Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer for the PS Vita looks & plays excellently. As a fan of racing games (and the genre), I decided to give this title a serious try. I haven't played Ridge Racer since my PS One days back in 1995, so I was excited to see what this version had to offer. The graphics and gameplay are super smooth. The soundtrack is nice & intense, and it'll keep your blood pumping as you're racing around the tracks. This is a pretty decent game, with quite a few options for gameplay.Please see my update at the bottom of this review.There's a garage option that'll help you tune up to 5 cars the way you want. Overall there are 7 cars, but more on that below. In order to tune your cars, you'll need to do some racing - of course - to earn CR (credits) to purchase upgrades. To get all of the upgrades, you'll need a total of 28,000 CR overall to complete.I mentioned that there are 5 cars, and I've raced them all. I personally can't tell if there's really a difference between them all, so I pretty much just go by aesthetics - then colorize the car to my favorite sports team shades. You can earn two more cars, which is achieved by beating a Devil and Angel mode respectfully. It's challenging, slightly difficult but overall rewarding.There are quite a few racing modes to choose from: Spot, Face to Face, Lap Time Attack (30 laps), Total Time Attack (3 laps), Ghost Battle, and Online Battle. There's a lot to choose from, and quite a bit of variety to keep the serious racer occupied. However, with the slight decline of interest in the PS Vita overall - and lack of players logging in for this title - you'll be somewhat disappointed with online multiplayer. That pretty much seems where the developer & gameplay focus really is. Since this game came out in 2012, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising to see a title fall into decline though.There's another race mode available too, and it's called Duel Race. After racing another player online, you have a chance for your game to be transformed into in a "devil". This happens when you race another player online who uses the special Crinale car. The special Crinale car can be yours too permanently, if you place 1st in three racing challenges. Additionally, after you beat the Devil car and get the "Exorcist" trophy, you'll have the chance to be transformed into an Angel... and the same thing applies all over again. It's a cool way that the developer has kept the game interesting, fun, and challenging.Probably one of the coolest things that I like about the racing in this game though, is the Ghost Battle. You can download another racer's profile that has been uploaded to Sony, and you can try to beat their race/track times. At this point it's probably going to be the closest thing you'll get to actually racing another player consistently. Online gameplay isn't completely dead, but there are few websites & forums out there where you can find another players who's interested in competing against you.Overall, if you're a casual player I think you're going to be disappointed in this title. You need to put in some serious play time in order to earn enough credits, so that you can have a choice of upgrades. As I mentioned above, you'll need a total of 28,000 CR in order to have every choice on the upgrades in your garage. Also, if you're a trophy hunter looking to complete this game for the Platinum, expect to put in about 35-40 hours of play time overall. Like I said above, casual players are sure to be disappointed... especially if you're a completionist.The only other, albeit slightly, disappointing thing about this game is lack of courses. You get Southbay Docks, Highland Cliffs, and finally Harborline 765. That's it. Three courses. Although you do have the option to play all three of these in reverse too, so I suppose that technically there's six courses - but not really.Overall I recommend this game, and it can be a lot of fun. Practice makes perfect, and in no time you'll be max level with all upgrades. Most of all though, have fun. Get your drift on! ツ/EDIT: I don't know how I missed this, but there is a Silver & Gold Pass that can be purchased. Included with both of these purchases are extra cars, and extra tracks. While the game is designed to be played with what's provided by the developer, there is additional content (at a cost). Being a fan of this game, I decided to purchase both the Silver & Gold Pass. Along with the extra cars, and tracks--you also get additional music for the game too. At the time of this writing of the review, both the Silver & Gold Pass cost around $7 USD each on the PlayStation Store.

