View Full Version : Ridge Racer PSP impressions
It was eating me up inside. Somehow, I’d bought three PSP games (Wipeout Pure, Twisted Metal: Head On, and Lumines) without picking up Ridge Racer. So yesterday I went out and found the bad boy – not an easy feat in itself.
And? Let me put it this way: Along with Lumines, this is one game no PSP owner should be without.
Ridge Racer PSP brings us everything that was ever great about the RR games and presents it in a shiny, new coat of paint. Smoother, prettier, and glossier than ever, and just as fast as we remember.
Visually, I think this PSP title looks better than the PS2 game. Sure, the cars may not be quite as poly-packed, but they’re a hell of a lot less jaggy. Trees and vegetation look better. Particle effects – smoke and sparks – are more spectacular. And the lighting effects – from the glare of the sun off the road to the reflections on the cars – look smart and beautiful.
Compared to the other PSP games I’ve played, this is the best-looking of the bunch. It’s sharp, crisp, and clear, and while a texture or two may remind you of PS2, it all looks fantastic considering the size of the hardware it’s played on. And the frame rate blazes by at 60fps, never dropping no matter what.
There’s a wide range of music to race by, and players can select which track to listen to before the start of each race. It comes through the headphones strong and crystal-clear – just what you need to get your engines revving.
And the gamplay. The sweet, glorious gameplay. Simply put, it’s spot on. Being on a portable hasn’t hurt it one bit – something I was worried about before I played the game myself.
The new nitros feature works well within the game, perhaps as a testament to the quality of the original course designs. Taking a cue from Burnout, your nitrous meter builds with every fast power slide you take. Fill up your tanks and let her rip for a nice burst of speed you can practically feel.
I nearly teared up when I saw all those classic courses – especially the ones from Rage Racer. Oh my sweet Lord, but those are some fun tracks. It had been too long since I last raced them, and returning to them in all their PSP glory was a joyous homecoming indeed.
It all reminded me that despite the glut of more contemporary arcade racers, Ridge Racer is still the king. Its crazy power slides and breakneck gameplay just can’t be found anywhere else. After all this time, those classic courses and classic tunes have yet to be bested.
Bless you, Namco. This is a great game, and a perfect first outing on Sony’s new portable.
fallguy
15-Apr-2005, 00:08
How irnoic, as I just got RR today. I agree with most everything you said, and I wish I had gotten it first. I enjoy it much more than Wipeout. I was a RR fanatic in the arcades, mastering the power slide, and loved the 6 speed tranny with clutch. It was the reason I waited in line the first day the PS was available.
I think hey nailed the old school power slide. They did really nail the feel of the game, to me. Ive already put about 3 hours into the game, today. I found myself playing it everywhere. In the car, in line waiting for my daughter to get out of school, even on the crapper. :oops:
So now Im up to four games in two weeks, I just cant stop. :/
Clashman
15-Apr-2005, 00:15
I was a RR fanatic in the arcades, mastering the power slide, and loved the 6 speed tranny
Ummmm, I think you've got some explainin' to do...
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Sweeeeeeeeet.
My copy arrived today....... except I'm still waiting on the PSP to play it on. Can't wait to try it out!
see colon
15-Apr-2005, 04:12
ridge racer was the first PSP title i saw in action. i was completely impressed. then i saw the other launch titles, and graphicly, i was stunned at how much crappier they looked. ridge racer really convays the "ps2 in a handheld" image the sony is marketing. pretty much everything else (from a purely graphical standpoint) is secnd rate.
darkblu
15-Apr-2005, 04:34
How about wipeout?
IMO wipeout has overall higher scene complexity. or at least pushes more geometry through its ritch environments. in comparison, RR's environments are rather unimpressive; RR's car models are ok, but then the car textures (both diffuse and reflection) lack their top LODs, plainly said. OTH, the jetpods in wipeout are of modest geometry and plain (diffuse) texturing, but still the environments in wipeout account for 95% of the scene complexity.
overall:
wipeout: higher scene complexity, predominant vertex lighting
RR: more effects (i.e. nice but lowres environmental mapping, and simple but impressive sun glare off the road), overall lower scene complexity
ed: scrapped all that '80s lingo so more people can get what the heck that guy is talking about
I'm not expert with all the technical terms, but I'd pretty much agree with darkblue's assessment of RR vs. WP.
Though I wouldn't call RR's environments "unimpressive," necessarily. They're just nicer looking versions of what we've seen in previous RRs, plus some nice reflections on the roads and glass buildings. (And there's a nighttime track or two that looks quite pretty as well.)
In the end, RR and WP just go about things differently. Both are impressive for a handheld system (and even compared to their PS2 prequels), and each has its strengths. (I especially give Wipeout credit for the weapons effects and explosions.)
The only other 3D game I have for PSP is Twisted Metal, and that looks nice, with PSP's trademark particle effects and some really smooth-looking vehicles. But it's not as cutting-edge as RR or WP, which, again, are probably the two best-looking games on the system.
