Rage Racer
Encyclopedia
Rage Racer is the third title in the Ridge Racer
series of racing game
s on the Sony
PlayStation. Created by Namco
, it was first released in Japan on December 3, 1996. This game uses the same game's covers for both the Japan
ese version and the North America
version.
. For the first time in the Ridge Racer series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced singleplayer career system which uses credits. The player can get credits from winning races which can then be used to buy and upgrade cars.
Game Structure
The racing is separated into five classes, named 'Class 1' through to 'Class 5'. The game's objective is to earn money (Credits, or 'eg'), which can be spent on new cars or on upgrading existing cars. There are three races in Grade 1 and Grade 2 - Mythical Coast, Over Pass City and Lakeside Gate. The Extreme Oval is introduced from Class 3.
The game begins with the player in Class 1 with the Gnade Esperanza, the game's only Grade 1 car. The player must place in the top three in all of each Classes' events to progress to the next class. Each class has 3 chances to try. This is different than the early Ridge Racer
when the player can have unlimited restarts. The player must retire from the Grand Prix if all 3 chances had been tried and failed to get into the top 3 position. All of the money and cars that the player won stays, but the medals would be lost. If the player wins all three races in a class using the correct grade of car (e.g. a Grade 1 car in Class 1), the gold trophy for that class is earned. Otherwise, the player simply moves on to the next class. When the player has completed the five 'Normal GP' events, the 'Extra GP' is unlocked. This allows the player to race the same Classes on reversed courses. As well as unlocking the Extra GP, the player receives 999,999,999 e.g. in Normal GP - more than enough to purchase all of the cars and upgrade them to Grade 5.
Upon finishing Class 5 in the Extra GP, Class 6 is unlocked, along with the three 'secret' cars. Although it's in the Extra GP, the races in Class 6 are driven on the forward tracks. Class 6 features only four opponents rather than the eleven faced in all other classes.
Tracks
Rage Racer has four tracks, which all can be driven backwards as well as forwards. Compared to the tracks in the previous games, Rage Racers tracks are very long and detailed, except for "The Extreme Oval", at 3,074m. The remaining 3 tracks are "Mythical Coast" (4,641m), "Over Pass City" (6,640m) and "Lakeside Gate" (6,237m). Rage Racer was also one of the only games in the series that did not feature an onscreen map during the race.
"Mythical Coast" has a varied range of corners and hills, and suits an all-round vehicle such as the Gnade Esperanza.
"Over Pass City" features many steep inclines, and suits the high acceleration Lizard vehicles.
"Lakeside Gate" is a technical, twisting course, to which the quick handling Age cars are best suited.
"The Extreme Oval" is a flat out oval with wide banked turns. The high speed Assoluto cars are most at home on this track.
Vehicles
There are four car manufacturers in Rage Racer. Each of the four manufacturers favours a different attribute. Age cars are lightweight, and feature excellent handling. Lizard cars favour large displacement engines with high torque outputs which give their cars great acceleration. Assoluto cars are designed with maximum power and top speed in mind. The sole Gnade car, the Esperanza, is an all rounder with average stats in each area.
With the exception of Gnade, each manufacturer has three 'standard' cars, and one 'secret' car.
Age's three 'standard' cars are the Erriso (Alouette in Japanese version) at Grade 2, the Abeille at Grade 3 and the Pegase at Grade 4.
Gnade's only car is the Esperanza. This is the first car you are given at the beginning of the game, and starts at Grade 1.
Lizard produces the Acceron at Grade 2, the Bayonet at Grade 3 and the Hijack at Grade 4.
Assoluto's cars are the Grade 3 Fatalita, the Istante at Grade 4, and the Ghepardo at Grade 5.
All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, with the cost increasing greatly from one grade to the next. The highest level to which the cars can be upgraded is Grade 5. This means the Assoluto Ghepardo cannot be upgraded, as it is a Grade 5 car as standard.
This is the first game in the Ridge Racer
series that permits the player to race with a truck, but it only comes with manual transmission
. The only truck in this game is the Lizard Hijack, and is available from Class 4 in the game. In the extra Grand prix, there is an extra Grade 6 class where you can buy 'secret' cars. These cars are called the Age Vainqure [2,000,000 eg], Lizard Bulldog [3,700,000 eg] and the Assoluto Squaldon [6,666,666 e.g., an allusion to the Squaldon's 'Devil car' status]. The Age can go around most of the game's corners flat out at the car's top speed, the Lizard can accelerate up steep inclines as if they weren't there, and the Assoluto has a top speed in excess of 360 km/h.
