|
The Ridge Racer series makes an appearance for the Xbox 360 launch. The series has traditionally remained in Sony’s camp, showing up for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP launches. The game doesn’t deviate far from the series’ trademark drifting-intensive, high-speed racing but it remains fun nonetheless.
The game includes a World Xplorer mode, which is functionally equivalent to a career mode. You’ll begin with over a hundred races though you’ll unlock more as you progress through the mode. The game actually includes several hundred events to pick from though the number of tracks is understandably much less. This causes some repetition since you’re essentially racing on the same tracks over and over again; though the game manages to mix it up by tossing in new rules or having you race in the opposite direction. The game also includes a single race and global time attack mode. Single race lets you do exactly what the name says. Global time attack lets you get the best times you can on courses. This mode is made more interesting since you can actually upload your time and ghost to Xbox Live. You can download the ghosts of other players to see just how they managed to shave off those few last seconds. Xbox Live works very well to do this with minimal waiting to upload the files.
The gameplay should be familiar to fans of the series. The series has always focused on power sliding and speed and Ridge Racer 6 is no different. You’ll encounter many straight-aways to let you pick up speed though the game will then throw some corners at you to test your drifting skills. Drifting well adds nitrous to your nitrous boost meter broken up into three sections. You’re able to earn double and triple boosts by filling in these additional sections, which are faster, longer and more intense than the typical boost. Because the game rewards all of this drifting, it is to your advantage to master the skill early on.
The game’s, well, need for speed is intensified as you go through the cars. Each car class gets faster and sleeker. The game does include different car types. You’ll find cars that require you to drift constantly and others that barely drift. The cars that require the drifting tend to be faster although they are harder to control. There is also an intermediate class. This is the sweet spot since you sacrifice very little speed for a lot of handling. Though the game’s cars aren’t licensed, they still don’t take damage. In typical Ridge Racer fashion, though, hitting something will cause a huge drop in speed.
Ridge Racer 6 includes a full online and offline multiplayer component. Xbox Live support for up to 14 players is included, although most races tend to be defaulted to 8 players. You’ll find a number of gameplay modes as you win races, earn points, and increase your ranking. There is also an unranked mode. The game is reasonably well balanced with the higher ranked players starting at the back of the races giving them some additional challenge. Offline multiplayer isn’t as exciting, though you’ll find splitscreen support for 2 players.
The game’s visuals are a mixed bag. One on hand, Ridge Racer 6 has an undeniably smooth framerate that keeps up with the game through its entirety, giving the game a good sense of speed. On the other, Ridge Racer 6 looks like a really pretty Xbox title. The game lacks a lot of the fancy technical effects used in other Xbox 360 launch titles giving it a somewhat dated look. You won’t find any fancy lighting or particle effects in the game. That said it is similar to a pretty Xbox title so you’ll find reasonably detailed car models and varied environments that all have their own unique touch. The game does support a number of high resolutions from 480p, 720p and 1080i. The increased resolutions make the game sharper, although they do seem to highlight the dated textures. With that in mind, even at the higher resolutions, the framerate is untouched.
The game’s background music fits the game well. You’ll find a number of electronic music that fits the high-speed races just fine. The game also includes some music from classic Namco titles like Galaga and Galaxian. The game’s announcer is functional though a bit repetitive with some lines, particularly those having to do with the use of nitrous, coming off as a bit annoying. The sound effects are pretty good. You’ll hear the car’s engines going off and the tires squealing as you powerslide through one more turn.
Ridge Racer 6’s underlying gameplay should be familiar to fans of the series. Despite the familiarity, the gameplay is solid and frantic, causing you to get really into the game. Though it isn’t the most technically advanced out of the Xbox 360 launch titles, the sense of speed is amazing, which almost makes you forget that it isn’t as pretty as it could be. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Dec 1, 2005
|
