Ridge Racer Vita, And Why Three Tracks Isn’t So Bad
The bigger picture.Published: 9:00, 18/01/2012 by Alex C [nofi].
20We all scoffed. A game that’s retailing at around £20 with just three tracks and five cars – hardly the best value for money, is it? A title with that much content would normally sit at the cheapest price bracket on iOS and come with 69p DLC purchases to bulk it up a bit – not entirely unlike the recent iPhone Ridge Racer, then. But did we miss the point?
NAMCO's pricing model fits well with the open-ended game structure.
Let me explain: this latest title doesn’t have a branching, linear career mode to battle through. It doesn’t have one at all, in fact. If you think back to how Gran Turismo worked on PSP, with the dip-in, dip-out mechanics of the Arcade Mode, Ridge Racer isn’t that far off. Except that now everything you do is tied to your team (which you choose when you start the game) and counts towards a grand, global tally.
I’ve read the feedback the game has been getting since its Japanese launch, and I can understand some of the frustrations, but Cellius’ attempt to take the game into a different direction works well with my addictive, compulsive nature. Because everything you do counts, whether it’s towards your own RPG-esque level or the greater good of your worldwide team, I feel like I’m actually contributing to something.
I normally fire up the game, do a quick single player race, then jump into the online time trials, download a ghost I know I’ll never beat and then run a few online races with the same sort of super-friendly Ridge players I’ve been competing against since the PS3. I like it, because it’s perfectly designed for mobile play, even if it does really need a web connection to maximise the benefits.
The visuals are generally fine, if not a little shaky.
And whilst visually it’s a bit shaky – the graphics are generally pretty good, but the frame rate hardly keeps to its 30fps level (with some killer slowdown in places) and it’s a little bit lifeless – the UI is great, big chunky buttons to press on the main screen and cute little arrows elsewhere. The music’s fine too, your usual Ridge Racer fare and plenty of gritty engine sounds.
So whilst it’s not your regular Ridge Racer experience, it’s one that I actually quite like. I’m not ignorant to think that everyone else will, but it’s a somewhat brave attempt at something a bit different and if they can patch up some of the graphics for the European release I’ll probably end up buying it again when the Vita launches here. Hopefully I’ll see you on the track.
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18/01/2012 at 09:23
Member since: Nov 2009
Will probably wait to here what DLC Cellius has in the pipeline for this, and more importantly, how big it will be and how much it will cost.
To me RRV sounds a lot like Asphalt Adrenaline which was a blast but there are only so many “short bursts” of dip in/dip out gameplay before it becomes stale overall.
18/01/2012 at 14:46
Member since: Oct 2009
I have it on pre order at shopto for £15 not bad really.
18/01/2012 at 09:31
Member since: Feb 2009
I fail to see how the elements you’ve outlined in any way negate the patheticness of having only 3 tracks and 5 cars. I absolutely will not buy a game for £20 that is so limited on content. Having said that, I do like the sound of the persistent online team mode thing, endwar and mag both had similar online components and in my opinion it is an underused mechanic. Imagine cod or battlefield where your efforts actually count towards something larger that’s going on!
18/01/2012 at 10:58
Member since: Jul 2009
I think nofi is trying to describe how it’s not just about the courses but about the team, the driver, the car. The entire experience. Either that or I’m drunk at 11am… again. :-)
18/01/2012 at 12:46
Member since: Jul 2009
Drinking in the morning? You’ll be asleep by 2pm.
18/01/2012 at 13:21
Member since: Aug 2009
You say it like it’s a bad thing…
18/01/2012 at 09:37
Member since: Feb 2009
There really are a lot of racing games out at launch, wipeout, ridge racer, motorstorm, modnation and F1. Don’t think I can justify more than 1, even if I could ridge revert would most likely be bottom of the list. That’s more to do with how good the other racers look.
18/01/2012 at 10:00
Member since: Apr 2010
Same, and going on the so far poor gameplay videos of F1, I think I’ll stick to Wipeout.
18/01/2012 at 10:06
Member since: Aug 2009
Only really F1.. there which looks horrid which is a shame, many of the racers look quite strong meaning tough choices really at launch.
18/01/2012 at 09:50
Member since: Nov 2011
Damn it TSA! You are making this “Which games to get for Vita?” decision very difficult. I had completely passed over Ridge Racer but that does sound like something that would hook me.
18/01/2012 at 12:13
Member since: May 2009
Same here, I totally dismissed RR as it seemed like a rip-off but know… well I’ll think I’ll wait until after UK launch to see what the opinions of more folk are before deciding.
18/01/2012 at 09:56
Member since: May 2010
Theres just no way i could consider this game based on its lack of content, i love the idea of worldwide rankings dont get me wrong, i do the same thing on Trackmania but thats just not enough to justify a £20 outlay, especially with the wealth of older PSP/PS1 titles you could get for the same price.
18/01/2012 at 10:02
Member since: Aug 2009
Uhuu Ridge Racer is fine, have liked all the games I’ve played but having it to be so limited would be damaging not many will buy it surely?
I’d love to be more like the price of a PSN game I guess… but £20 would be a bit too much needs to be lower.
18/01/2012 at 10:15
Member since: Feb 2009
but they could have all that other stuff, the upgrades, the team thing and that, and still have more than three tracks.
either they took out tracks they’d designed or they just didn’t bother creating them, either way the buyer gets shortchanged.
18/01/2012 at 10:58
Member since: Feb 2011
I agree with you.
Great that it is enjoyable but still can’t justify the fact that it’s hardly a full games worth of content.
18/01/2012 at 11:03
Member since: Nov 2009
I’m only ever interested in the campaign mode of a racing game, if at all. Ridge Racer not only lacks in content, the only game mode I’d consider playing is absent, too. I can understand why they left out a campaign mode, though. Having a campaign that consists of 12 tracks tops (3 regular tracks, 3 reverse, 3 mirrored ,3 mirrored reverse) would make it too obvious how pathetic the lack of content actually is. I call this a case of greedy lazyness. Release the game with almost no content and then cash in on DLC.
18/01/2012 at 12:08
Member since: Dec 2011
That’s pretty much what I was thinking.
18/01/2012 at 11:28
Member since: Feb 2011
No matter how fun it is having such a pitiful amount of tracks really is ridiculous. No way I’d pay anything near what they’re asking.
18/01/2012 at 12:02
Member since: Dec 2009
It’s nice that you’ve found some value in it but i felt ripped off by the number of tracks in Dirt 3 – and that had almost twice as many tracks… well maybe a bit more than that ;) but still…i couldn’t justify parting with cash for this.