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| One more win. |
Namco's Ridge Racer series is an often overlooked one compared to other racing games like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. Tracing its roots back to the arcades, the games are fast-paced and flashy affairs, focusing more on thrilling arcadey action than simulation. 1998's R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 continues the arcade fun and is regarded as the pinnacle of the series. I've been wanting to play R4 since the last Ridge Racer game I've played was on the 3DS. That and it's a known fact that the game's soundtrack was among the best to come out of the PS1. With all that said, is the game any good?
R4's main mode "Grand Prix" stars you as a professional driver who must choose a racing team and car manufacturer to compete in the "Real Racing Roots '99" in hopes of becoming champion. There are four story-lines to choose from, each having their own stories to tell like Dig Racing Team trying to overcome constant budget cuts, French team "Mappy", who must prove themselves under younger management, and Pac Racing Team aiming to win the championship after their tragic past. The story is presented in text-based format, with a few lines between matches. How well you perform in races will impact the dialogue between you and your coach, encouraging some replay-value. It wasn't anything memorable but was a nice addition to the game.
R4's cars are split into two types, drift and grip. Drift-based cars have you powersliding through corners without losing momentum, though you'll have to accurately time your drift, while grip-based cars have you sticking to corners by focusing more on traction. The two control rather differently but still focus on speed, so it's up to personal preference in choosing which style suits you best. You can also choose between manual and automatic transmissions, with the latter offering higher top speeds.
As for the car selection, there's over 300 cars to choose to unlock and choose from. Their entirely fictional and you get to choose a manufacturer whose cars range in speed, handling, and tuning. With that said, unlocking the cars is a chore with most being slight variations of each other. However, upon unlocking all cars, you'll get a special Pac-Man car, a cool Namco reference.
You can change camera views between showing the full car or hood views, with the latter giving a more controlled feel of the car. The game features a VS Battle mode, a split-screen mode where you race against another player. Admittedly, the game has a few shortcomings like the lack of a quick-play mode, where you can jump in, pick a car and track, and race away. Also, the track selection of only eight tracks-- despite encouraging you to carefully memorize and master them-- were still small and got repetitive after a few races.
R4 boasted some neat production-values on the PS1, with its vibrant orange look and iconic opening FMV. The car models and track backgrounds were neat despite looking dated now (the flowing tail light sequence during the end credits was awesome though!). The designs were cool and distinctive, some even looking outright sci-fi. What's more impressive is that R4 runs at a smooth 60fps, making races feel that more fluid and fast. The soundtrack has to be my favorite on the system (right behind FFVII), easily rivalling Gran Turismo in cool factor. It's packed with electronic tracks that compliment the stylish nature of the game. Tracks like "Lucid Rythms", "Move Me", "Revlimit Funk", "Pear Blue Soul", and "One More Win" were memorable and I enjoyed listening to them on a regular basis.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 was a fun experience and I had a lot of fun playing it. While the track selection is lacking, it delivers fast-paced thrills paired with an infectious soundtrack that'll provide fun for hours to come. I really miss arcade racers like these and I hope we'll see another Ridge Racer title in the future from Bandai Namco or an HD collection at least. For now, fans of arcade racers and PS1 enthusiasts should easily give R4 a shot.
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