The 'secret' cars are known by different names in the Japanese version of the game. The Vainqure is called the 'Victoire', the Bulldog the 'Tempest', and the Squaldon the 'Dragone'.
The Makes are particular for different courses. Age is for "Lakeside Gate", Lizard is for "Over Pass City", Gnade is for "Mythical Coast" and Assoluto is for "The Extreme Oval".
Rage Racer was the first in the Ridge Racer series to feature a CGI
animated introduction. Here the Ridge Racer "mascot girl" Reiko Nagase was introduced for the very first time.
, and Rave Racer
, which all had soundtracks on Victor Records in Japan before the Playstation was released in the United States, but it's possible to listen to it by inserting the game CD, which is a CD-ROM XA
disc, into any CD player. Produced during summer/fall 1996, the genre of music consisted mostly of Electronic Music, which was a slight departure from the strictly euro-dance/club styles that early Ridge Racer. It marked the beginning of Namco's new primary sound team after their former members began working with other companies doing production on games such as Street Fighter EX
(1996) and Driving Emotion Type-S
(2000). Notable tracks include "Silverstream", "Deep Drive", "Rage Racer", and "Lightning Luge" among others.
At first, there was no Ridge Racer 6
released soundtrack as well, but it came out some years later.
concluding "It's not a bad game, we've just seen it all before (and before that even)". GameSpot
described it as "an outstanding sequel" but added "let's hope Namco addresses the collision problems in their next racer", a reference to the unrealistic crashes in the game.
Ridge Racer (series)
Ridge Racer is a series of arcade racing games developed and published by Namco for both the arcade and various gaming systems. In each of the games, players race on courses set in and around the fictional Ridge City while utilizing the concepts of drift racing to quickly traverse...
series of racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
s on the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation. Created by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
, it was first released in Japan on December 3, 1996. This game uses the same game's covers for both the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese version and the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
version.
Gameplay
Visually the game takes a different approach compared to the previous PlayStation titles. The game looks more realistic and has a darker colour scheme, it takes a lot of this from the arcade game in the Ridge Racer series, Rave RacerRave Racer
Rave Racer is a racing game created by Namco. It was released on July 16, 1995 for the Namco System 22 arcade platform. It is the third arcade title in the Ridge Racer series.-Cars:*Car #1: R.T. Derota*Car #2: R.T. Steel Gunner...
. For the first time in the Ridge Racer series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced singleplayer career system which uses credits. The player can get credits from winning races which can then be used to buy and upgrade cars.
The racing is separated into five classes, named 'Class 1' through to 'Class 5'. The game's objective is to earn money (Credits, or 'eg'), which can be spent on new cars or on upgrading existing cars. There are three races in Grade 1 and Grade 2 - Mythical Coast, Over Pass City and Lakeside Gate. The Extreme Oval is introduced from Class 3.
The game begins with the player in Class 1 with the Gnade Esperanza, the game's only Grade 1 car. The player must place in the top three in all of each Classes' events to progress to the next class. Each class has 3 chances to try. This is different than the early Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer may refer to:*Ridge Racer , an arcade game first released by Namco in 1993, later ported to the PlayStation*Ridge Racer , a series of sequels and spin-offs based on the arcade game...
when the player can have unlimited restarts. The player must retire from the Grand Prix if all 3 chances had been tried and failed to get into the top 3 position. All of the money and cars that the player won stays, but the medals would be lost. If the player wins all three races in a class using the correct grade of car (e.g. a Grade 1 car in Class 1), the gold trophy for that class is earned. Otherwise, the player simply moves on to the next class. When the player has completed the five 'Normal GP' events, the 'Extra GP' is unlocked. This allows the player to race the same Classes on reversed courses. As well as unlocking the Extra GP, the player receives 999,999,999 e.g. in Normal GP - more than enough to purchase all of the cars and upgrade them to Grade 5.
Upon finishing Class 5 in the Extra GP, Class 6 is unlocked, along with the three 'secret' cars. Although it's in the Extra GP, the races in Class 6 are driven on the forward tracks. Class 6 features only four opponents rather than the eleven faced in all other classes.
