Ridge Racer (PS)

Ridge Racer on the Playstation was a genre defining game - a racer that actually tried to mimic (unsuccessfully at times) a high-octane driving experience. First released in 1994 as a port of the Namco System 22 arcade system board, which made its debut the previous year, the game was an instant success. It was the first game for the Playstation which I owned, and I was instantly impressed with the graphics and speed of the action. Nowadays it looks rather dated, but if you squint your eyes you can see that the overall structure and movement of the graphics bears more similarity to today's modern day racers than to the pre-1993 attempts at driving ...  Read the complete review

This was a limited racing game - for the single player and with only two courses (not counting the possible variants), of which these shared a section of the track. There are two views but notable is the lack of a rear-view mirror. Collisions with other cars were not too unforgiving, but the detection is not too developed. This is arcade checkpoint racing, where it only counts to be the winner. The racing itself, is fast and smooth, but exaggerated so that cars can drift around corners at outrageous speeds. Those whom can muster manual gears will get the most out of the cars. With advanced technique the car can be made to turn away from the corner yet come out of it ...  Read the complete review