I can't believe how tight RRT4 still is. This game is so incredible that I can't stop thinking about it.
It just makes me realize this game is pretty much a JRPG in its own right. The story mode, even as light as it is, is great enough to tell a story that makes me want to give my all in races.
Just check the Pac Racing Club for example:
What sells it even more, is that it is the final race of the millennium. It happens on December 31, 1999 at 11:45PM. The end of an era in more ways than one. All of this to make way to a new beginning.
And then you win.
I don't care if it's cheesy, I was 120% in.
Here is a recording of the final race, the emulation is pretty much flawless through mednafen, no touch up, this is what the game really looks like:
Not content enough with delivering one of the greatest soundtrack to have ever graced video game music, the race circuits are on another level too. This final race is perfect for a speedway style track where you go pedal to the metal. Only speed matters.
But what truly shines is how gorgeous this track is. The colour composition between the green-tinted spotlights and the tunnel's orange hues is a sight to behold. What really sells this track is how it isn't bogged down by numerous high-rises buildings like modern racing games are want to do. You can see the skyline to infinity from there, the few lights of civilization can be seen from far away, and the few buildings that remains looks like black monoliths. Even in this final race, there is a sense of freedom to be felt in this track.
This game is really something. Even today, I look at this game and can't help but be impressed at what this game is throwing at me. I buy arcade racing games often, but even with all the graphical capabilities at disposal, I can't have this same feeling again. I am not impressed with the lighting in the same way I am impressed with this game, and it's not even close to be dynamic and real-time. It really shows how artists matters, *especially* in an arcade racing game. Namco was at the top of their game. Couldn't have dreamt of a better send-off for the Playstation 1 era.
It isn't to sell short Ridge Racer's legacy. Ridge Racer V was an incredible game, the PSP games were awesome, and the PS3 game blew my mind back then. The soundtrack is also always god tier, their music has been undisputed in the racing genre for more than two decades. But Ridge Racer Type-4 feels like the highlight of a specific era without any contest for me.
I also have to share my favourite track of RRT4. Move Me is so wild that I often use it when I play Out Run 2 too. The guitar always hits me like a truck. This track gives out the feels.
It just makes me realize this game is pretty much a JRPG in its own right. The story mode, even as light as it is, is great enough to tell a story that makes me want to give my all in races.
Just check the Pac Racing Club for example:
- Shinji Yazaki is the manager of the club and doesn't trust you at all
- You win your first few races and still believes it's a fluke and it shows the sad state of the competition
- You win the second phase of the heat and he starts to realize that you're the real deal
- The higher-ups won't give you the budget to get a better performing car, but Yazaki hooks you up with some tune-up
- You're in the final phase of the heat, and now it is revealed that Shinji had accidentally caused the death of his co-driver Giuliano
- Shinji wants to redeem himself by fulfilling the Giuliano's dream of winning the RRR Grand Prix
What sells it even more, is that it is the final race of the millennium. It happens on December 31, 1999 at 11:45PM. The end of an era in more ways than one. All of this to make way to a new beginning.
And then you win.
I don't care if it's cheesy, I was 120% in.
Here is a recording of the final race, the emulation is pretty much flawless through mednafen, no touch up, this is what the game really looks like:
Not content enough with delivering one of the greatest soundtrack to have ever graced video game music, the race circuits are on another level too. This final race is perfect for a speedway style track where you go pedal to the metal. Only speed matters.
But what truly shines is how gorgeous this track is. The colour composition between the green-tinted spotlights and the tunnel's orange hues is a sight to behold. What really sells this track is how it isn't bogged down by numerous high-rises buildings like modern racing games are want to do. You can see the skyline to infinity from there, the few lights of civilization can be seen from far away, and the few buildings that remains looks like black monoliths. Even in this final race, there is a sense of freedom to be felt in this track.
This game is really something. Even today, I look at this game and can't help but be impressed at what this game is throwing at me. I buy arcade racing games often, but even with all the graphical capabilities at disposal, I can't have this same feeling again. I am not impressed with the lighting in the same way I am impressed with this game, and it's not even close to be dynamic and real-time. It really shows how artists matters, *especially* in an arcade racing game. Namco was at the top of their game. Couldn't have dreamt of a better send-off for the Playstation 1 era.
It isn't to sell short Ridge Racer's legacy. Ridge Racer V was an incredible game, the PSP games were awesome, and the PS3 game blew my mind back then. The soundtrack is also always god tier, their music has been undisputed in the racing genre for more than two decades. But Ridge Racer Type-4 feels like the highlight of a specific era without any contest for me.
I also have to share my favourite track of RRT4. Move Me is so wild that I often use it when I play Out Run 2 too. The guitar always hits me like a truck. This track gives out the feels.
