20 Years of PlayStation - RIDGE RACER interview on Eurogamer

[mariusrhpsd]

Some quotes (taken from GAF)

"Considering the fact that this was our first development for PlayStation and the development period was only six months, we could not take a risk and decided to have a locked 30fps," Sakagami says - but the full 60fps experience was never far from the thoughts of the Ridge Racer team.

"Ridge Racer with 60fps was included into R4-Ridge Racer Type 4, as Ridge Racer Hi-Spec version. It was actually what we wanted to do for first Ridge Racer on PlayStation 1 and I was very happy that we could do it with the R4 release."

Ridge Racer may not have been 'arcade perfect' - to use the parlance of the time - but it was a hugely significant release. As developers struggled with the transition from sprites to texture maps, Namco leveraged its existing experience with arcade 3D technology to create the most polished, technically adept polygon-driven console game of the time. It followed in the wake of a Sega Saturn conversion of Virtua Fighter that felt a little rough around the edges. Four months later, the Saturn version of Daytona USA would impress with its raw playability, but visually the game still couldn't meet the polish, quality and sheer performance of Ridge Racer. It took some time for the competition to catch up, but by the time Sega Rally appeared, PlayStation's dominance of the home console market was starting to take hold. Indeed, the level of its success would have dramatic consequences for the arcade market too.

Now, it feels as though the series lies dormant. Both the Vita version and its 3DS stablemate lacked the magic and both saw a downgrade to 30fps, while the latest Ridge games have been mobile games - a logical progression in some ways, but not quite the final fate we envisaged for a revered franchise. Some might say that the series had run its course on the home consoles, but in our view there's always a place for a new Ridge Racer with the arrival of next-gen hardware.

Our interview sadly lacks a response to the question of whether the series will return to home console hardware, but there'll always be a place in our heart - and indeed our software collection - for a new Ridge Racer.

I'd like to forget about rr vita/3ds, and think about rr7 as the swan song of the series (god forbid if someone brings up driftopia or unbounded)

Source

[Tarma]

I spent hours mastering Ridge Racer on the PSX back in the day... haven't played it for years now, but I still have my original copy knocking about somewhere.

Ridge Racer Hi-Spec does look good, but it's not the full game, more of a demo included in the R4 pack. I'm surprised Namco never did a DLC for Ridge Racer... Sega did for Daytona USA, and very nice it is too.

Anyhoo, will never forget the site of seeing Ridge Racer Full Scale at the Trocadero in London back in 1994.

[mariusrhpsd]

rr5&7 are pretty good, and rr2(psp) is on par with the home consoles versions, rr2 on the vita looks GORGEOUS

[Strider77]

It felt wrong when I picked up my PS4 on launch day and had no Ridge Racer to go with it. I still am batching about that to friends a year later.

[gameoverDude]

We still could use a Ridge Racer 8 for PS4/XB1, done by Namco (just keep Bugbear and Cellius away from it). The Vita version was mildly disappointing due to the lower frame rate of 30- still smooth, but not on par with the PSP versions. Namco should have said "60 FPS or GTFO". Still, this isn't as bad as the botched Sega Rally 2 for Dreamcast where the framerate was wiping out all over the place. OTOH busting a RR game down to 30 FPS wouldn't be tolerable on a current gen console. Not wanting to take the $29.99 hit, I waited for RR Vita to go down in price.

[Pretas]

Still, this isn't as bad as the botched Sega Rally 2 for Dreamcast where the framerate was wiping out all over the place.

Wasn't this only in the JPN version?

[Carmen]

I got into Ridge Racer way late, well into the end of the PS2 lifespan when I picked up a copy of R4 on a whim. I was very impressed, and quickly went back and got Rage Racer as well, very, very well made games! I'm really looking forward to getting the first two as well... something about these games I find really charming. However RRV didn't seem nearly as good, and any thing afterwards just doesn't seem appealing with the whole nitro system and all...

[gameoverDude]

Still, this isn't as bad as the botched Sega Rally 2 for Dreamcast where the framerate was wiping out all over the place.

Wasn't this only in the JPN version?

The JPN version is the one I have. Not sure about the USA one.

[Skykid]

"drifting effectively in the original PlayStation release is brutally hard"

Really?

[Carmen]

I remember seeing a vid of someone time trialing the hard course (in first person mode no less)... seemed pretty hard

[Skykid]

I remember seeing a vid of someone time trialing the hard course (in first person mode no less)... seemed pretty hard

I got my PS1 way back when with a pack in trio of Tekken, Jumping Flash and Ridge Racer from Currys. I absolutely butchered Ridge to the point where directing drifts into corners was symbiotically assigned to the DNA in my thumbs. I wouldn't say it was ever a brutally hard mechanic to master - you just had to learn the nuance of the courses and how and when to apply the drift and for how long.

[Ji-L87]

"drifting effectively in the original PlayStation release is brutally hard"

Really?

