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 Ridge
Racer (PS Vita)
Namco’s Ridge Racer has once again taken its traditional place on the
starting line of a console launch alongside Sony’s PS Vita hardware, This
edition emphasizes online gameplay with its extensive downloadable content,
web-based racing modes and sharing abilities. These features are intuitive,
adding more challenging competition to the game. Once you get on the road,
it plays very similarly to previous titles, even featuring tracks and cars
seen in previous games. Its predictable, but satisfying with excellent
production values and visuals. These features create a fairly impressive
showcase on the handheld with its traditional gameplay mechanics delivering
the solid racing action players have come to expect along with some
interesting new features. |
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Namco’s Ridge Racer has
once again taken its traditional place on the starting line of a console
launch alongside Sony’s PS Vita hardware, This edition emphasizes online
gameplay with its extensive downloadable content, web-based racing modes and
sharing abilities. These features are intuitive, adding more challenging
competition to the game. Once you get on the road, it plays very similarly
to previous titles, even featuring tracks and cars seen in previous games.
Its predictable, but satisfying with excellent production values and
visuals. These features create a fairly impressive showcase on the handheld
with its traditional gameplay mechanics delivering the solid racing action
players have come to expect along with some interesting new features.
The
traditional arcade racing Ridge Racer provides has proven a reliable staple
of gaming over the years and this latest installment doesn’t diverge too far
from the familiar. You have the usual selection of high-powered sports
racing cars, a good selection of classic courses and a number of familiar
music tracks to accompany the action. As usual, the emphasis is on speed and
drifting, where the strategy is to maximize your acceleration as you race
against the clock. Other racers are competing as well and you need to find
an advantage. This comes in two forms, the first is mastering the drifting
technique, where you drop off the gas pedal, slide around corners and
accelerate into the stretch. Doing this builds up your vehicle’s nitrous
cans, which can be unleashed to give you a quick burst of speed. Ridge Racer
on the Vita offers a number of gameplay modes, which include standard races,
time attack modes with either lap or full races offered and several
extensive online modes. You begin with a fairly standard set of vehicles,
which are gradually upgraded in terms of speed as you compete and win races.
Players also earn credits that they can use to purchase upgrade kits, such
as enhanced nitrous and other enhancements that can be used to increase the
vehicle’s grip around corners or fill their nitrous quicker. The game’s
single player modes are fairly challenging, but the computer AI can become
predictable. Once you begin to earn enough upgrades, the game becomes much
easier as your more powerful vehicles blow right past the competition early
in the race. It makes the single player mode fun, but not as difficult as it
could be.
In
order to have real competition in Ridge Racer, your best route is to compete
with other players online in the Planetary League. This worldwide racing
mode is the primary online component in Ridge Racer. This mode allows you to
compete against other players either locally using the Vita’s Near function,
or online in ad-hoc mode. When you start the game, you’re given a team to
join, there are four in all. Each player is then assigned an online card
with their stats, game level, experience points and other information that
can be called up. When you log in each day, a new competition is unlocked,
and you can gain points for your team when you beat these objectives. These
can include racing against other team members or joining forces with members
of other teams to defeat a rival. Winning individual races also adds to your
score, and these can include a variety of modes including standard races,
time attack and lap based races. Additional online content includes replays
of fast races, interviews with top drivers and updates on tournaments.
Setting up lobbies and competitions is a fairly simple and straightforward
task that lets you decide the rules, who you’ll invite and other variables.
Once you’ve logged in to the race and begin driving, the competitions
generally unfold with little lag, making them equal the intensity of solo
races. Overall, the online mode is definitely one worth pursuing and is one
of Ridge Racer’s high points. It uses the Vita’s functionality perfectly,
with a transparent interface that’s easy to navigate and a number of online
modes which extend the title’s replay value significantly.
One of the more controversial elements of Ridge Racer is its online
downloadable content (DLC) which has annoyed players. The game ships naked
with only three playable cars and five tracks, which seems really empty,
despite its lower than average price tag. This is kind of a strange
decision, but Namco-Bandai has alleviated this somewhat with an online pass
that allows you to download a bunch of extra content, including additional
courses, tracks and tons of extra music for free. So far, the online DLC has
nearly doubled the content that comes on the game card and while it might be
annoying, its something players will probably have to accept. Its not the
most convenient form of adding content, and unlocking by playing is a
preferable solution, but since most of the content available is essentially
free so far, the complaints should be minimized. On the subject of the game,
it hasn’t been affected by this system. Downloading and installing is a
fairly automated process that doesn’t take too long, so it’s a fairly
painless way to ease players into what is likely to be an online, digital
download future.
Ridge Racer has always been a benchmark when it comes to showcasing new
hardware and as a good comparison, we played through the last Ridge Racer on
the PSP to make some comparisons. The original game looks a little palid
compared to the new one, with the
Vista
showcasing vastly improved levels of detail in its textures, giving the game
play a far more realistic look on Vita than the PSP. From a special effects
standpoint, light-sourcing is much more prominently used on the Vita game
and it gives the courses a very good shine. Most importantly, the frame rate
is significantly higher this time around and the increased sense of speed
between the platforms is immediately noticeable. You can’t make to many
judgments as to whether the game fully uses the Vita’s powers, since most of
its content is derived from earlier games, but its definitely an impressive
effort and makes the game a solid showpiece for the new handheld.
Another key element of the game that needs to be explained are its controls.
You can use a fairly traditional interface with the analog stick and button
combinations or use some of the PS Vita’s touch features. Pressing on the
screen quickly gives you a rear view look on the action, while the back
touch can be used to either upshift or downshift when you have manual
transmission active. Players can also choose to bypass these controls
entirely as well, and use the classic Ridge Racer controls with the d-pad
and face buttons, which should come as a relief to those looking for a more
traditional interface. The main menus are also fully touch enabled, allowing
you to change options and unlock modes with the swipe of a finger, giving at
least these elements of the game a modern feel. Overall, Ridge Racer’s
presentation is very good, but these evolutionary uses of touch screen
controls feel more like nods to current technology.
Ridge Racer on the Vita doesn’t reinvent the genre it pioneered, but it’s
still a solid game that delivers the arcade-style action players have come
to expect from the series. It has some impressive visuals and its
presentation is fairly slick. The lack of levels and cars at the outset is
compensated by a fairly robust set of online content that’s currently free
to download. While this fact is annoying, those who enjoy this type of game
will be pleased to know that its gameplay and mechanics remain solid and
entertaining. Ridge Racer’s online modes add some replay value to the game,
along with upgrade paths for its vehicle lineup. While it won’t win many
awards for originality or innovation, the classic Ridge Racer’s
straightforward racing and mechanics remain appealing after all these years.
Despite a somewhat constrained selection of courses and vehicles, it’s still
fun to play. In the end, the gameplay counts most and this is an
entertaining and occasionally invigorating game that shows off the new
hardware effectively.
– Michael Palisano |
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