Ridge Racer is a series of racing games developed and published by Namco for the arcade and various consoles and also smartphones.
Its main focus and core aspect are on drifting mechanics. It involves tracks which take place in the fictional city of Ridge City, all of which take the form of closed street circuits. The soundtrack predominantly features fairly up-beat techno music.
List of Ridge Racer games
Arcade games
- Ridge Racer (7 October 1993), for Namco System 22
- Ridge Racer 2 (16 June 1994), for Namco System 22
- An update to the original arcade game with multiplayer support, remixed soundtrack, and a rear view mirror.
- Rave Racer (16 July 1995), for Namco System 22
- Ridge Racer V: Arcade Battle (2000), for Namco System 246
Console games
- Ridge Racer (1994 - Japan, 1995 - North America/EU), for PlayStation (Launch Title)
- Ridge Racer Revolution (1995 - Japan, 1996 - North America/Europe), for PlayStation
- 13th Racing Kid and White Angel made their grand debut in this game, challenging you in the game's Time Trial mode.
- Rage Racer (1996 - Japan, 1997 - North America/Europe), for PlayStation
- This game marked the debut of the retries rule and customization aspects.
- R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998 - Japan, 1999 - North America/Europe), for PlayStation
- Following the Rage Racer formula, but instead of customization, there are four racing teams to choose from.
- Ridge Racer Turbo (1998 - Japan, 1999 - North America/Europe)
- Known as "Ridge Racer Hi-Spec Demo" in Europe.
- This is a reworked version of the original Ridge Racer which has smoother models, 60fps, and the addition of the White Angel car.
- Included with most versions of Ridge Racer Type 4.
- The game served as a tech base for Ridge Racer Type 4.
- Ridge Racer 64 (2000), for Nintendo 64
- Ridge Racer V (2000) for PlayStation 2 (Launch Title)
- Follows Rage Racer, but you get to customize your own racing team.
- Ridge Racer DS (2004 - Japan/North America, 2005 - Europe), for Nintendo DS
- Ridge Racers (2004 - Japan, 2005 - North America/Europe), for PlayStation Portable (Launch Title)
- Ridge Racer 6(2005 - Japan/North America, 2006 - Europe), for Xbox 360 (Launch Title, Japan)
- Ridge Racers 2 (2005), for PlayStation Portable
- Ridge Racer 7 (2006 - Japan/North America, 2007 - Europe), for PlayStation 3 (Launch Title
- Ridge Racer 3D (2011), for Nintendo 3DS (Launch Title)
- Ridge Racer Vita (2011 - Japan, 2012 - North America/Europe), for PlayStation Vita
- Ridge Racer Unbounded (2012), for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360
Mobile games
- Ridge Racers Mobile (2007), for Docomo "Keitai" phones.
- Ridge Racer Accelerated (2009), for iOS (iPhone/iPod Touch)
- A combination of both PSP Titles with some new tracks and cars.
- Ridge Racer Drift (2010) for mobile phones (J2ME, BREW, Blackberry OS, Windows Phone)
- Ridge Racer Slipstream (2013), for iOS and Android
- Ridge Racer Draw & Drift (2016), for iOS and Android
- Features track drawing/tracing
Spin-off games
- R: Racing Evolution (2003), for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.
- Yamasa Digi World: Collaboration SP Pachi-Slot Ridge Racer (2008) for Pachi-slot machines and PlayStation 2
Trivia
- Throughout the series, references to other Namco games can be spotted, whether it'd be billboards, sponsors, or even special machines.
- All the games feature "mascot girls". In the first few games, they feature Reiko Nagase, including the original Ridge Racerand in Ridge Racer 2. In Ridge Racer V Reiko Nagase was replaced by Ai Fukami. Reiko returned to the series in the Ridge Racer PSP series and most succeeding titles.
- Unlike most racing games from other franchises (where the first lap or record starts recording once the race starts), in most Ridge Racer games once the player passes through the start line for the 1st lap (or in the beginning of the race) the games starts recording a lap and/or an overall record.