Ridge Racer V

Ridge Racer V[lower-alpha 1] is an arcade racing game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. Focusing on high-speed drift racing in the fictional Ridge City, the game features 7 courses, 15 vehicles and 6 modes of play.

Ridge Racer V
North American version cover art featuring race queen Ai Fukami, and the Rivelta Mercurio
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Kohta Takahashi
Yuu Miyake
Nobuyoshi Sano
Mijk van Dijk
SeriesRidge Racer
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Arcade
ReleasePlayStation 2
  • JP: March 4, 2000
  • NA: October 26, 2000
  • EU: November 24, 2000
Arcade
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNamco System 246A

Gameplay
Screenshot of a race in progress.

In Ridge Racer V the player is a racing driver taking part in events across Ridge City in a variety of fictional cars. The focus is on accessible and fun driving rather than simulating how a car behaves in the real world; as such the player is encouraged to powerslide around most corners by tapping the brake when entering the turn. Racing on RRV is divided into different race formats. The primary mode is Grand Prix, a series of structured championships completion of which rewards the player with new cars. Other modes include Time Attack, a long distance endurance race called the 99 Trial and free runs on any of the unlocked courses. Two players can also take part in a split-screen race against one another. A special race is unlocked after the player fulfills certain requirements: it features the arcade game characters Pac-Man in a roadster and Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde on scooters. Winning this race unlocks special duel class cars for use in other game modes. Duel class cars can be won by defeating bosses in the game's Duel mode after fulfilling certain requirements. After all 4 bosses are defeated in Duel mode, Battle Royal is unlocked, allow the player to choose any duel class cars and challenge all 4 bosses in a boss rush race (including ones the player have selected).[1]

Development

Kohta Takahashi served as the sound director and lead composer of Ridge Racer V, who was previously involved in R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. To create an "exciting new experience", he brought in Japanese electronic music duo Boom Boom Satellites and German DJ Mijk van Dijk, along with Namco composers Nobuyoshi Sano, Yuu Miyake, and Yoshinori Kawamoto, to contribute music to the game. This resulted in the game having a diverse soundtrack, including genres such as trance, death metal and breakbeat.[2]

Arcade

Ridge Racer V: Arcade Battle, the arcade port of Ridge Racer V, first appeared in 2001 for the Namco System 246 arcade platform. The arcade version has some features such as Duel, Free Run and Pac-Man GP removed. It is the last Ridge Racer for arcade platform until the Pachislot Ridge Racer, which was a pachislot game released seven years later. The Ridge Racer arcade games were replaced by Mario Kart Arcade GP and Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune series.

Reception

The PS2 version received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3] Jeff Lundrigan of NextGen, however, said that his quote "bears repeating: 'Like its predecessors, Ridge Racer V will amaze you with flashy graphics and a great sense of speed. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of meat under the basic shell of the game.'"[20] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one nine, one ten, one eight, and one nine for a total of 36 out of 40.[9][22]

Also in Japan, Game Machine listed the arcade version in their February 1, 2001 issue as the second most-successful dedicated arcade game of the year.[23]

The PlayStation 2 version was a runner-up for "Racing Game of 2000" in both Editors' Choice and Readers' Choice at IGN's Best of 2000 Awards.[24] It was a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 2000 "Console Racing Game of the Year" award, which went to SSX.[25]

References

Notes
  1. Japanese: リッジレーサーファイブ, Hepburn: Rijji Rēsā Faibu
  2. Three critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 9.5/10, 9/10, and 8.5/10.
  3. In GameFan's viewpoint of the U.S. version, three critics gave it each a score of 78, 94, and 92.
  4. In GameFan's viewpoint of the Japanese import, two critics gave it each a score of 92, and the other gave it 78.

Footnotes
  1. Versus Books (2000). Versus Ridge Racer Official Perfect Guide. USA: Empire 21 Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-9703473-4-0.
  2. Greening, Chris (June 15, 2011). "Kohta Takahashi Interview: Cutting-Edge Namco Scores". WGMO.
  3. "Ridge Racer V for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  4. Berger, Gregory. "Ridge Racer V (PS2) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  5. Ham, Tom (October 25, 2000). "Ridge Racer V". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on December 3, 2000. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  6. Edge staff (May 2000). "Ridge Racer V (Japan)" (PDF). Edge. No. 84. Future Publishing. pp. 76–77. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  7. Edge staff (December 2000). "Ridge Racer (US/EU)" (PDF). Edge. No. 91. Future Publishing. p. 120. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  8. Sewart, Greg; Hager, Dean; MacDonald, Mark (November 2000). "Ridge Racer V" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 136. Ziff Davis. p. 266. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  9. "プレイステーション2 - リッジレーサーV". Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 915. Enterbrain. June 30, 2006. p. 55.
  10. Reiner, Andrew (November 2000). "Ridge Racer V". Game Informer. No. 91. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  11. Van Stone, Matt "Kodomo" (June 2000). "Ridge Racer V (Import)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 6. Shinno Media. pp. 28–29. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  12. Van Stone, Matt "Kodomo" (November 2000). "Ridge Racer V". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 11. BPA International. p. 90. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  13. Mylonas, Eric "ECM"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (November 2000). "Ridge Racer V". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 11. BPA International. p. 23. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  14. Rodriguez, Tyrone "Cerberus"; Ngo, George "Eggo"; Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (June 2000). "Ridge Racer V (Import)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 6. Shinno Media. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  15. Human Tornado (October 23, 2000). "Ridge Racer V Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  16. Liu, Johnny (October 2000). "Ridge Racer V Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  17. Gerstmann, Jeff (March 10, 2000). "Ridge Racer V Review [JP Import]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  18. Jamie (December 22, 2000). "Ridge Racer V". PlanetPS2. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 25, 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  19. Zdyrko, David (October 23, 2000). "Ridge Racer V". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  20. Lundrigan, Jeff (November 2000). "Ridge Racer V". NextGen. No. 71. Imagine Media. p. 113. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  21. "Ridge Racer V". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 38. Ziff Davis. November 2000.
  22. Perry, Douglass C. (March 2, 2000). "Now Playing In Japan, Vol. 19". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  23. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - 完成品夕イプのTVゲーム機 (Dedicated Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 627. Amusement Press, Inc. February 1, 2001. p. 17.
  24. IGN staff (January 29, 2001). "Best of 2000 Awards (PS2: Racing Game of 2000)". IGN. Snowball.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2001. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  25. "Fourth Interactive Achievement Awards: Console Racing". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved January 2, 2022.

Further reading
  • RIDGE RACER V 5 Official Guidebook (in Japanese). Enterbrain,Inc. 6 May 2000. p. 144. ISBN 9784757700208.
  • Ridge Racer V Namco Official Guide Book (in Japanese). Namco. 30 March 2000. 4907892080140.
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