Ridge Racer Unbounded

The action-racing genre has delivered numerous treats this generation, but not one of them has been as rewarding and relentlessly entertaining, nor as feature-packed, as this. This is Ridge Racer unbounded from the shackles of its heritage, rebuilt from the ground up into one of the most subversive, sublime street-racing games ever made.

A bold new direction for the series, one that slightly remembers the drifting fundamentals while throwing in all sorts of new rules and tricks to liven things up. It's a lot of fun to play online and off, and the presentation really guns it in all directions.

The game's long-term entertainment value is tied up in multiplayer, and while I'm confident the user-generated tracks will always yield new and interesting experiences, playing with other players won't so much.

Unbounded may not have much to do with the things that defined Ridge Racer, but if you can get over that, you'll discover an energetic, entertaining racer, with gratifyingly destructive environments, challenging gameplay and interesting online. Ridge Racer was due for a reboot, and here it is.

Ridger Racer is back and manages to impress with some great gameplay and a brilliant soundtrack. The City Creator is bigger then ever, yet is only at its best when you've finished the game. The tons of new possibilities are great but they make the game a bit cluttered, giving you the feeling that you aren't accomplishing much. The multiplayer has also been expanded and will keep you entertained for many hours to come.

Ridge Racer Unbounbed departs from the series' classical style, offering us a grittier, urban and destructive world, with very satisfying gameplay and good variety even without introducing great innovations to the genre. If you love arcade racing games and maybe you look back with nostalgia at series like PGR, you won't be disappointed. A good new starting point that deserves to be expanded further.

Overall, Ridge Racer Unbounded is a great game with some fairly annoying problems that drag it down. The good news is I think they're all issues that could be addressed with a patch - the bad news is I don't know of one coming out, which means that while this game is worth your time, I don't quite think it's worth full-price in its present state.

From the explosive tankers to the destructible environments, Shatter Bay makes a great first impression. Franchise loyalists may be turned off by this brand new direction, but anybody who loves Burnout will have a blast playing through Ridge Racer Unbounded. It's not without a few problems, but Namco's newest racer packs enough content to make up for any imperfection!

Stick with Ridge Racer Unbounded long after you want to throw your controller in frustration, because patience reveals a solid, intense and fun arcade racer.

The Finns sure know how to make a crash-and-burn driving game. Bugbear has transformed the Ridge Racer franchise in to a whole new level. This game has attitude. [May 2012]

Ridge Racer Unbounded may not be true to the arcade series, but it is nonetheless a well done action racing game that surprises with a great online experience – and many explosions, of course.

It is a challenging game that demands precision and patience to master and in exchange it delivers tense, thrilling racing. It isn't perfect, but it's a step in a great direction for the franchise.

Even though it borrows a lot from other driving games, Ridge Racer: Unbounded still manages to find its own identity with fast-paced racing in high-octane environments. It may not feel like a Ridge Racer game at all, but who cares when the racing is this well-crafted?

The frustrating moments in Ridge Racer Unbounded are far outweighed by the deeply satisfying ones. It's anarchic, well designed, thrilling to behold and will put a massive grin on any true petrol-head's face.

Ridge Racer Unbounded might be one of the biggest missteps of this generation. Not because it is a bad game, in fact far from it, but because of the lack of explanation and more importantly, the dearth of advertising it has received

As the latest incarnation of the series, Ridge Racer Unbounded switches focus to violent crashes and destructible environment. And it works! By delivering a great driving experience, this game takes the top position of arcade racers.

The problem with Unbounded is that it doesn't seem comfortable sharing its secrets with you. It's called Ridge Racer, it looks like Burnout, and anyone who has played an arcade racer will, not unreasonably, expect a certain handling model...Unbounded is not that game.

It's not really Ridge Racer, but whether you consider it a reboot or a spin-off this is the best arcade racer since Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Ridge Racer Unbounded is a dramatic departure for the series, but one that's filled with some gloriously destructive, fast-paced racing.

This is a cautionary tale: nowhere in Unbounded does it tell you that you have to hold down the drift button the whole way through a corner, going against instincts built up by every other arcade racer ever, in order to have fun. When you do hold it down, though, Ridge Racer Unbounded is brilliant.

More a spin-off than a reboot, Bugbear destructive racing introduces an innovative track editor, and great fun... but no real Ridge Racer feeling.

It's Drive, Destroy, Dominate remit is delivered in spades, but after while, it can start to get a tad repetitive.

Those looking for a reboot of Ridge Racer or for something which may resemble the iconic Namco Bandai series will become dissapointed, but anyway Unbounded is a good racing game, which control you may love or hate, a bit limited in single player content but with a great potential for used-created content in the multiplayer mode.

This is not Ridge Racer as we know it; it is a complete re-imagining of the series. For the better or worse Ridge Racer has changed, it is no longer a circuit racer but it still features similar drift centric handling.

With an emphasis on vehicular carnage and shattering buildings, Ridge Racer Unbounded rides high as long as you can find new thrills. However, the way it recycles elements from course to course quickly wears away the sense of discovery and makes it hard for user creations to truly stand apart.

Ridger Racer is back with a solid and entertaining arcade racing game.

Ridge Racer Unbounded is made for the patient and the determined.

This departure from the franchise is an invigorating reboot that should satisfy both racing enthusiasts and action junkies alike while the decidedly robust track creation system should have the community upping the ante for months to come. Frag, destroy, create and decimate - it's all on the cards in Ridge Racer Unbounded.

If you've grown tired of having your hand held through tutorial after tutorial, and incredibly easy arcade racers, the challenge offered by Unbounded is sure to appeal to you. I've definitely found myself enjoying this title a lot more than I would have anticipated, and urge racing fans to check it out.