Product Description

The nitrous boosting racing game everybody knows and loves is now available on the Sony PSP. Scorch some asphalt in 24 circuits of breakneck speed and exhilaration - that's all that stands between you and glory. Beat the clock in Time Attack Mode or test your racing skills against up to 8 players in WiFi compatible Wireless Battle Mode. Drive in style and rise through the ranks to unlock hidden bonuses in World Tour Mode. Features popular racecourses from arcade classic Rave Racer and the entire Ridge Racer series -- old favorites like Seaside Route 765, Crimsonrock Pass and Greenpeak Highlands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4716 in Video Games
• Brand: Namco
• Model: 722674150019
• Released on: 2006-08-08
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Sony PSP
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 4.00" w x 6.75" l, .25 pounds

Features

• ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
• Racing

Customer Reviews

Best Racing Game for PSP so far
Currently, there are only 3 racing games available for PSP, and Ridge Racer is definitely the best of the three. You should be able to pick it up and learn the basic mechanics of the game fairly quickly. Most of the courses (of which there are many) are designed so that you are supposed to drift, rather than brake, through the turns. Drifting also builds up your nitrous so you can get boosts later on.

My only complaint is that the game gets pretty difficult. It seems that a cheap tactic was used to make the game more difficult. You see, it is fairly easy to drive the courses faster than all of the other racers. Unfortunately, this does not always mean you win. You will start out in last place out of 12 cars every single time. The lead car will start out with about a 20 second lead and you have three laps to catch up. So it's not like you can ever get a good start and jump into first place and just worry about holding onto the lead for the rest of the race. You are chasing another car almost the entire race. What gets frustrating is that you will often finish a few seconds behind the first place car and realize that you technically finished the race faster than he did, but you still lost the race.

I guess I learned to get over that annoying detail since the game itself was just incredible. Until Gran Turismo 4 comes out (and maybe even after, who knows?), this is the best racing game on the PSP.

Fun But Overrated
This game is pretty fun. The game modes include time trial, arcade race, world circuit, and multiplayer mode. You can choose from three cars (in beginner circuit) and up to seven cars to race from in the more advanced circuits. This may be a fun game, but the fun doesn't last long.

You race other drivers to unlock new things. But that is about the only objective. Also, beating the races are very easy. The only hard part about this game might be learning how to drift, turn, and powerslide, but that only takes about five minutes to learn.

Also, the races are barely any fun. You start out in last place and the car in front of you is always like 30 seconds ahead. There's no qualifying or practice, you always start last.

Also, gaining nitrous is hard and doesn't help much. You gain the nitrous by powersliding (which slows you down), and you only gain about 1/5 - 1/4 of a tank (depending on the turn and speed) After you get it, it lasts for about 5 seconds and you gain a little bit of speed, but then after that, you go back to the speed you were at before you ignited the nitrous.

And the last thing I have to say about this game that it is overrated. All the reviews I've seen say this is an awesome PSP launch game, but to me it an okay game. I would recommend buying Need For Speed Underground Rivals instead of this. But some people seem to love this game so I would recommend renting this game first at gamefly.com (that's what I did and I'm glad I did it because I didn't like it very much). (Please refer to me at gamefly.com).

Great fun and amazing graphics
This game is just plain amazing in terms of graphical power for a handheld-device game. Plus, it plays well. I am not a huge fan of racing games on consoles or PCs (unless they are true similations), but this game is very entertaining. You can also play it in short bursts, a race or two at a time, which makes this game ideal for a handheld.

Unless you completely hate the idea of owning a racing game, you probably want to get this one.