Ridge Racer 6 Xbox 360 review

Something has happened to the humble arcade racing game. There was a time where to be considered an arcade game, the gameplay had to seem like you were merely dragging the scenery around past your car.

Physics, or at least realistic Newtonian physics, were a no no. The action was all about speed, unrealistic speed, and a must have for the genre was a speedometer that displayed a number that bore no resemblance to the real speed of transit.

That's changed now. Just look at Project Gotham Racing 3. The game isn't trying to be a Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but there's a considerable amount of realism in those chassis. There may be more grip than is realistic, but the cars behave like cars none the less, albeit ones with especially sticky tyres.

Revolution?

So a game like Ridge Racer 6 feels like something of a revolution compared to what passes for an arcade racer these days.

Its lack of subtlety and realism and concentration on adrenaline pumping racing is a real breath of fresh air, even though it's almost identical to the first game in the series and despite the next-gen lick of paint.

Thankfully, unlike the very first Ridge Racer, there's more than one track on offer in the game. Progression is built around a route system, where individual racing events appeal as hexagons on a chart. You can choose to race between one and seven races from this chart as long as they are connected by a dotted line. If you complete enough races to enclose an area of the grid, you'll win a car.

Keeping it Simple

Yes it's simple stuff, but works well and you'll always know the level of challenge ahead of you. Easier events appear on the lower parts of the grid, harder events towards the top.

Being able to choose the number of events is another welcome aspects, you can continue through the game unlocking events one at a time, or if you've more time on your hands, have a go at a longer series, the choice is yours.

Unfortunately somewhere along the line Namco got the difficulty progression wrong, for most of the game you'll find winning races remarkably easy. And then towards the end of the chart you'll, well not exactly hit a wall, but suddenly find the game much more challenging. It's a shame this level of challenge doesn't come earlier. The early stages of the game can become a little boring due to their ease and it's only once the game toughens up a little that Ridge Racer 6 really shines.

Goodbye Newton

This is perhaps being a little picky though, many gamers may be experiencing Ridge Racer for the first time here and perhaps the game's level of challenge is perfect for them. I've been playing the series right from the start and know the madcap physics like the back of my hand so there will be no points deducted here due to me being a jaded old hack.

But what of that handling, what's so mad about the Ridge Racer physics? Well perhaps I should abandon the word physics, it implies there's something scientific going on with the way the cars move. Here's how you corner in a Ridge Racer, just as you arrive at the corner you let go of the throttle and apply it again right away. This seems to unlock the wheels from the road and you can spin the car to point around the corner. There will be the impression that the car is powersliding around the bend, but really it moves like its following some invisible railway line.

In a Spin

Get round the corner and point the car in a straight line and it will stick to the road again. Yes it's completely mad, but you've got to stop thinking of Ridge Racer as a car game and think of it more like a game such as Wipeout.

You can attack corners in this way at any speed, you never need to slow down or use the brake, which means as they speed of the cars you race increase it becomes an amazing trippy high-speed dash through the tracks, It's adrenaline pumping insane stuff, especially later in the game with enemy cars that will hound you right up to the finish line, forcing you to eke every last ounce of worth from your precious nitrous reserve.

Nitrous is earned when sliding around corners, filling up an onscreen indicator. You can collect up to three blasts of nitrous, which boost your speed by some margin. Adding to the fun is the ability to fire off two or even three nitrous boosts simultaneously, leading to even higher speeds.

Boosted

You might expect that the best time to use the nitrous boost is on a long straight, but as you get deeper into the game it becomes clear this is not the best strategy.

In regular races you earn more nitrous if you're using the boost as you corner, boost begets boost it seems. So if you're heading towards a trick set of hairpin bends, this is the time to boost as you may find you've earned enough boost as you exit the corners to fire it off all over again.

This boost system, borrowed from the recent PSP Ridge Racer game, is about the only new feature to a racing model that's changed little since the early nineties. The strategies involved in it are fun but I can't help but feel that the AI cars cheat like mad with it. Especially in the tougher races there's a nagging doubt in my mind that these cars get as much boost as they want and don't have to earn it in the same way as the player. If this was Gran Turismo it'd annoy the hell out of me, as it stands it's one of the game's few irritants.

The Final Stretch

Ridge Racer 6's major irritant is the world's most annoying DJ. He'll make you want to smash the game to bits within a few minutes with his insane banter while you're racing.

Despite that, the pumping techno soundtrack fits the game well, if you choose not to use your own custom soundtrack. The graphics are good, the game is ultra smooth and looks pretty good - without being a jaw dropping game. It manages to look great and at the same time isn't really a game for showing off the system.

The single player world tour is joined by some online fun in the form of time trials against the best in the world and 14-player Xbox Live races. These all add up to a competent package that mostly pushes all the right buttons but doesn't quite aspire to greatness. The return of Ridge Racer to consoles is most welcome, and there's lots of fun to be had here, even for newcomers - but it's by no means a must have game. If you're searching for pure old-school arcade thrills, you won't find better on the console, if you want more depth in your arcade racers I'm sure you know exactly where to turn instead.