Well, I think the original Ridge Racer games are harder to control than the more modern games. I played a great deal of RR 1 & Revolution a month or so back, and while I was making progress, I always felt that drifting was a bit "wooden" and lacked control somehow, as I often did things I never meant to do (like suddenly gaining grip sideways and hitting a wall). It sort of felt like drifting was like hitting a switch, like there was no gradual loss of traction - and that switch would occasionally flip back when you least wanted it.

RR 6 & 7, for example, are way more forgiving - not saying they're more fun though.
Nothing beats the first games in terms of color vibrancy and sweet simplicity.

[Carmen]

I wouldn't say it was ever a brutally hard mechanic to master - you just had to learn the nuance of the courses and how and when to apply the drift and for how long.

You mean nuance of the course (singular) right?

I really do regret missing out on the PS1 by getting an N64... Jumping Flash is another game I only recently discovered. Also very fun!

[KAI]

The drifting mechanics of the first Ridge Racers are not that hard, the problem is that you need to play using the inner view to drift properly, that's why RRR completelly brakes the game with it's rear view.

[NeoStrayCat]

Ahh, Ridge Racer, nostalgic stuff, lol. Though silly why there hasn't been an 8th game or continuation of the series (Unbounded doesn't count IMO), as a launch title (as what usually sometimes RR games do), but oh well, its legacy will live on.

[D]

I still have arguments about 60fps vs 30fps with people. Few people really 'get it'.
30fps SUCKS. 30fps is cute for an ancient console.
With 60fps my eyes and mind can really relax, concentrate and enjoy the game and
With 30fps it's like somebody is mind-f*cking me.
</end of rant>
The hi-spec demo is really cool and impressive. I think I played RR4 the most though, but that game has really not held it's charm at all. Probably due to it trying to be pretty which it was at the time, but not anymore.
news flash for all you RR4 fans. It can be played in widescreen on a real console. There's a simple patch to force it to display in 16:9. No more black borders on the side, yet a correct aspect ratio.
http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PSOne-Wi ... #pid387555
It works!
By the way, there is also a patch for Ridge Racer V for the ps2 to run in widescreen.
I'm still baffled by how few people even care about wide screen upgrades. You litteraly see more of the surroundings of your favorite game plus your screen is filled up!
Of all the RR's I ever played I'd rate them like this:
RR hi spec>RR4>RR5>RageR>Ridge Racer Revolution>RR7>RR>RR64

[soprano1]

pcsx2 plays psone games? Didn't know that. Those look really great.

[null1024]

The Ridge Racer series is nice. Namco really does need to get back on track with it though.
What we need is something like RR2PSP for the PS4. But then again, the Ridge Racer brand is tainted as being too arcade. People only seem to want to play GRAND TURISMO and only have REAL handling.

Really, if Namco made a futuristic racer that played exactly like a RR game, it'd sell better since it'd get people to accept the handling and playstyle more. Otherwise, it's just a racing game with normal cars that control all wrong to most people.

The drifting mechanics of the first Ridge Racers are not that hard, the problem is that you need to play using the inner view to drift properly, that's why RRR completelly brakes the game with it's rear view.

Yeah, even having the option in RRR is a bit silly. You truly cannot get a feel for drifting with outside view in RRR. Later games fix the camera to point in the direction you will exit the drift in, but it's still harder than inside view.

RRR's still my favorite of the lot. It's stylsh. Bold color design. Badass early-90s hardcore techno soundtrack [it's so weird hearing other songs from that era that use the same samples RRR does, haha -- and I think I've heard a mix from 1994 with a song that uses the ra-re-hi-ro sample]. Excellent course design [the first course is easy at low speeds, but is designed to become a real challenge at higher ones, especially with that jump into drift corner; the second course is my favorite track in the entire series, even if not the best one; the expert course is extremely tricky, but can actually be done really easily and it's really rewarding to play through once you've figured it out].

Rage Racer's got nicer track design overall [possibly the best of the lot] but the handling doesn't jive with me [drifting becomes less and less useful as you go on], and I've kind of stopped playing it. RR1's track design and handling don't seem too hot for me after playing RRR. R4 is gorgeous with some decent tracks, but some are boring. Best soundtrack in the entire series though, even if it's not very rave at all. RR5 looks kind of weak visually when put next to R4 [which is depressing] and has weak music, but it's pretty okay. I can't get to grips with the handling in this game at all, but I've played it the least out of the series, so it's more likely a lack of practice. RRDS is awful.

and then RR2 on PSP feels odd [the drift handling seems to operate by sliding your car along a spline that matches the road -- you can drift the wrong way around a corner and slide around it anyway if you're lucky!], but it's my second favorite in the series -- huge course variety [every course in the series before RR5], controls well enough despite the weirdness, looks nice. It's magical. I need to get back into playing it more, but I'm completely stuck and unable to get past my best times these days.

haven't played RR6, 7, 3D, or Vita [I want to play this one, but 30fps and the heavy DLC milking push me away], Unbounded isn't even a Ridge Racer game, RR1PSP is the same game as RR2PSP but with less stuff, doesn't even have handling changes between the two [only the Special class cars handle different really]

[mariusrhpsd]

RR7 is a lot of fun, the different types of nitros add some variety to the gameplay, reverse nitro is pretty hype