Video Game Vintage Title: Ridge Racer 6

Ridge Racer 6

Ridge Racer 6 is the sixth installment in the Ridge Racer series of racing games. It was released on Xbox 360 on November 18, 2005 in Japan, December 10, 2005 in North America, and January 20, 2006 in Europe.

Ridge Racer 6 Gameplay

Like previous Ridge Racer titles, the focus of gameplay is on placing first out of 14 in numerous 3-lap races across several tracks and numerous cars. In most races, the player can earn up to three nitrous boosts by successfully drifting around corners without crashing, which can then be used to give the player a short burst of speed. Some races are labelled as "no-nitrous", which prevent the player from earning any nitrous during the race, though the player can optionally enable nitrous. If the player wins using this option, the race is considered complete, but noted for breaking the no-nitrous rule. Some races are also Duels between the player and a boss opponent, who is usually equipped with a much better car than the player can select from.

Ridge Racer 6 introduces a career-mode "World Xplorer", a branching-tree arrangement of races in which the player can only attempt races next to a race that has already been successfully completed. The layout of the races in the Xplorer is such that the position of a race will indicate what class of car can be used (horizontal position) and the difficulty of the course (vertical position). Rewards can be obtained by completing certain races or completing all races that enclose an area on the Xplorer, and usually offers new cars but also include additional variations of the tracks (mirroring and reverse) or new branches added to the tree. A player can also engage in quick races and time challenges for any track and car that has been unlocked.

There are thirty new circuits available including "Surfside Resort" and "Harborline 765". Also, there are around 130 cars (including 10 special). Online multiplayer is possible with up to 14 players racing against each other and downloadable content is available via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Players can download another player's "ghost" replay from Xbox Live and try to beat it.

Like other Ridge Racer games it not only features fictional cars but other unusual vehicles as well, called "special machines" in the game. These include a hovercraft (Assoluto Pronzione), tripod super car (Himmel 490B) and an over-sized SUV that can be very loud.(Danver Bass Cruiser). The game, as with all games in the Ridge Racer series, contains a large amount of references to past Namco games, such as Pac-Man, Soulcalibur, and Ace Combat.

The game also features a Full Motion Video opening, that shows series mascot Reiko Nagase.

In Japan, Namco announced that it expected to sell 500,000 copies of Ridge Racer 6 for the Xbox 360, although far fewer copies were actually sold. Ridge Racer 7 for the PlayStation 3 is something of a "director's cut"/"final version" of Ridge Racer 6, but with major differences such as new vehicles that were not seen in Ridge Racer 6 such as Sinseong, a Korean brand company, for the first time.

Reception
Ridge Racer 6 has received generally positive reviews. Pro-G gave the game 8/10, calling it "the closest I've seen to an arcade racer on a home console, in both looks and playability." Gamespy awarded Ridge Racer 6 4.5/5 praising its "killer graphics" and "great presentation", but criticising its "stuttering framerate in split-screen multiplayer". 8.1/10 is given by GameSpot, calling it "a slick, fast-moving racing game with interesting handling characteristics." However, Jolt Online Gaming gave it an average 6.9/10, saying the game "offers neither the palm-moistening, heart-racing action of a really great arcade racer, nor the challenge and satisfying controls of a decent simulation." X-Play gave it a 3/5.