Game #1113: Ridge Racer(PSP)

  The Ridge Racer Compendium.

 Now this is an interesting Ridge Racer release! This was the first game in the series to introduce Nitro Boosting, which I think is one of the key features that made the latter entries in the series much superior, but it also features a bevy of content from the first four games as well as the arcade exclusive, Rave Racer!

 The game features 12 total tracks with reverse versions of each, as well as a ton of remixes from previous games. I think only two tracks are completely original. But it's fair, I feel, as it reuses tracks from the PS1 games, now uplifted to look better than ever. The then-new Nitrous mechanic also means you'll play them in a new way too. While the soundtrack is quite large... I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think most songs were up to par with the series' best.

 The core of the game is the same as always, drive around, drifting to get an edge, but in this case, the more and faster you drift the more nitrous you'll stock which you can then use to get turbos. It's simple, it's fun.

 You'll spend most of your time in World Tour, which is where you'll unlock most things. Maybe Mario Kart spoiled me, but I hate it when games reuse tracks in their tours/championships, and this is the case, so you'll be playing the same tracks over and over and over again in order to pad out the game. I wasn't much of a fan of the unlock system either. Y'see, cars are divided into classes, from 1 to 6. Throughout most of your time you'll be stuck with the initial three cars of each class until you reach the class 6 world tours, which was odd.... after Class 1 tours are done and over, now I'm unlocking the other Class 1 cars? Kinda lame, isn't it? On the other hand, despite the fact that tracks are shared between tours, there are a lot of tour to go through, so if you like the game there's content in spades.

 Well, I liked Ridge Racer for what it is. It's not my favorite in the series, but it has a ton of stuff to do and I feel like it set in stone a few tweaks and enhancements that would only make the series better.

 8.0