Tracks
Rage Racer has four tracks, which all can be driven backwards as well as forwards. Compared to the tracks in the previous games, Rage Racers tracks are very long and detailed, except for "The Extreme Oval", at 3,074m. The remaining 3 tracks are "Mythical Coast" (4,641m), "Over Pass City" (6,640m) and "Lakeside Gate" (6,237m). Rage Racer was also one of the only games in the series that did not feature an onscreen map during the race.
"Mythical Coast" has a varied range of corners and hills, and suits an all-round vehicle such as the Gnade Esperanza.
"Over Pass City" features many steep inclines, and suits the high acceleration Lizard vehicles.
"Lakeside Gate" is a technical, twisting course, to which the quick handling Age cars are best suited.
"The Extreme Oval" is a flat out oval with wide banked turns. The high speed Assoluto cars are most at home on this track.
Vehicles
There are four car manufacturers in Rage Racer. Each of the four manufacturers favours a different attribute. Age cars are lightweight, and feature excellent handling. Lizard cars favour large displacement engines with high torque outputs which give their cars great acceleration. Assoluto cars are designed with maximum power and top speed in mind. The sole Gnade car, the Esperanza, is an all rounder with average stats in each area.
With the exception of Gnade, each manufacturer has three 'standard' cars, and one 'secret' car.
Age's three 'standard' cars are the Erriso (Alouette in Japanese version) at Grade 2, the Abeille at Grade 3 and the Pegase at Grade 4.
Gnade's only car is the Esperanza. This is the first car you are given at the beginning of the game, and starts at Grade 1.
Lizard produces the Acceron at Grade 2, the Bayonet at Grade 3 and the Hijack at Grade 4.
Assoluto's cars are the Grade 3 Fatalita, the Istante at Grade 4, and the Ghepardo at Grade 5.
All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, with the cost increasing greatly from one grade to the next. The highest level to which the cars can be upgraded is Grade 5. This means the Assoluto Ghepardo cannot be upgraded, as it is a Grade 5 car as standard.
This is the first game in the Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer (series)
Ridge Racer is a series of arcade racing games developed and published by Namco for both the arcade and various gaming systems. In each of the games, players race on courses set in and around the fictional Ridge City while utilizing the concepts of drift racing to quickly traverse...
series that permits the player to race with a truck, but it only comes with manual transmission
Manual transmission
A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
. The only truck in this game is the Lizard Hijack, and is available from Class 4 in the game. In the extra Grand prix, there is an extra Grade 6 class where you can buy 'secret' cars. These cars are called the Age Vainqure [2,000,000 eg], Lizard Bulldog [3,700,000 eg] and the Assoluto Squaldon [6,666,666 e.g., an allusion to the Squaldon's 'Devil car' status]. The Age can go around most of the game's corners flat out at the car's top speed, the Lizard can accelerate up steep inclines as if they weren't there, and the Assoluto has a top speed in excess of 360 km/h.
The 'secret' cars are known by different names in the Japanese version of the game. The Vainqure is called the 'Victoire', the Bulldog the 'Tempest', and the Squaldon the 'Dragone'.
The Makes are particular for different courses. Age is for "Lakeside Gate", Lizard is for "Over Pass City", Gnade is for "Mythical Coast" and Assoluto is for "The Extreme Oval".
Prologues differences between Japanese and North America version
At the very beginning of the whole series (either regular GP or extra GP), there will be a prologue movie for the player to see before the race menu appears. However, the Japanese version and the North America version are different. The Japanese version will have the female voice and the paragraphs are longer but the North America version will not have the female voice and the paragraphs are shorter.Grand Prix classes and names
- Regular Grand Prix: (raced in original direction)
- Class 1: Calme GP
- Class 2: Brise GP
- Class 3: Rafale GP
- Class 4: Mistral GP
- Class 5: Tempete GP
- Extra GP: (raced in reverse direction)
- Class 1: Aisance GP
- Class 2: Agitation GP
- Class 3: Irritation GP
- Class 4: Colere GP
- Class 5: Rage GP
- Final special class: (raced in forward direction)
- Class 6: Diable GP
Courses
- 1. Mythical Coast
- 2. Over Pass City
- 3. Lakeside Gate
- 4. The Extreme Oval (available starting from Class 3)
Gnade (Germany)
- Gnade Esperanza (Grade 1)- 0 e.g. (This car is given in the beginning of the game.)