So far I've got 5 games: Ridge Racer, WipeOut, Lumines, Twisted Metal, & Untold Legends. They're all really good, and Lumines is very addicting.
________
MK9 (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Lincoln_MK9)
Out of curiousity, I got out my old copy of Ridge Racer for the PSone - yes, the launch title circa 1995 - and went for a spin.
Ho-lee crap, but it is butt-ugly! Pixels as big as your head, and shimmery textures to boot. If there's a car 50 yards in front of you, you can hardly tell what it is because it's just a mish-mash of pixels.
Surprisingly, it played smooth and of course, thanks to the CD tunes, it sounded great.
I tried R4 next, and this fared much better. Still PSone-pixelly, but it had been cleaned up enough to make a difference. Specular lighting on the cars really helped.
Finally, I put in Ridge Racer Turbo, the 60fps "experiment" that came on a separate disc with R4. Not only did this run at 60fps, but I think it was also higher resolution and the textures looked better, with less pop and fizzle.
After playing through this menagerie, I'll never compare a PSP title to a PSone game again. PSP whallops the poor PSone. I guess those old games just look better in my mind's eye - thanks to all the good times I had with them and the passage of time - than they ever did in real life.
After playing through this menagerie, I'll never compare a PSP title to a PSone game again. PSP whallops the poor PSone. I guess those old games just look better in my mind's eye - thanks to all the good times I had with them and the passage of time - than they ever did in real life.
So so true, a lot of people really get sucked in by nostalgia.
I remember being blown away by Goldeneye on N64, but my god that is one butt ugly game now :D
Evil_Cloud
17-Apr-2005, 15:00
After playing through this menagerie, I'll never compare a PSP title to a PSone game again. PSP whallops the poor PSone. I guess those old games just look better in my mind's eye - thanks to all the good times I had with them and the passage of time - than they ever did in real life.
So so true, a lot of people really get sucked in by nostalgia.
I remember being blown away by Goldeneye on N64, but my god that is one butt ugly game now :D
I've got that problem as well, but it seems to go away the longer you play. You seem to adapt to the graphical splendour. ;)
Last night I raced a new track called Downtown Rave City, I think it was. For me, this one put to bed the debate over which is the prettier launch game - RR or Wipeout.
Featuring a beautiful nighttime skyline complete with neon lights and brightly lit carnival rides, this track looked like Ridge Racer 1.5 compared to anything else I've seen in the game so far.
In fact, I think I'm still on a sugar high from all that eye candy. Good stuff. 8)
pahcman
26-Apr-2005, 09:19
no rr but if wipeout scene compleixty higher than rr...rr must be real thiny.. i thought wipeout is sub dc polygons..and textures.
any how, does the rest of psp games look really jaggied? mercury and wipeout sure does.
think the dot pitch of lcd is so much finner, harder to hide non aa images.. pvr mbx free aa would have come handy...
Uh, no, Chap. Just... no.
Wipeout Pure has impressive scene complexity, with many "off-road" attractions such as neon-lit buildings, towers, blimps, and even big trains and other transportation rushing by the tracks. Sub-DC geometry? I think it's about on par at least.
And I never saw particle effects like this on DC. Race that track where the rain is falling and not only do you get "raindrops" on your "windshield," but there's also a fine mist of water in the air - you can see the sheets of rain as you navigate through parts of the course.
And no, Wipeout doesn't look particularly "jaggy," either. It's not completely without some rough edges here or there, but the ships look nice and the tracks themselves look very clean.
But thanks for checking in, anyway. :?
darkblu
26-Apr-2005, 15:22
Last night I raced a new track called Downtown Rave City, I think it was. For me, this one put to bed the debate over which is the prettier launch game - RR or Wipeout.
yes, definitely the rave city track has the best atmosphere so far.. either that or the most amount of additive blending :D unfortunately the clever sun glare effect is not there :D
apropos, does anybody know what bonuses can be unlocked that'd be shown in the tour prizes (or was it bonuses) section?
to chap:
re how the geometric complexity of wp compares to dc - quite favorably, i'd say.
Silkworm
27-Apr-2005, 02:39
apropos, does anybody know what bonuses can be unlocked that'd be shown in the tour prizes (or was it bonuses) section?
IINM, 4 FMVs and 4 car illustration slides. First unlock is about three quarters of the way through the "Pro" series of the world tour, just before the "Duel with Crinale(?)" tour. After that another bunch of FMVs and concept art are unlocked through the remaining Pro and EX races.
pahcman
27-Apr-2005, 09:11
i find dc games like sa ct tdlm all look more solid than wipeout with easy better textures.
wipeout backgrounds may look busy with objects. but those objects very low polys like pc games of old. maybe its the jaggies, little texture details, no tv blur, ultra fine dot pitch lcd, that make psp graphcis look thiny.
yeay have i said in my impression posts, the effects of wipeout nice. rain sleet bloom, and all cool, but not as abundance thick rich as ps2. the bomb explosion is only effect is as good as any ps2.
