Ridge Racer DS Review

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.