Ridge Racer 5 Review

For PlayStation 2

By Contributing Writer Chris George

Rating: Good  
   Ridge Racer 5 has all the strengths and weaknesses of previous Ridge 
Racer games.  In other words, it's well worth checking out if you're a fan 
of arcade-style racing, but it's not a game that you'll still be playing 
months down the road.
   The one thing that has given Ridge Racer its reputation more than 
anything else is the control, which has been slightly improved in this game.
It's just as unrealistic as ever, as evidenced by the fact that you can 
still go through sharp turns at full speed if you make good use of the power
slide.  To me, this isn't a negative factor at all because I have always 
enjoyed Ridge Racer's unique style of control.  It ensures that the pace 
remains fast at all times because you don't have to brake as much as you do 
in other racing games.
   The Ridge Racer series has never been lacking in the areas of graphics 
and sound, and this game is no exception.  The music will get your blood 
pumping, the sound effects make the game seem much more realistic, and the 
graphics are almost flawless.  All of the cars look extremely detailed and 
realistic, and the backgrounds are just as gorgeous thanks to nice touches 
like planes flying overhead.  Still, I did notice that a small amount of 
pop-up and the dreaded "jaggies" can be found.  It's a shame that Namco 
didn't put forth the extra effort to make the graphics as polished as they 
could be.
   If you have been spoiled by the huge number of real cars in Gran Turismo
and Sega GT, be prepared to be disappointed with Ridge Racer 5's fictional 
cars.  Personally, this doesn't bother me due to the high level of tweaking 
and customization at your disposal.  The game also features a respectable 
number of cars that can be unlocked, including a hilarious Pac-Man scooter.
   Despite all of its strengths, Ridge Racer 5 is ultimately damned to being
a "merely good" game by the same thing that damned Ridge Racer 1-4: The 
selection of tracks, or lack thereof.  There aren't a whole lot of tracks in
the game, and the ones that are here give me a strange feeling that I've 
seen them all before.  More originality would have been a much-welcome 
addition to the game.
   In addition, as you unlock new courses, you'll find that they're just 
variations on previous courses.  With each new Ridge Racer game, Namco
continues to insult its audience by creating a very small amount of tracks 
and re-hashing them endlessly.  Namco seems to think that there's nothing 
wrong with this cheap design tactic, but there is.  It wasn't okay in 1995, 
and it's sure as hell not okay in 2000.
   The Ridge Racer series seems to exist in a bubble, almost oblivious to 
the innovations in the racing genre that are going on around it.  Ridge 
Racer 5 is still a very addictive and enjoyable experience, but it offers 
nowhere near the level of fun and innovation found in SSX.

Send your thoughts on this review to chris@mastergamer.com

     
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