DF Retro: Ridge Racer 5 and Ridge Racer Type 4 PS2/PS1

This week John takes a trip to Ridge City for a weekend of racing action. We start with a look at PlayStation 2's first game which offers a wonderful blend of arcade racing, tight controls and a beautiful presentation. Then we move over to arguably the best racing game on the original PlayStation - Ridge Racer Type 4. We even take a quick look at the bonus disc included with the game for good measure.

[kohtasolid]

I'm Kohta Takahashi, part of the sound staff for both productions and this video is super informative and full of great details. I'm glad you were impressed with the R4 opening production, because it was really hard work. Thanks for making this video! 🏁🏎😊👍

[Bob_Beaky]

There's just something so cool about old arcade racing games. Relying on a strong stylised look rather than photo-realism make the games of yesteryear exude a magic that's kinda lost today.

[vulcanproject]

Ridge Racer Type 4. The soundtrack is probably the best original racing game soundtrack to this day. It's just fantastic. I have a copy of it today 17 years later because it's that good. The visuals, sound and atmosphere of RRT4 sucked me in and didn't let me go for hours. Why don't you make games like this any more? WHY DON'T YOU MAKE GAMES LIKE THIS ANY MORE NAMCO??

[MrThunderwing]

Oh man, I loved RRT4 so much! You've pretty much summed up eveything about the game that made me love it so much back in the day. I still listen to the soundtrack even now.

[SturmAH]

R4 is still my favorite arcade racer! The unforgettable moment when you enter the final lap at the Grand-Prix finals as the "new" millennium is shot in and the sky lights up with fireworks, all while "Movin' in circles" is pumping through your speakers. So much stile and class, thank you Namco.

[maxnova]

Ridge Racer Type 4 was the pinnacle of the RR franchise. The baked in lighting still looks so epic to this day. And the soundtrack, oh the soundtrack, just glorious.

[Babelfish]

I imported a copy of the RRT4 OST from Japan years back, and when I travelled there many years later I was amazed to see it still in stock at Tower Records. This game feels like a defining time of my childhood, combining my love of cars and racing with beautiful art design and a soundtrack that I will remember for the rest of my life. A remaster of RRT4 would be so incredible - imagining the visuals and style of this game with modern graphics + RT would be mind-blowing!

[SpeedyGoneFroglegs]

Ridge Racer peaked with R4, that game was polished to perfection!

[GameplayandTalk]

That homage to the Ridge Racer V intro at the beginning made me grin. Yet another great episode! Really makes me want to revisit V, along with finally giving 4 a try.

[bluedragon]

You guys should do an episode on Ridge Racer 7 for the PS3. Mainly because that game was a rare example of a 3D game on PS3 (not counting PS2 remasters) that actually ran at 1080p 60fps (albeit with occasional slowdown whenever a lot of particle effects were on screen).

[TomFry]

You're a man after my own heart, Mr. Linneman! R4 is a technical marvel and one of my most adored arcade racers for all the reasons you state. Another wonderful retrospective under the belt.

[Toaster]

Probably the most beloved game series ever for me. I remember purchasing my Japanese Playstation on import just to play Ridge Racer. Cost me a small fortune but I never once regretted it.

[fxchannel]

RRV seems to get quite a bit of flak, but I really like it. Sure, Type 4 might very well be the best the series have ever been and I will gladly gush all over it as it might just be my favourite too.

That said, Type 4 and RRV5 are very much different games. Type 4 has this career-like mode which is very fun and interesting, but I like that RRV chooses to instead scale all that back and focus on simple arcade racing.

And it does it very well. It's not perfect, cars feel a bit too wide and some have oddly floaty handling but all of this can be overcome with practice and once you get it, once you're in the zone of this game, it is great fun.

In order to balance out the "hate", here's some RRV gushing from yours truly:

Some cars are more difficult to control but once you get to grips with them, they will reward you with even faster and thrilling races. And then there's the Duel battles and 99 lap challenge (I still haven't managed that one T_T). Simply put, if you're willing to invest in understanding RRV there is a lot of hardcore, down to the roots arcade racing to be had.

And let me just say that the visuals represents another personal high point of this game. It is jaggy, sure, but the aesthetics, architecture and color are just something else. I love how it, to me at least, actually reminds me of a real city - Ridge City has got some character and I like it. In one of the tracks, you start inside the city center, gradually make you way towards the green outskirts and down to the beach only to turn back and, before you enter the classic left turning tunnel, you can see the shimmer of the glass skyscrapers above the finish line in the distance. Sometimes there is just this sensation of "place" in RRV and I find the replays to be very enjoyable. Maybe especially at night, the lightning is to me very convincing.

So sum up, RRV is not Type 4. It doesn't have it's depth and diversity, it doesn't have it's fantastic soundtrack and it doesn't have it's career mode. RRV is more of a modern version of the original Ridge Racer, and it just goes to prove you don't need lots of licensed (yawn) tracks to have fun.

[HertzBlut]

DF Retro is the best thing currently on Youtube. By far my favorite playlist. Please continue these as it reminds us of what actually transpired back when we were younger. And the technical milestones that were set. Thanks a bunch for making me love my old console collection even more. And form now on, everytime I boot one up I'll remember these videos. Good show!

[ihavenoname]

I'm still playing Ridge Racer Type 4 on my epsxe. What i really love about RRT4 is there's a car brand that had a drift handling like Assoluto & Lizard and the Grip handling car like Terazzi & Age Solo. I remember choosing PRC & Terrazi car

[spooky_electric]

I rewatch this video every 5 months or so. I miss Ridge Racer so much. Love the DF Retro series, John!

[eraezr]

You should do Gran Turismo 4 for a DF Retro episode. It is the most technologically impressive racing gaming on the PS2, imo.

[TheManOnTheHill]

DF Retro is the BEST thing on this channel!!!!

[J.A.Z-TheMortal]

One of my lifelong dreams is to see a remake/remaster of R4; which is my favorite game of all time. The closest thing to it is playing on an emulator with all graphics enhancements. One can only dream...

[swifty-nine]

"…Over time, arcade racers have faded away, but the memory remains strong. So join me as we journey back once more, to Ridge City…the city is yours…" listening to those words with U's HydroPrism playing in the background almost brought tears of sadness to my eyes. Ridge Racer: the once legendary ruler of racing games built on foundations of high performance and quirky gameplay has now become an obscure relic of the past, so much so that even the creators seem bent on burying the name with terrible game after terrible game with no goal other than to make a quick buck off of the nostalgia and the great heretage it holds