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Posted on August 11th, 2005 - 3182 Reads

Rated Everyone Ridge Racer DS Nintendo DS Review

-- Written by Justin Joseph



 Ridge Racer DS is more or less an expanded port of Ridge Racer 64 for the Nintendo 64. It takes the same basic gameplay elements, tracks and car model designs and has them more fine tuned in certain aspects. It's one of two racing games for the Nintendo DS, along with Asphalt Urban GT. Both have their unique elements, but how does Ridge Racer DS stack between them? Is it a must have racing game for all lovers of the genre and handheld, or was it a flop due to the fact that it's nothing more than an upgraded port? The game has its things to do, but are they worth it?

Upon first firing up Ridge Racer on your Nintendo DS, you will be taken through a rather lengthy and cumbersome set of loading screens. I don't really understand the reason for this, as you are not able to skip through anything by hitting any buttons or using the touch screen stylus. Nevertheless, once you finally get into the actual game, you are greeted with a cool sounding racing game theme and the beginning menu. It is here that you create a profile for yourself out of the three slots that are available and choose a name. After this, you are taken to the actual menu for the game that allows you to go through a small number of options. You can either choose a Quick Race which is self explanatory, Grand Prix, Car Attack or Options. Obviously the main part of the game is the Grand Prix, but if you wish to get used to the game's controls first, Quick Race is also a fine choice.

Now when it comes to learning how to control this game, that may depend on your definition of "learn". If by learning in this game you think of actually knowing how to control your car, then that will be virtually immediately. You can use the D-Pad to steer and the A button to accelerate, nothing too tough there. However, if by learning how to play the game in terms of mastering how to drive through the various courses, that might be a totally different story altogether. But just to make things easier for you guys, the cars in general are easy to learn to control, but driving well might take a lot of practice. So about 15 minutes or so maximum should allow you to learn the ease of the controls, just not the other complex parts.

As mentioned before, Ridge Racer DS is an upgraded port of the Nintendo 64 iteration. How the game looks is very much reminiscent of that. If you're looking for a DS racing game that looks absolutely fantastic in the graphics department, you will as might as well turn away from this game right now.

Now that doesn't mean the graphics in this game are truly sub-par, that is far from the truth. But you can very much tell this is an upgraded port because the whole presentation displayed looks like something the N64 would very much punch out. You have your "blurred" and "blocky" effects, and that is rather unfortunate because based on some of the graphics we are seeing in future DS titles, Ridge Racer could've easily looked way better than it does.

Car models do look very nice, and each one has their own distinguishing body builds, so that is definitely a plus. You can customize the color scheme of each one as well before your race actually starts so that too is a positive. Pretty much all the primary colors and various blends are available for your choosing. There are actually a few cool unlockables that have their design dedicated to the likenesses of Donkey Kong and Princess Peach. Obviously showing Nintendo's involvement in the development of it.

The problem likes in the actual track environments. The problem's source is that there are too few tracks to race through. There are over 20 Grand Prix races, but the problem with that is each track gets repeating too many times. The only differences in them lie in the fact that a different path is opened up to make the path of the laps a little different, but that really just wasn't enough. There are a few nice natural features that you will encounter in some of the tracks. The waterfall, the cacti, and various other features of desert can be truly eye catching. But other than that, there isn't much else that will make you impressed. This is a port of the N64 game, and the graphics were brought in to emulate just that.

To make it even less interesting, there are no weather effects on the tracks. There will never be any rain, snow, natural disasters.....or anything for that matter. It's a clear, sunny day in each race, and it's basically a run of over 20 Grand Prix races that look no different in terms of special effects.

However, the most solid aspect of Ridge Racer's graphics is the great frame rate. While the game is indeed for a handheld, sometimes you can almost feel how fast the game is going. When you get near the end of the game and unlock the fastest cars, you will be driving at speeds close to the level of 200 mph. At the beginning of the game, you're looking at cars no faster than 130 mph, but with the evolution of the car speeds as you unlock them, you can definitely begin to notice a change in the speed of the game. The frame rate never drops or lags, and that is a definite plus. It most certainly doesn't make up for all the easily correctable shortcomings, but having one of the first racers on the DS fly like this is really awesome.

All in all, the graphics aren't great, but they certainly aren't bad either. They are more or less on the good scale. The car models are very much diverse, especially in how each are built and you can change their color to your heart's desire. But the terrible lack of diverse environments in the tracks you'll be racing with (even with the great frame rate), just simply doesn't do enough to impress.

