Rage Racer

PlayStation exclusive

Rage Racer is the third title in the Ridge Racer series of racing games. For the first time in series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced single player career system which uses credits that player can get after winning races, then it can be used to buy or upgrade cars.

Released: 3 December 1996
Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Racing Sports
Developers: Namco
Publishers: Namco
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: First person Third person
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E PEGI 3

About

Rage Racer is a 1996 racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the fifth installment in the Ridge Racer series and the third on the PlayStation following Ridge Racer Revolution (1995). It was released in Japan on December 3, 1996, with releases elsewhere following in 1997. It was the first game in the series to feature a CGI animated introduction, and introduced a new "mascot", Reiko Nagase.

The game introduced a new class-based Grand Prix on which the player must progress, and, in an aesthetic change, Rage Racer had darker colors and visuals. The game received a positive critical reception, with its graphics and gameplay praised, although received criticism for its crash mechanics, relatively drab visual style and shortage of tracks. Its impact was limited due to being not as groundbreaking as its predecessors, but nevertheless it sold well. Rage Racer was followed by a sequel, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 in 1998.

›Story

Visually the game takes a different approach compared to previous PlayStation titles. The game looks more realistic and has a darker color scheme, it takes a lot of this from the arcade game in the Ridge Racer series, Rave Racer. For the first time in the Ridge Racer series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced singleplayer career system which uses credits. The player can get credits from winning races which can then be used to buy and upgrade cars.

The racing is separated into five classes, named 'Class 1' through to 'Class 5'. The game's objective is to earn money (Credits, or 'eg'), which can be spent on new cars or on upgrading existing cars. The player must place in the top three in all of each Classes' events to progress to the next class. The player can make three attempts within each class to enter the top three spots of a race.

, a Grade 1 car in Class 1), the gold trophy for that class is earned. Otherwise, the player simply moves on to the next class. When the player has completed the five 'Normal GP' events, the 'Extra GP' is unlocked. This allows the player to race the same Classes on reversed courses.

g. in Normal GP - more than enough to purchase all of the cars and upgrade them to Grade 5. Upon finishing Class 5 in the Extra GP, Class 6 is unlocked, along with the three 'secret' cars. Although it's in the Extra GP, the races in Class 6 are driven on the forward tracks.

Class 6 features only four opponents rather than the eleven faced in all other classes.

There are four car manufacturers in Rage Racer. Each of the four manufacturers favors a different attribute (e.g., handling, acceleration, speed). All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, with the cost increasing greatly from one grade to the next. This is the first game in the Ridge Racer series that permits the player to race with a truck, but it only comes with manual transmission.

Keywords

skiing
high score
geometry
game title announcer
multiple gameplay perspectives
licensed cars
arcade driving physics
namco system 22
promo vhs
playstation underground

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Visually the game takes graphical cues from Rave Racer, Ridge Racer's arcade successor, with a more realistic and darker color scheme. The game utilises a credits system, the first in the series, whereby the player tries to earn credits by winning races, which can be used to buy and upgrade cars.

Cars from four manufacturers can be purchased, each favoring a different attribute (e.g., handling, acceleration, speed). All manufacturers offer a 'standard' car and a 'secret' car, which is locked until the top racing class has been reached. Rage Racer also offers a truck as an unlockable vehicle. All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, in several stages of increasing cost.

Development

In an interview with the Namco development team, Nobuhisa Mikoda (Rage Racer game designer and project director) admitted that the game was "somewhat off series and aimed to pursue enjoyment in shift controlling". Rage Racer's introduction introduced "mascot girl" Reiko Nagase. Composed by Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Hiroshi Okubo, it marked the beginning of Namco's new primary sound team after their former members began working with other companies doing production on games such as Street Fighter EX (1996) and Driving Emotion Type-S (2000). The former had previously worked on Ridge Racer Revolution.

The game was unveiled at the August 1996 Tokyo Game Show, at which point it had yet to be titled.

Reception

Reviews for Rage Racer were positive, though generally mild. Critics widely approved of the use of more photo-realistic visuals than the previous games in the series, though some complained that they were comparatively drab and lacking in color.

Comments on the game varied widely, but criticisms tended to focus on a lack of improvement over the previous games in what the reviewers saw as key areas. For example, a Next Generation critic summed up, "Ridge Racer games have never been deficient in gameplay or graphics, and Rage Racer is the best of the lot, but this third incarnation still lacks the depth and replay value that can only be satisfied by finally knuckling down and giving players more tracks." IGN concluded, "It's not a bad game, we've just seen it all before (and before that even)." Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot criticized it for failing to improve upon the unrealistic crashes seen in previous installments, though he nonetheless described it as "an outstanding sequel".