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RIDGE RACER 6 (X360)
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Publisher: Namco.
Developer: Namco. Released: January 2006. Genre: Racing. Posted 24th January 2024. By Tom Clare © 2024 |
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By the advent of gaming’s seventh generation, Ridge Racer’s most influential days were behind it. Just five years prior, Namco’s arcade Kingpin sat at the summit of its class, just as a legion of self-proclaimed driving simulations were being unleashed. Suddenly, the golden beaches and winding tunnels that helped the series make its name, began retreating into the metaphorical rearview mirror. Nevertheless, Ridge Racer 6’s Xbox 360 exclusivity marked a statement of the intent, and an early coup for Microsoft’s system as it aimed to garner stronger support in Japan. Namco wasn’t for reinventing the wheel at this point, but RR6 delivered what the series had always been known for: sparkling visuals, solid gameplay and accessible racing. In other words, a good title to show off new hardware.
There are more than 200 3-lap single races to wade through in World Xplorer, which niftily allows the player to navigate branching routes of different difficulties and speed classes. Whilst its predecessor, Ridge Racer V, was let down by a paucity of content, RR6 goes a little too far the other way. This sounds like a strange criticism: too much content. The problems arise from the way it is disseminated.
Ridge Racer 6 looks super-sharp, but it loses some of it's predecessors' sense of identity
Fifteen distinct tracks (five primary locations, each with three variants) represent a considerable boost in racing possibilities. Of its predecessors, only Ridge Racer Type 4 managed to offer even half this number. All of these, however, end up repeating a considerable number of times and without any great sense of purpose or fanfare. A small number of games have pulled off the single-races-only approach. Perhaps most notably, Wip3out had players tackling its eight tracks with each of its eight crafts, the 64 combinations repeated across four speed classes. Psygnosis’s classic offered world-beating tracks and stunning gameplay, whilst its excellent, varied vehicles challenged players’ piloting skills and adaptability. Could Ridge Racer 6 be capable of emulating a similar standard?
That would be asking a lot. Still, RR6’s circuits are mostly pretty good. Admittedly, there’s nothing as striking or ambitious as those that populated the original PlayStation quartet, but there are still plenty of highlights, with tracks offering a decent mix of speed, length and technical elements. Downtown Rave City, which featured in the excellent PSP Ridge Racer, returns alongside two extended routes, including Rave City Riverfront, the series’ only console outing (at the time) to feature a shortcut. These Rave Racer-inspired courses are superb, beating with the heart of an old-school arcade racer with all the over-the-top jumps, cascading tunnels and glitzy light displays we’ve come to love from the series.
That would be asking a lot. Still, RR6’s circuits are mostly pretty good. Admittedly, there’s nothing as striking or ambitious as those that populated the original PlayStation quartet, but there are still plenty of highlights, with tracks offering a decent mix of speed, length and technical elements. Downtown Rave City, which featured in the excellent PSP Ridge Racer, returns alongside two extended routes, including Rave City Riverfront, the series’ only console outing (at the time) to feature a shortcut. These Rave Racer-inspired courses are superb, beating with the heart of an old-school arcade racer with all the over-the-top jumps, cascading tunnels and glitzy light displays we’ve come to love from the series.
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The Airport courses are fun as well, offering an unusually expansive feel to their environments, whilst delivering lots of drifting opportunities and close racing. Aviator Loop is the shortest track ever to have appeared in the series and is memorable for a giant model dinosaur overlooking the first corner. Highland Cliffs features a stomach-churning jump that occurs mid-drift between consecutive left-handers, but the various resort area courses and those that lead into the mountains make for more muted, less exciting fare. The cars handle responsively, with the main point of divergence coming from their drift characteristics. ‘Mild’ cars are the easiest to control as they’re the least leery, whilst ‘Dynamic’ cars are extremely twitchy at the rear and ‘Standard’ (predictably enough) sits somewhere in between. Ridge Racer is all about drifting, and to help motivate players to drive trickier cars, big powerslides result in the recharging of the nitrous bar. More drifts, more power boosts.
Admittedly, it’s a bit galling seeing opponents repeatedly boosting as you close in on the lead when it’s clear they aren’t building the bars through established methods, but the idea does add an interesting element to proceedings. Admittedly, the racing feels a little simplistic and dated next to the likes of Project Gotham Racing 3, perhaps because it’s mechanically very similar to its predecessors. One element that has been improved dramatically is the collisions. Cars no longer lose enormous amounts of speed to a small prang, and whilst they’re nothing massively sophisticated, the crashes represent a big step forward.