What sets apart Ridge Racer DS from other racing games of this generation in terms of the music being played is how it is actually played. In a very cool twist and innovative development, Nintendo actually allows players of this game to choose the music track they want to hear before each race actually gets the green light!

Now you might be thinking that doing that would be tedious since you would be worrying too much about getting a good start to the race. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth. As soon as the race and track open up, you will see a black bar at the bottom of the screen with arrows on each side. So before the countdown to the race even initiates, you are free to use the D-Pad to scroll through the various musical scores that are available at the current time. There are pretty much enough tracks to fill up a present day music CD, so that is definitely a nice thing. Some are more modern techno themes, some are really strange sounding, and others will bring back nostalgia for those that have experienced RR 64.

Most of the tracks actually sound pretty cool, and if you use headphones while playing it, they will sound even better. But that's really a given with all handhelds, and it's no different here.

To make things even nicer, there are actually a couple unlockable tracks that you will obtain later on in the game if you're good enough in the GP. But to avoid spoiling anything, I won't say what it is, because one of the tracks is actually taken straight from a classic Nintendo title that many know and love!

In terms of sound effects, they too sound pretty nice. They aren't anything special, but they do the job of making it feel like this is indeed a racing game. Most of the cars have their own unique sounding engine, and even though some of them just simply don't sound realistic, the diversity is there. The coolest sound effects are most definitely those of your tires squealing. At the very beginning of the race, no matter what car you use, the tires will squeal in order for it to begin accelerating. The tires also squeal just about every time you perform a "drift" maneuver, and it sounds as realistic as the squealing at the beginning of the race.

To make things even more interesting, there is actually a male voice featured in this game that will say various things depending on what's going on in the race. He is actually the one that does the countdown to start the race, and says a bunch of random comments during such. A lot of times at the beginning he'll say "Alright, this will be a great race!" It isn't exactly necessary, but it can help you be pumped about the possibility of doing well in the race, and believe me, sometimes you NEED it. He'll also say other things depending on what you're doing, such as "Commence attack!" if you're close to passing certain positions. You also might hear "Come on! Get going!" if you're lagging behind near the end of the race and others like "Great driving" if you happen to get to first place quickly and stay there for the duration of the race. But perhaps the most annoying thing he may say is if you lose a race, EVERY time he says "Not bad, but you can do better!" Well no kidding Sherlocke, what gave you that idea? But if you happen to win, he'll be ECSTATIC and say "You did it! You're the CHAMPION!" Sometimes his voice is a bit overdone, and sometimes it can help you get a boost of motivation to win during a race.

All in all, the music and sound effects are most definitely the best aspects of Ridge Racer DS. The music is well-done, some old, some new. The sounds do their job, and the male announcer is surprisingly not annoying for the most part!

Unfortunately, the gameplay mechanics in Ridge Racer DS take a lot of patience to get used to, and for some, it's not even worth the bother. If you're dedicated to getting yourself tuned enough with how to almost "master" the game and be real good competition with the computer, then this may be a game you would like. It certainly is an experience that will make you feel accomplished for how darn difficult it is near the end of the game.

Why is the game so difficult to play sometimes? Well, it's not the fact that it's really hard to control, it's simply the fact that the game virtually requires you to be perfect to win some races. Like stated before, you use the D-Pad to steer your vehicle and the A button to accelerate. That's using the default easy controls. You do have the option of using two different control schemes, but they were virtually pointless from what I've experienced with them.

You have the advanced controls which have you using the stylus to control the virtual steering wheel displayed on the bottom screen. This is POINTLESS. If cars were meant to be driven with a plastic stick, them maybe it would be understandable to have this feature in the game. But once you try it one time, you will probably hate it. No matter how hard you try, which I did several times, the cars in RR DS just weren't meant to be controlled with the stylus. It's just way too sensitive and frustrating, and executing the truly required drift maneuver in certain races is next to impossible.

Then you have the expert control scheme which has you actually use the hand strap and plastic piece that comes bundled with the DS upon purchase. This isn't QUITE as pointless, but it's close enough. There are times when you can use the little plastic piece on the strap to effectively drive your vehicle, but when it comes time to finish the ending races, it simply isn't useful. I still don't understand why Nintendo chose to implement those ways of controlling the cars, they just don't work well-enough to be used extensively.

So with people most likely using the easy control scheme which has you use the D-Pad and the A button, you have the difficulty of actually competing in certain races. Now at the beginning you really shouldn't have much trouble winning on the first or second attempt, and that's a good thing. Pretty much for the first eight races, you won't have too much trouble achieving victory. However, when it comes time to get further into the GP races, your computer opponents will become more and MORE unfair!