First off, to get the most out of this game, you need to be in a WiFi area. If you are looking for a strictly single player experience, you might want to download the PSP version of Ridge Racer off the Playstation Network for $14.99. Secondly, if you put more stock in how many tracks you have to race on or how many cars you have to choose from than how a game feels when you are racing, then save yourself some money and go elsewhere. Finally, if you are a fan of the previous Ridge Racer games and you love how it feels to race against both humans and their ghosts, then ignore the people who are hung up on the first two points I addressed above and read on.NOTE: When you first start Ridge Racer, you will need to download a patch that dramatically improves the framerate. Also, if you were given a code in your case for a "Gold Pass", you will need to redeem it at the Playstation Store on your Vita to download additional free tracks, cars, and music.Ridge Racer Vita has already provided me hours of online racing bliss against racers (and their ghosts) from all over the world. I have competed in over 50 races online on relatively lag-free servers against people from the US, Germany, Japan, Spain, France, Great Britain, and Australia. Each of these drivers are members of one of four global factions represented in a "planetary league". Every 24 hours, new information is sent out to members of these factions describing who their rival(s) are for the day. These rivals are competing with you for global supremacy that is awarded to those who win the most races. After each race, Credits (CR) for car upgrades and Victory Points (VP)are added that are also tabulated and added to your faction's global score. Also, you receive bonus points depending on how many cars you race against online and if they are members of a rival faction. All of this factors into your Level which starts as 1 and can go as high as 16. This level allows you to gauge which rooms you want to race in so you aren't outmatched starting out against a high-level player, or you are mismatched against a lower level player who may not provide much of a challenge.If you don't want to race in live races online, you have the option of racing against a default CPU ghost (0G) for the track you have selected, or you can choose to race against ghosts that have been uploaded from all over the world by both random players and your friends. Each ghost lists the level of the player that set the time as well as information on that particular ghost. For example, if I post a ghost on a track online, it starts out as a 1G ghost meaning it is a new ghost. If a person beats my time, it becomes a 2G ghost and their time is posted above mine. Every time a ghost is beaten, a new time is added to a cumulative history that you can see and the ghost number increases. If you are a member of a rival faction and you beat their ghost, you get points towards the global faction score and you also get credits. There are already hundreds of ghost times posted from all over the world by different leveled racers that you can choose from. This alone gives Ridge Racer Vita a ton of replayability. Finally, there are "Spot Races" for each track that can be played offline that match you up against 7 random CPU cars that are on your same level. The outcome of these races also can be later uploaded to your faction score. So, basically, this game has an integrated multiplayer and single player campaign that can be accessed and played in multiple ways.If that is appealing to you, the fact this game races like the best of the Ridge Racer series will blow your mind. Now, it is not 60 frames-per-second. If that is going to bother you, again, consider the PSP version. But I can assure you, the lower framerate does not hurt this game especially after the latest patch. The analog stick of the Vita is perfectly tuned for executing drift around all the corners giving you the kind of precision control you need and expect from Ridge Racer. There is a nitrous system that can be upgraded and used in a few key ways. There are also perks that improve slipstreaming as well as well your engine performs on things such as rocket starts and so-on. All of these upgrades are bought with the credits you earn by participating in races. You then can quickly change these upgrades around before every race and customize the setup you want for a track. You can also paint your car and rims in a variety of ways so you can distinguish yourself in whatever ways you want. While the paint schemes can vary from car to car, the upgrades and the perks you get from leveling up are applied to all cars. Besides appearance, each car handles a little differently in the area of drifting so you can experiment to see which one works best for you. The upgrade system is designed to take a whiile to fully unlock so be prepared to grind a little to get the setup you want. Don't panic if you are getting beaten when you first start. Try to focus on learning your curves and driving skills at first and eventually you will be ready to take on higher levels.All of this would be pointless if the actual racing was boring. Thankfully, the races are just what you want from a racer - exciting. I have had so many races where victory was decided by less than a second. Cornering and drifting is still the thrill of this game, but managing nitrous to maintain a lead or to get a key pass is also a lot of fun. The sounds are pretty bland, but the music is what you expect from Ridge Racer with driving Techno beats that change with your performance on the track. The tracks themselves are mostly from previous RR games and they can be reversed. The lobby system is very elegant and allows you to use emoticons and quick messages that can be sent to one or all racers with a touch of the screen. No need to worry about screaming jerks online. Also, if you control a lobby and you want to disallow nitrous to make it a more skill-based race, you can do that on the fly. Also, if you want to remove Ridge Racer's balancing effect called "Dead Heat" that gives drivers lagging behind in races more power, you can do that as well. All of this provides a very responsive and accessible system that gives racers a chance to get in and out of races as fast as possible. And don't be afraid to take on a driver one-on-one multiple times. You may find someone online who is matched up with you in skill that can literally provide you with an evening's worth of fun on one track over and over again. And this is key: track number is not an issue with this game. The racing is all that matters.Finally, there will be more downloadable content soon that will be made available to everyone that will provide more tracks, cars, and music. The next package will be a "Silver Pass" and will cost $6.99. It should have three more cars and three more tracks. More content is supposed to come, but nothing else has been announced. I know that DLC is a sore spot for many gamers, and I think the criticism is somewhat fair given the cost of games nowadays, but I can honestly say I will gladly spend the $6.99 down the road for the additional content because personally I feel I have already received the $29.99 I paid in entertainment value.So, in conclusion, if you want an arcade racer that delivers pure racing joy, then go with your instincts and give this game a try.

Absolute rip off. 100% dishonest product. Paid full retail for a teaser app that requires you to buy downloadable content to continue. 3 tracks. That's it. Read the reviews - this is a rip off!