Ridge Racer

I know I sound mad when I say the lack of content doesn't kill it, but it truly doesn't. I can tell I'm going to be coming back to this for months, even without the extra tracks. This is a surprisingly fun game and I'm glad it exists. Good ol' Ridge Racer.

Thankfully the shaky framerate and the meager content with focus on DLC and track recycling are not exemplary for Vita games. Ridge Racer disappoints on the new platform, although soundtrack and car handling are top notch.

An arcade style racing game that's been hardcore and entertaining runs the risk of losing its reputation by a rather absurd distribution model. If it really lacks something? In fact, it lacks new tracks and a career mode.

Disturbing lack of content impedes the score, but what is here is streamlined, speedy fun. [March 2012, p.75]

Ridge Racer for the PS Vita is the epitome of disappointment. With a serious lack of options and content, racing fans will be let down at every turn by Namco's latest offering. The game is good for a quick pick up, and only then, the appeal wears off after one or two races.

It would have been wise to delay the game for some months in order to create enough content, as what is included in the game is just too limited. Requiring permanent connection to make the most of the game is also a poor decision.

If it was released for free, as a platform to hook people on paid-for DLC, Ridge Racer would be pretty cool. As it stands, at full retail price, it's one of the most preposterously ridiculous and - frankly - offensive attempts at separating a gamer from their money that we've ever seen.

Ridge Racer disappoints on Vita, although car handling are top notch.

The problem here is the convoluted content and pricing structure: 30 bucks delivers a measly three tracks and five cars. [June 2012, p.79]

What could be isn't in this portable Ridge Racer, and what is should be in a better game.

If you're going to ask people to buy your content it's a good idea to make it compelling in the first place, and Ridge Racer doesn't do that.

Ridge Racer is more of a proof of concept than full title; the game has a slim amount of content and its best aspects require an online connection, meaning if you're taking your racing on the go, you're going to be disappointed.

Ridge Racer is devoid of content and modes as standard. It plays well, handles as you'd want it to and is as fun an arcade racer as ever, but there's just not enough here to hold interest for more than a few hours – unless you want to wait for all the downloadable content to arrive and reluctantly tip more money into it.

If you´re not that into international teams, online- or score-racing, than better stay on the tracks of the 3DS or PSP.

An anemic release, even for a budget title. [Issue#119, p.100]

I wouldn't necessarily be too concerned about the track and car count, but I would have liked to have seen a more substantial single player.

In essence, Ridge Racer Vita is a pretty fun racer with some interesting concepts. It is sold for a far too high price and with far too little content however, seriously holding back the game's potential.

Five cars and three tracks. It makes no sense to buy now Ridge Racer for PS Life. The advice is to wait for the DLC and thought to its purchase.

Released for free, this would have been an interesting experiment – if still backed up with a boring, chugging racing game. As it stands it's the latter point mixed in with a £20-shaped slap in the face. Absolutely pointless.

Like clockwork, Ridge Racer is sliding in for the launch of a new PlayStation. Rather than delivering a fast-paced payload, this Vita racer is here just to take your money and run.

This is still Ridge Racer as we've come to know and love it, so I guess it's not all bad. That said, if you're not a diehard fan of the franchise, you should stay away from this incredibly overpriced, surprisingly repetitive and framedrop-littered piece of garbage.

There's a nice idea hidden somewhere in Ridge Race for the Vita, but it just doesn't come out of its shell. The focus lays on online races, and not even very expansive. Just being able to have a good race has been overlooked with this racer.

This entry has gone horribly awry. [May 2012, p.83]

The only way this Vita version differentiates itself from the umpteenth Ridge Racers out there is the way it feels like a demo. You only get three cars and five tracks and no solo career. Want more content? Start paying, sucker. [April 2012, p79]

It has a criminally low number of courses that have all appeared in previous Ridge Racer games, no interesting career structure whatsoever, a new car customizing feature that somehow manages to make the "machines" feel less unique, and a bunch of music that also appeared in the old games. You'd have to be extremely hard up for any form of ridge racing for this to add up to something worth purchasing.

An example of how unsympathetic and otherwise hilarious a game can be. For not a lot of money you get the plain base and the rest you have to buy – and play it in multiplayer only. [March 2012]

Few tracks, few cars, little fun. Ridge Racer is an ugly demo sold at thirty euro with the amazing idea of expanding the game content through DLC.

Simply put, the content doesn't match with the price, not even close. There is space for alternative price models, but Ridge Racer asks way too much for this first step, which ruins the whole idea. It may have a future, but its present is poor.

Ridge Racer for PS Vita is simply the worst experiment in the video games industry that we've seen in ages.

Instead of focusing on Ridge Racer's strengths, Namco Bandai decided to try out a bizarre new business model. The game ships with just a measly five cars and three tracks. Yes, you read those numbers correctly. [March 2012, p.64]

A baffling proposition: a racing game with barely any content. It might be cheap, but it's inexcusably lazy.

The gameplay alone is overfamilar enough but the appalling value for money and dearth of content makes this the worst Ridge Racer for years.

Ridge Racer offers incredibly poor value, with a lack of compelling content to back up its competent arcade racing credentials.

It's an overly complicated system that screams of an attempt to be modern and forward-looking, but will actually end up with a bunch of pissed-off purchasers feeling like they've paid nearly 20 pounds for a trial version. Which, to be perfectly honest, is pretty much all this is.

This is one of the biggest disappointments of the system, and the year.

A shallow demo with minimal functionality outside Wi-Fi access, this just isn't an appealing offer. If the core game was a free download, things could be different. [March 2012, p.91]

Where the original was ultimately a launch-pad for grand ideas in subsequent games, the new one is a cynical, impotent attempt at modernization.