Ridge Racer Vita could have been a really good handheld racer. The game mechanics are solid and the racing is enjoyable but there’s just one thing missing – content.
Excluding downloadable content all in all there are three playable circuits in Ridge Racer, yes you read that correctly, just the three. The tracks aren’t even that long too. As for cars, well there’s only five. They all handle similar and don’t look entirely different from one another.
Surprisingly though there are a handful of game modes; time trial, spot race, world race and dual race. There’s even the possibility of online racing. It seems like too many modes just to accommodate three circuits – but that’s nothing to complain about. The variety of modes certainly increase the replayability of these tracks.
In each of these modes you can either race against online players, the ghosts of an online player, default ghosts, seven other AI drivers or just the clock in time trial. There is a lot of premise to the game modes available.
There’s even a level up system and in game credits to earn and use. You level up for competing and winning races, and subsequently earn a number of credits. Credits can be spent on upgrades for your vehicle; there is a rather large upgrade map. Also upon levelling up the top speed of your vehicle also increases. Once again this is a sign that there is a great system in place for this game but it’s just lacking the content.
Let’s move on to the most important aspect of the game – the driving. You’ll be glad to hear that it’s typical ridge racer; high speed overtakes and crazily unrealistic drifts. It’s enjoyable to play, as I have always found with Ridge Racer games. It’s arcade racing at it’s best.
High speed drifting.
Add in nitro and huge jumps and you have yourself something really exciting to play. There’s also a strategic element to the game in a way. For example, you have to know which corners you need to drift on and the best places to deploy nitro otherwise you’ll find yourself slamming into the walls and inevitably loosing places.
Handling is very responsive on the Vita. Everything is smooth, there’s no hesitation if you want to enter a drift. There’s no signs of frame rate issues or texture pop ins, which is what you want from a fast paced racer.
The AI of the opposition is challenging as well, it’s not easy to win. If you take the challenge online, for which there are still plenty of players, you will find it’s even tougher racing some of the more experienced Ridge Racer owners.
As for the presentation of the game, well it looks OK, nothing special. It’s no where near the likes of Uncharted Golden Abyss but is better than the visuals in F1 2011 on the Vita.
There’s not a lot more I can write for this review. Ridge Racer has great game mechanics and a lot of premise in the modes and levelling system it offers. However, the lack of content (tracks and vehicles) leaves all the promising aspects redundant. A real shame.
If we look to the downloadable content (which are only a few more tracks, vehicles and songs), even with it, there’s still not enough content to accommodate for all the games modes.
I don’t understand the need to use this type of strategy; releasing an almost empty game and offering content like a drip feed later. It doesn’t work, from what I’ve seen in my experience at least, MX Vs ATV Alive being a great example.
Pros/+
- Enjoyable racing
- A lot of game modes available
- Online racing
Cons/-
- Serious lack of content
I hope in the near future a new Ridge Racer releases on the Vita using the same racing mechanics but this time filled with content. As for the time being I don’t believe I could recommend this game for Vita owners.
5/10
Tested on PlayStation Vita
