All 12 Mainline Ridge Racer Games, Ranked
Credit: GXZ95 via YouTube
It was really hard not handing the No.1 spot to R4, but I’ll tell you why Ridge Racer V, the series’ PS2 debut, edged it here. R4 is special for its high concepts, its visuals and its soundtrack — but Ridge Racer V is a better game to play. In fact, it might just be the greatest pure arcade racer of all time; the one, fleeting moment where driving in Ridge Racer wasn’t unwieldy or mind-numbingly effortless, but just crisp, responsive and dynamic. This is not an easy game, but it’s also certainly beatable — a pain in the ass, but fair about it. And practicing never feels like a chore, because it’s thoroughly rewarding to get to grips with each of the handful of cars on offer. They truly each have their own personalities.
In a perfect world, the best Ridge Racer would’ve blended R4’s grace with Ridge Racer V’s physics. Still, RRV’s plenty charming off-track, too. Namco fleshed out the classic Seaside Route 765 course from the original game into a network of interconnected circuits around Ridge City for this installment. It’s not quite a match for R4’s narrative ambition, but for longtime fans, it was gratifying nonetheless. Add in the 60 frame-per-second gameplay enabled by the PS2’s cutting-edge hardware, and you have yourself a gem of an arcade racer that can compete with any model example of the genre.
There’s our Ridge Racer ranking. If you’re a fan, be sure let me know what you think of this list in the comments. Happy drifting!
