Review: Ridge Racer 3D

Man. I'm so pumped! I'm playing launch games! How cool is that? I haven't felt like this since the PlayStation (one)!

I remember I got that console at launch with… some stupid XTREME sports title… but luckily, back in the day, the game store had a "no questions asked" warranty, so I beat the game in a week and returned it for being crappy. I exchanged it for Ridge Racer and later got Battle Arena Toshinden. There's no better way to break into the world of 3D (polygonal) graphics than with a racing game! Although, sure, I had already burnt some serious polygon rubber with Virtua Racing and Stunt Race FX… this time I could do it to my favorite tunes! Good times…

When I first read that RR would be among the launch titles for the Nintendo 3DS, I knew it'd be my launch title of choice. I had been wanting to play a RR game since Ridge Racer Type Four, the only title in the series I owned besides the first. I'd periodically play it up until a few months ago. Yes, it was that much appealing.

For those of you not familiar with the series, RR is what some call an "arcade racer" mainly because it does not focus on realistic physics or licensed vehicles. However, I believe it does not belong in the same genre as Outrun or Cruisin' USA (series that I also hold VERY dear). While some arcade racers let you do flips and barrel rolls or encourage you to drive into oncoming traffic, Ridge Racer wants you to dive three laps on a closed circuit within a small town at maximum RPM all the way; it's about precision driving, nothing fancy.

To accomplish this, the physics may be a bit off, but you only notice this when you're screwing up. For example, if you bump into a wall you see some sparks flying, but all it does is slow you down a gear or two. If you bump into another car, you may go into an involuntary drift, losing some precious RPM while you're recovering, just as when you over-drift a not-so-tough corner and start fishtailing like a Big Mouth Billy Bass on crack. When any of these situations happen, you may go "WOAH, WHAT'D JUST HAPPEN!!" but you'll pick right up and hopefully you may catch up with the other cars before the third lap is over. It never really spoils the fun.

When you're doing it right, though… man! Then, what you get is a hypnotizing symphony of pure drifting ecstasy. There's no hairpin turn you can't squeeze through at top speed. You're flying. It's awesome.

Just like in the first iteration of the series, you're racing against a bunch of other cars that get to go first and gain super speed relative to their starting position during the first lap. In other words, the cars don't bunch together, and you'll be catching up with car number one by the end of the second lap if you're really good. Again, not very realistic, but fun!

All locations and vehicles are fictitious, but very, very nice to look at.

Now, if you're not new to the series, you may be wondering what's new. Well, I don't know what's being going on since R4, but I can tell you they got rid of R4's "career/story" mode. I miss that. Grand prix in RR3D is just a selection of one to three events, with four races each, which unlock another group of events of a slightly more difficult category (faster cars). Most of these events will unlock new cars, new "types" of vehicles you may already have or nitrous kits for those you already have. By unlock I mean available to purchase with points you earn by winning races in the different play modes.

I found the vehicle selection quite disappointing. I'm about halfway through the game already and so far, cars aren't very different to each other in the first place, ending up in one of three drift categories. Also, you are only shown the machine's drift type and top speed. More data would've been really useful, Capcom! What'll happen is you'll grow used to a "favorite car", usually the one with the greatest speed among your drift type of choice, and it'll all be about racing all the tracks on it until you have them committed to muscle memory. Thankfully, there are a lot of tracks. I got goose bumps the first time I ran the track from the original Ridge Racer… in 3D!

I miss the R4 story mode, not because of the cheesy dialogue, but because in R4 you didn't get to choose your car. There were only a handful of tracks that you'd have to run in a preset order. But since you were running under a different team each grand prix, you'd have to re-learn them as the cars had very different handling styles and speeds. If you did well you'd unlock the best cars for that team, if you barely made it just would keep upgrading the "base" car, and if you did just OK, you'd unlock some neat cars as well, just not as fast.

I would have preferred a "more cars, less tracks" approach. But RR3D is still an awesome game, and I hope I unlock more unique cars as I play. Stay tuned for my endgame review!

Now that I've discussed Ridge Racer as a game series, I'll cover how it plays on this unique platform, the 3DS. First off, there is no online multiplayer, you only get local play and even then, there's no download play (so your friends must own the game as well). That sucks. However this game is mostly about losing yourself and becoming one with the track, I doubt human competition can add much to that, especially when said competition is composed of strangers or friends that haven't had a chance to hone their skills yet. The game will display avatars and names on top of all cars by default; I found it too distracting so I turned it off. You can use a Mii, a preset icon, or take a picture to display as your avatar.

The 3D graphics, in my opinion, add a lot to the game. You can make even more precise moves and it helps you understand the scene better when it gets too chaotic. Also, it looks prettier. This doesn't mean the game is unplayable on 2D mode. I suggest you use 2d (or the 3d slider turned way down) whenever you're not resting your elbows on a surface. When the racing gets too intense one tends to tilt the game and the ensuing "ghosting" may make you bump into a wall.

The sound is perfect and the announcer is as annoying as ever. To me the announcer eventually becomes white noise, but I don't turn it off (yes, you have the option) because sometimes it provides valuable information, like when an opponent nearby is using nitrous or someone is drafting you. The music is pretty neat, but not my favorite, even when some classic tunes are included either unaltered or remixed. I miss the jazzy beats of r4 or the twitchy techno beats of the original. I don't see myself burning a CD of these tracks to play on my car, as I did with the older versions.

The game also has a "quick tour" mode in which you tell the game how much free time you have and it prepares an event for you. It's really neat when you know you won't be having time for a full-on grand prix, but all you get from it, besides practice, is points. So far I haven't unlocked anything in this mode.

I like what they did with the StreetPass feature. Besides trading your records for the different tracks, players using this feature will exchange Time Attack mode data they have saved, so other players may effectively race their "ghost". You are awarded points just for finding a contact, and some more if you beat their ghost; it's automatically deleted once you beat it. The only problem with this is that not all players enjoy Time Attack mode (I personally don't find it as rewarding). So if you only play grand prix and never create any ghosts, all you're sending is a notification, your rankings and some easy points.

Before launch, many criticized the game because of Namco's reputation to have a Ridge Racer title ready for the launch of almost every console after the PS1. The truth is that, even though the graphics could be better, the game does not feel rushed at all. They did not forcibly tack on unnecessary system features (it does not use AR Cards, motion sensors, SpotPass, Game Coins or the built-in microphone) nor is it a direct port of a console game. No, it is indeed a fine tuned machine; worth every one of the 3,999 pennies it cost me.

I know I will still be playing this game when I'm through with many others, until they release a sequel, which will definitely push the system to its limits.