Ferris Wheel Overload.
By Fuseball
Where do you want to drive today?
Fresh-faced 360 owners are spoilt for choice when it comes to driving games. Nowhere has the flash, brash, more-is-more ethos of modern game design been more pronounced and enhanced than in this simplest of genres. Blame Burnout, blame Pimp My Ride, blame Gran Turismo’s gotta catch ‘em all obsessive compulsive mentality, but the humble racing game has moved on since last a Ridge Racer game graced our screens. Already PGR3 has planted its yardstick firmly in the ground, challenging all-comers to better its battery of finely modelled cities, real life supercars, headspinning combos and “feel the width of those textures!” tarmac. In these post-Crash Mode times is there really an audience for something as simple and honest as a driving game where all you do is race other cars?
Yeah baby.
After the false start of R:Racing, Ridge Racer 6 is an unashamed throwback. From the ever-pristine car models to the shamelessly unlicensed soundtrack, this is how driving games have been done since the days of Pole Position. The clean economy of design that has typified the finest chapters of the series, including the recent PSP iteration, is here in force. It’s a much-appreciated palate cleanser after the attention-grasping fussiness of its rivals. Everything feels streamlined here, purer, cleaner, focused solely on getting you into the thick of the racing action with as little fuss as possible.
Once you’re behind the wheel it’s all arcade-friendly simplicity with a 3-lap dash to the line; sleek speed and gloriously irrealistic handling. It’s how you wish cars could drive. Namco know this and there is a reassuring confidence here. Namco knows that it feels right, knows how to press those adrenalin buttons at just the right times. The wisdom shows. Ridge Racer is the master to Burnout’s jack of all trades - a veteran now, no longer mired in the brash language of the street, but speaking purely the language of the wide open digital road.
Nice sand textures.
With a game this stripped-down and uncluttered any flaws are laid bare. As lush and lithe as it feels, it takes a little while to pick up the pace. Although step up a class or two, unlock the advanced and special courses and it’s tight flat-out racing all the way.
But is it next-gen enough? It doesn’t matter - you won’t be slowing down to admire the scenery. PGR3 went for the devil in the high definition details, sold its soul to the cost of framerate. RR6 makes no such Faustian pact, its arcade soul untarnished at an unwavering 60fps. It’s a game smoother, sharper and lighter than ever before, while remaining basically unchanged for the last two hardware generations. In an industry renowned for tinkering and often ultimately breaking what once worked in the name of progress, it’s refreshing to see a game take the risk of remaining loyal to its roots.
A loyalty I’ll gladly repay.
February 2006
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