Best Racing Game Availible for the PSP

Well ever since the playstation has been around, theres always been a Ridge Racer game to accompany it at launch. And once again Namco has made a master piece for with this launch title. Not only does it offer great gameplay, but the graphics and sound show off the best the PSP has to offer.

Graphics:

This is definetly one of the nicest looking launch titles for the PSP. The car details are incredible and the sun reflections off the pavement are beautiful to look at. The detail in all of this game is rich and easy to look at. If you want to show the power of the PSP off to your friends, this is the game to get.

Sound:

The sound/music in Ridge Racer is crisp clear and sounds the best of any other PSP games as of now, in my opinion. There are songs from past Ridge Racer games and remixes of them, as well as new music put together for the PSP version. Although the Japanese style music may turn some people off, its still great to listen to and fun to race to. The announcer does his job pretty good. Now theres not much he says and usually he repeats it, but he helps you know whats going on (for example he tells you when your nitrous is full and when someone is right behind you)

Controls/Gameplay:

The controls are a perfect fit for the PSP. They are easy to get into but somewhat difficult to master. The L button changes from a 1st person view (you can see your rear-view mirror in this view) to a 3rd person view. While the R button uses the nitrous. And the face buttons are your standard accelerate and reverse, etc. But the analog "nub" on the PSP works very well for Ridge Racer. It makes drifting easier to do in some cases.

Now some of you may be wondering what "drifting" is. Well its hard for me to explain but its when your car starts to skid sideways when you are turning. By doing this you charge up your nitrous which is basically a speed boost. This is new to the series and works well in the game.

There are 3 types of cars in the game. Standard which is good overall but not great in drifting but great for beginners. Then theres Mild which makes it harder to get into a drift but easy to get out of it and you dont go at a high speed when you drift. Finally theres Dynamic for experts. This is a drifting car. You easily get into drifts and go very fast in them. These are hard to handle but if your a Ridge Racer expert, you should have no problem controlling them.

The selection in Ridge Racer is quite good from the cars to the tracks. Now most of the cars arent anything Americans would know (for the most part) but there is a good selection of sleek and stylish looking cars none the less. The tracks are just gorgeous and in good variety. But to unlock these cars and tracks you need to play and win races in World Tour Mode. This mode offers some longevity to the game. It keeps you playing till you unlock it all and its very rewarding.

Edit: The tracks in Ridge Racer offer all kinds of twists and turns. Theres times when youll be going downhill at 159 MPH and it sometimes feels like your actually there. Especailly when you hit the nitrous and start hitting 200 MPH you can really feel the sence of speed. And when you turn in Ridge Racer, you arent just moving left and right, you drift across the road when you turn and adds more depth to each track because you can plan when your going to drift, how long, and how fast, etc. The courses in Ridge Racer feel different on every single one, cause sometimes youll be going in a cricle down hill and other times youll be drifting across the track!

Although Ridge Racer lacks in online play (which would have been great for this game) there is a local multiplayer option which i have not gotten a chance to try yet, but it should add some replayability to the game.