Ridge Racer 6
Score: 86% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Namco Developer: Namco Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 (2 - 14 Online) Genre: Racing (Arcade)
Graphics & Sound: This is the best that Ridge Racer has ever looked. The car models are highly detailed, the road surface is nicely detailed and the environments look beautiful, in general. The special effects are also well done - from the colorful cones of flame when someone uses nitrous to the blurring speed effects you get when you use nitrous. Are there other interesting effects that aren't nitrous related? Well, the environmental lighting (night, day, dusk, dawn, etc.) and leaves that blow past your car are nice effects, but the announcer can't seem to get over the crazy nitrous. What? Did I say, "Crazy Nitrous?!", you ask. Yes. He actually warns you that someone is using "Crazy Nitrous". He also will say, "Here comes some nitrous", "Whoa! Nitrous!", "Someone's using nitrous to catch up" and what seems like fifty other nitrous related comments. If you can get over the nitrous comments (okay, it is a bit difficult), the commentator actually provides some useful info. He'll make comments about how well you're doing from time to time. These aren't merely random praise or taunts, these are basically a calculated evaluation of how well you're doing, or more to the point, how likely you are to win the race. If you achieve a really good start off the line, he'll gush over it. If you are making your way to the front of the pack at what seems to be a really good pace, he'll say, "This will be an easy win!" Listening to what he says can actually help. At the same time, the announcer is really over the top and can get a bit annoying at times. You should probably think of the announcer as a little brother who's rooting for you and giving you some feedback on how you're doing (and cheering you along, as well). Yes, it can get aggravating, but the information can prove very useful. The music in Ridge Racer 6 is an interesting line up - it's all techno-ish music. You can choose which background music you want to hear and it will play your selection in the race, but it doesn't allow you to listen to a sample of the music when you select it, so I can't even be sure that the correct song is playing - these are not songs I've heard elsewhere. Another option is to provide your own music - a custom soundtrack option is provided.
Gameplay: Ridge Racer 6 is an arcade racer, without question. The game seems to revolve around the use of nitrous and drifting. To help make the game more focused, you actually earn nitrous by drifting in Ridge Racer 6. While this doesn't make any real sense in the real world, from a game balancing viewpoint, it seems to make more sense; drifting is cool, but it slows you down. By awarding nitrous for drifting, you win a way to get back that speed and more. At any rate, the gameplay in Ridge Racer 6 feels almost like a kart racer at times, minus the projectile weapons. If you decide you want to race against an actual person, you have a couple of choices. You could play online, with races of up to 14 people or you could play against a friend in the split screen "Multi Battle" mode. As the commentator points out, the horizontal split screen playing areas are "a bit tight". However, if you change your view to first person, it seems like more area (without your car in the view). Be warned, however. One of the options in the Multi Battle mode is unlimited nitrous. Selecting this option starts you off with full nitrous and keeps you topped off with nitrous. It doesn't, however, make the commentator any less fanatical about the stuff. If you choose unlimited nitrous, be prepared for the commentator to let you know that you're using nitrous when you do and that your nitrous is full every few seconds. (You just thought he was annoying with the nitrous statements during the other modes.) The online mode can be fun, too - but you'll find that (at first) you're a small fish in a big pond... and you may end up playing against others from "across the pond". Play in a game that happens to have players from other countries in it and - win or lose - you'll be awarded the "International" achievement.
Difficulty: "If at first you don't succeed, set your goals lower"... One interesting feature in Ridge Racer 6 is the World Explorer map system. This is the main mode of play in Ridge Racer 6, and consists of a huge node map where the nodes on the map represent races. You start in the bottom left hand corner of the map, with only one race available to you, and travel up and to the right across the map, unlocking new races. When you complete certain races that are attached to blocks with questions marks, or all of the races surrounding a non-connected question mark block, you unlock a secret prize (typically a new car). When you are selecting what race(s) to race, you can select between 1 and 11. If you choose just one, you'll be back to the map screen sooner and have to choose another race, but if you line up several races in a row, you'll have to successfully win each and every one of the races or you won't get to retain your winnings from those that you do win. If you are unsure of your skill or if things are starting to get rough, select fewer races per lineup - this way you can keep your progress as you work your way though. Another advantage of this method is that you only get to change cars when you're on this screen. If you set up 11 races back to back, you'll have to continue using the same car for all of the races - and some cars are better for some races than others. Racing online can be fun, but provides a bit different experience, as well. There's no way to set the difficulty of an online opponent, so you may want to practice quite a bit before you try online racing too much. If you want to play against a single friend, you might try the multi-battle; this two-player split screen mode will allow for handicapping.
Game Mechanics: There are cars with so little traction that they seem like they would be more at home in an ice skating rink or sitting in for a Tilt-O-Whirl at an amusement park somewhere. These cars take the "360" concept a little to far, feeling less like you're racing a car and more like you're enjoying some psychotic rushed tour guide touting their panning scenic views. In one of the more useful vehicles, the racing is much more fun, but its a little hard to get attached to cars that were made up specifically for the game. You won't race in the car you wanted all through high school and you won't race against a car just like your cousin in Beverly Hills owns. These are beautiful machines, but they're not licensed vehicles from the real world. If you like nitrous... a lot.. and like hearing someone tell you when you've got nitrous available, when someone else is using nitrous and when someone is using nitrous to catch up, then Ridge Racer 6 may be just the game for you. It's a beautiful game and offers fun gameplay for anyone who likes arcade racers and kart racers. If you prefer your physics more on the realistic side, you may want to try a different racing game on the 360 - or at least rent Ridge Racer 6 before buying it.
-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins
Gun Dogz