Age (France)
- Age Erriso (Alouette in JPN version) (Grade 2)- 2,600 e.g.
- Age Abeille (Grade 3)- 14,500 e.g.
- Age Pegase (Grade 4)- 143,300 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
)
Lizard (U.S.A.)
- Lizard Acceron (Instinct in JPN version) (Grade 2)- 4,000 e.g.
- Lizard Bayonet (Grade 3)- 15,200 e.g.
- Lizard Hijack (Grade 4)- 136,700 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
)
Assoluto (Italy)
- Assoluto Fatalita (Grade 3)- 20,000 e.g.
- Assoluto Istante (Grade 4)- 151,600 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
) - Assoluto Ghepardo (Grade 5)- 695,900 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
)
The secret cars
- Age Vainqure (Victoire in JPN version) (Grade ?)- 2,143,500 e.g.
- Lizard Bulldog (Tempest in JPN version) (Grade ?)- 2,836,800 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
) - Assoluto Squaldon (Dragone in JPN version) (Grade ?)- 6,666,666 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmissionManual transmissionA manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
)
Music
- 0. Random Play
- 1. Rage Racer
- 2. Mathemabeat
- 3. Lightning Luge
- 4. Industria
- 5. Hurricane Hub
- 6. Mech Monster
- 7. Silver Stream
- 8. Stimulation
- 9. Volcano Vehicle
- 10. Deep Drive (unlockable by getting all gold trophies on the first 5 classes)
Development
In an interview with the Namco development team, Nobuhisa Mikoda (Rage Racer game designer and project director) admitted that the game was "somewhat off series and aimed to pursue enjoyment in shift controlling".Rage Racer was the first in the Ridge Racer series to feature a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animated introduction. Here the Ridge Racer "mascot girl" Reiko Nagase was introduced for the very first time.
Soundtrack
There was never an "official" direct-audio soundtrack released for this game unlike its prequels, Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer 2Ridge Racer 2
This article is about the classic game. For the modern game for PSP, see Ridge Racer 2 is a racing game created by Namco. It was released in Japan in 1994 for the Namco System 22 arcade platform. It is the second title in the Ridge Racer series.More of an upgrade than a complete sequel, Ridge...
, and Rave Racer
Rave Racer
Rave Racer is a racing game created by Namco. It was released on July 16, 1995 for the Namco System 22 arcade platform. It is the third arcade title in the Ridge Racer series.-Cars:*Car #1: R.T. Derota*Car #2: R.T. Steel Gunner...
, which all had soundtracks on Victor Records in Japan before the Playstation was released in the United States, but it's possible to listen to it by inserting the game CD, which is a CD-ROM XA
CD-ROM XA
CD-ROM XA is an extension of the Yellow Book standard for CD-ROMs that combines compressed audio, video and computer data, allowing all to be accessed simultaneously. It was intended as a bridge between CD-ROM and CD-i and was developed by Sony and Philips...
disc, into any CD player. Produced during summer/fall 1996, the genre of music consisted mostly of Electronic Music, which was a slight departure from the strictly euro-dance/club styles that early Ridge Racer. It marked the beginning of Namco's new primary sound team after their former members began working with other companies doing production on games such as Street Fighter EX
Street Fighter EX
Street Fighter EX is a head-to-head fighting game with 3D graphics, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Sony ZN hardware in . It is a spin-off of the Street Fighter series co-produced by Capcom with Arika and was the first game in the series to feature polygon graphics...
(1996) and Driving Emotion Type-S
Driving Emotion Type-S
- Reception :A week after its Japanese release, Driving Emotion Type-S had sold 46,600 copies. The game made a more mediocre start outside of Japan, with only 2,500 copies sold in the United States a week after its North American release...
(2000). Notable tracks include "Silverstream", "Deep Drive", "Rage Racer", and "Lightning Luge" among others.
At first, there was no Ridge Racer 6
Ridge Racer 6
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...
released soundtrack as well, but it came out some years later.
Reception
The game received generally favourable ratings, IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
concluding "It's not a bad game, we've just seen it all before (and before that even)". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
described it as "an outstanding sequel" but added "let's hope Namco addresses the collision problems in their next racer", a reference to the unrealistic crashes in the game.