Are you comparing the same generation of games against each other? Mind you, I think the PSP should have a quicker ramp up of optimization.
darkblu
27-Apr-2005, 19:02
i find dc games like sa ct tdlm all look more solid than wipeout with easy better textures.
all our observations are highly subjective, that's understood. still, note that i had in mind geometry complexity alone here, disregarding textures.
wipeout backgrounds may look busy with objects. but those objects very low polys like pc games of old. maybe its the jaggies, little texture details, no tv blur, ultra fine dot pitch lcd, that make psp graphcis look thiny.
yes, the tv flicker filter does have a lot to do with the smoothness of the image output from a console. that's why after i got my psp i took out my dc vga adaptor out of the closet and hooked up my dc to my vga monitor so i could get as clear observation of the dc titles as possible. btw, that was the first time i saw lm24 on a vga, and i see now why the game was never vga certified - the decals on the cars all use point sampling and no mipmaps. as good as the road and sideways texturing look in that game, the cars decals are on the opposite end of the scale. purely geometrically, though, i do think that wp psp pushes more than lm24 dc. texture-wise it's another matter, the dc has superb textures everywhere but when it comes to the car decals. in comparison, wp psp's environment don't impress with textures, and rr psp, oth, has rather low texture resolutions all over the cars (and i'm still very curious to understand the resons for that). in my highly subjective opinion and non-perfect eyesight, lm24 dc and rr psp have comparable geometric complexity, with more complex environment on the rr side, but much more cars on screen on the average in lm24 dc (and car models do look well complex)
yeay have i said in my impression posts, the effects of wipeout nice. rain sleet bloom, and all cool, but not as abundance thick rich as ps2. the bomb explosion is only effect is as good as any ps2.
the rave city rr track has some very lush use of blening fx.
A friend got a PSP delivered to work and got RR with it. First time I have actually seen a PSP and was very impressed with it.
rabidrabbit
12-May-2005, 05:35
Got RR yesterday as the first game for my PSP.
It's amazing. Played it almost non stop from 17 to 24.
The analog slider works great for steering, I prefer it to the cross pad in this game. Before I got to try it in any game, I thought the slider would be pretty useless, but it didn't event take me time to get used to, it felt natural from the go. Only the placement makes it ergonomically worse than playing with the crosspad.
It really has captured the Ridge Racer feel exellently. The first tracks are way too easy, I finished first place everytime without much effort, but now that I'm finishing the first tour it's got a little harder (still finishing first on first attempt, but only just).
I hope the pro tours and beyond have more challenge.
Playing Ridge Racers have been one of the few games that manage to get me in the "zone" and the PSP version is no different. It's the combination of fast paced music and the satisfying tracks and when you succesfully nail a lap with immaculate slides it's gaming nirvana.
Now waiting for Wipeout and Lumines, two other games that I expect to get me there :)
It really has captured the Ridge Racer feel exellently. The first tracks are way too easy, I finished first place everytime without much effort, but now that I'm finishing the first tour it's got a little harder (still finishing first on first attempt, but only just).
I hope the pro tours and beyond have more challenge.
I thought the same thing - don't worry, gets a lot harder :)
Oh yeah, and I just got Lumines and Wipeout - Lumines is CRAZY!!! Great game though.
Only done one Tournament in Wipeout, and I'm getting into it.. not as immediately accessible like Ridge Racer.
this was a good one , the controls were better for this than the ds .
rabidrabbit
12-May-2005, 06:54
this was a good one , the controls were better for this than the ds .
That's what I thought too.
The slider felt much better than the Dual Shock in PS2 RRV.
it was really good , I normaly don't play racers ( to me nothing beats daytona , scud race and sega rally so i don't bother ) but i was supprised by the quality .
rabidrabbit
16-May-2005, 05:57
Do others have a bug so that if you put the PSP in a sleep mode while playing RR, the music is often missing after you wake it up.
Once there was music, but it was awfully distorted.
Is this only with RR, or a bug in PSP?
Hey, that same thing happened to me, too. Woke it up and didn't have any music until I power cycled the system.
Weird and annoying, but rest assured, your PSP isn't bad. It must happen to everyone. :)
rabidrabbit
16-May-2005, 15:31
Yep, read about it in other forums, happens with at least RR and Lumines
happened to me with dynasty warriors . Anyone else have it with this game ?
rabidrabbit
16-May-2005, 19:47
Somebody said that yoif you put the game on pause before putting on sleep, the sound will be ok after wakeup.
Guess the spinning UMD doesn't like being put to sleep suddenly, but messes the streaming sound easily, so it might be either PSP design limitation or because of bad game design.
Luminescent
01-Jun-2005, 06:13
Anyone know if the enviroment-map update rate on the cars is 60 fps?
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