Admittedly, it’s a bit galling seeing opponents repeatedly boosting as you close in on the lead when it’s clear they aren’t building the bars through established methods, but the idea does add an interesting element to proceedings. Admittedly, the racing feels a little simplistic and dated next to the likes of Project Gotham Racing 3, perhaps because it’s mechanically very similar to its predecessors. One element that has been improved dramatically is the collisions. Cars no longer lose enormous amounts of speed to a small prang, and whilst they’re nothing massively sophisticated, the crashes represent a big step forward.
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There’s no question, Ridge Racer 6 looks excellent and runs at a superb, speedy frame rate. It’s the smoothest, most rapid-feeling gameplay experience the series has ever enjoyed. As for its visual style, it’s likely to see fans divided. In showing off the Xbox 360’s hardware capabilities, everything looks sharp, detailed and slick to a fault. However, it doesn’t have much personality, appearing to lack the clear visual identity the best of its predecessors managed to embody. It eschews the brilliant bright skies and golden beaches of the original game, the borderline grunge-grit of Rage Racer, and the soft-hue sophistication of Ridge Racer Type 4. RR6 is extremely pretty, but it’s also the least distinctive entry in the series, with tidy but uninteresting menus and circuits that, in terms of colour palette and style, trend further towards the muted, realistic fare popular at the time.
The music is very on-brand: quietly elegant, not especially memorable. The announcer, however, quickly starts to grate. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a bit of energy and enthusiasm when channelled correctly. However, the guy calling the races borderline screeches when you make a drift. Which means you’ll be hearing a lot of screeching. Also, I can’t accept the phrase “that’s as cool as icing!”. Icing isn’t cool, it’s used to decorate cakes. I’m guessing he meant “ice” and I’ve no idea how these two things could ever have been confused. All is not lost, however, as completing the Basic Route in the World Xplorer sees you rewarded with the option to have legendary Tekken pugilist Heihachi call your races. Admittedly, he does so in Japanese, but his demonic barks somehow serve as a decent motivator, regardless of the player’s capacity to understand him.
The music is very on-brand: quietly elegant, not especially memorable. The announcer, however, quickly starts to grate. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a bit of energy and enthusiasm when channelled correctly. However, the guy calling the races borderline screeches when you make a drift. Which means you’ll be hearing a lot of screeching. Also, I can’t accept the phrase “that’s as cool as icing!”. Icing isn’t cool, it’s used to decorate cakes. I’m guessing he meant “ice” and I’ve no idea how these two things could ever have been confused. All is not lost, however, as completing the Basic Route in the World Xplorer sees you rewarded with the option to have legendary Tekken pugilist Heihachi call your races. Admittedly, he does so in Japanese, but his demonic barks somehow serve as a decent motivator, regardless of the player’s capacity to understand him.
The Rave Racer-inspired night races feel closest to the arcade heart of the series
Impressively, Ridge Racer 6 caters for both split-screen multiplayer and online play. Its failure to track results unless the player backs out of the lobby is a hindrance if you’re chasing achievements, and I lost two dozen victories due to a power cut. Nevertheless, racing against others is smashing fun. Elsewhere, despite a disappointing lack of championship options, the single-player experience is well catered for, with otherwise-standard time trials elevated thanks to online leaderboards, whilst players can challenge themselves to beat single races on all the courses without crashing, or utilising boosts. The achievement linked to this will take weeks to unlock, and it’s questionable whether such an excessively lengthy endeavour is worthwhile, especially given the AI’s propensity to ram the player from behind or swerve randomly across the road.
Not the series’ finest hour, then, but a stronger advocate for its burgeoning hardware than Ridge Racer V had been, around five years earlier. Fans of the series will find little here they haven’t seen before, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had from the drift-heavy gameplay. A rapid frame rate and strong visuals mean that, in tandem with a healthy selection of decent cars and courses, this next-generation sequel is worth playing.
Not the series’ finest hour, then, but a stronger advocate for its burgeoning hardware than Ridge Racer V had been, around five years earlier. Fans of the series will find little here they haven’t seen before, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had from the drift-heavy gameplay. A rapid frame rate and strong visuals mean that, in tandem with a healthy selection of decent cars and courses, this next-generation sequel is worth playing.
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VERDICT
"...sparkling visuals, solid gameplay and accessible racing. In other words, a good title to show off new hardware. Namco's racer isn't the most sophisticated, but it remains plenty of fun." OVERALL: 7/10 |
OTHER ARCADE RACING GAMES REVIEWED
Ray Tracers (1997, PlayStation)
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Ridge Racer Type 4 (1999, PlayStation)
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