Developed by Namco

While most modern racing games focus on real environments and real cars, Ridge Racer 6 takes the complete opposite approach. There are no real cars, no real tracks, and the physics make you feel like you're playing WipeOut. Still, the fundamental appeal of Ridge Racer is its ability to be a "pick up and go" type of game that brings in vibrant arcade visuals.

While PGR3 was about drifting and style, Ridge Racer's gameplay is about drifting and speed. The better your drift, the faster you can go! While this is unrealistic, Ridge Racer 6's physics allows a first-time game player to quickly pick up the drift mechanics. You can induce a drift any time you want by letting off the accelerator, turning hard into the corner and accelerating. Anyone can do ridiculous drifts but part of the fun is developing your skill to improve the drift angle the skill to keep a good race line while you drift. Once you’re good, you’ll be able to drift in-between and around your opponents during a turn. Playing online, you'll realize that while the game is easy to pick up, it's definitely possible to improve your skill with practice.

Ridge Racer 6 has fake cars

Fake tracks

Ugly cars

The tracks in Ridge Racer 6 are excellent. Like the "levels" of a fighting game, the tracks provide a lot of eye-candy. Importantly, because Namco was not constrained by the realities of how a city needs to look, the team was able to create tracks that are enjoyable and carry a lot of personality. The sense of vertical elevation in the game is among the best and help keep the game extremely enjoyable.

Although Ridge Racer 6 offers plenty of varied tracks, the single player campaign is very long. It can get repetitive, but my guess is that Namco felt this was necessary to avoid reviews in the magazines that complain about games being "too short." The point is that progressing through the game doesn't offer much more than playing online or a standard single-race.

Gorgeous tracks

This looks even better in motion

Arcade racing at its best

What makes Ridge Racer 6 fun is that it's a very social game. It's a game you can bring out where everyone is going to have fun, even if they finish in last place. It has the ability to be a game where novices can enjoy the thrill of the drift while experienced players can enjoy linking nitrous boosts together. It's easy to pick up and play and has a smooth increasing progression in difficulty. You get better at the game the more you play, but it's never frustrating. A simple survey of RR6 reviews from our colleagues at 1UP.com and Gamespot show that they've complained about graphics not looking "next-gen" enough, the lack of "user customization," and the repetitive announcer. These flaws of Ridge Racer 6 are exactly the features we talked about in the previous page: variety and graphics.