It's already bad enough that when you're actually driving, you're either safe in the middle of the track, or "crashing" into whatever you might be grazing or hitting on your sides. It's rather odd too, because even if what you're grazing along just happens to be simple dirt hills, your car will still end up being interfered with by seemingly having been in a major car accident. In reality, you're either safe in the middle of the track, or getting slowed down a ton by "crashing" into whatever you may be.

What does that have anything to do with the computer you might be asking? Well it's rather simple. The further you get into the GP races, the more and more difficult competing against the computer opposition it will become. How are they cheap? Well let's see, a lot of the time you won't end up catching up to the first place car until the very LAST leg of the race, and that is indeed very frustrating. I do believe I participated in one particular race a good 75-100 times just so I could finally win. If you don't know how to handle your vehicle well and use the drift effectively, you will be redoing a lot of races too many times. Another thing is what happens to you when you may come into physical contact with your opposition. In some bizarre display of physics, whether it's the hood, back end or sides of a opposition's car, more often than not when you come into contact with them, you will be literally "launched" backward and slowed down immensely.

This is really where your drift maneuver comes in. It works just like any other racing game this generation that features that gameplay mechanic. It also helps quite a bit at times when you need to get around the opposition to gain position in a race. When you're at high speeds, you simply let go of the A button for a second or two, and then press the D-Pad in the direction that the turn you're entering is actually going, and hold A again. This is probably the most vital aspect of controlling your car in the game, and thankfully it's really not difficult to pull off when you need it to. It is even humorous at times to do it so hardcore than you end up doing a full 360 degree turn with your car, and still maintain present course!

But like stated before, during the middle and last parts of the GP races, the AI just becomes way too cheap and aggressive. Completing the races virtually begins feeling like nothing more than a chore rather than entertainment. Sure you do feel incredibly accomplished when you finally win one of these races, but the level of frustration you're bound to feel in doing so makes the tediousness almost not worth it.

Thankfully Car Attacks aren't as difficult as GP races. Each time you win a GP and receive a trophy, the Car Attack mode unlocks three new cars for you to compete against. You face each car in a head-to-head race utilizing the tracks that you raced in the actual Grand Prix that you competed in to unlock them. There are 32 cars in total to unlock, and each has their own varying stats. Top speed, acceleration, grip and handling are the four features that you get to look at when choosing a vehicle, and each are truly diverse and distributed.

Ridge Racer does indeed have its entertaining moments, but they are mainly featured at the beginning of the game. When it comes time to compete in the middle and last parts of the Grand Prix, the frustration levels will continue to climb, and really only dedicated racers may find the motivation to win them. The arcade style elements in the races are really just too much for the most part if you actually want to beat the game, but the beginning GP races and Car Attack competitions are indeed very fun to participate in.

At the end of certain groups of GP races (even though the game doesn't display it, they are each marked with their expertise level), you get some cool credits. The credits display some sweet looking concept art and such that was made for the development of the game, but it's nothing entirely special. It can be rather annoying to see the same credits roll after each major sets of GP races, but for the most part they are cool to see because of the graphics displayed in the background.

The replay value of Ridge Racer DS will truly be determined by the player of the game. There are some 20 GP races and 32 featured cars. But whether or not you actually choose to go after them all is really dependent on how you react to the cheapness the gameplay mechanics can display during the tougher parts of the game. For those that will choose to stick it out and try to get through everything, you will have some very good replay value on your hands. But for those of you that will be so fed up with how tough some of the later races can be to win along with the cheapness of the computer opposition, there won't be much reason to come back to this game after a certain point. It's really a matter of pure motivation, because if you don't feel like putting up with the poorly programmed AI, you won't play it much. But if you really feel the desire to achieve victory in the whole game, you will come back to it!

Ridge Racer DS is truly a unique game, but the fact that it is no more than an upgraded N64 port makes it suffer in overall quality. The overall appeal of this game really depends on the personal feelings of the person playing it, but since this is a review, I have to say something. The graphics are nicely done with the car models and such, but the dull and drab track environments doesn't make for much excitement. You do have great music and sound effects, but that's really the best part of this game, which is disappointing. Unfortunately RR DS suffers from some truly annoying arcade style racing gameplay mechanics, and many will most likely find the controlling of it simply not worth the frustration. Sure the game can be fun at the beginning, actually it's very fun at the beginning. But all too soon, the frustration level picks up as the computer opposition will seem almost inhuman because of how great they can race against you. There's something about seeing the computer turn perfectly through each bend while you watch yourself crash into the sides of the tracks more often than not that will definitely put a frustrated look on your face.

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