by:	December 10, 2005

As you progress in the game’s single player portion, known as World Xplorer. In this mode, you have a bunch of cells that are webbed together, you can pick one cell, then go to the next, mapping out a few races for you to take, so you can cover more ground in one sitting. If you complete a few cells surrounding a red cell, that red cell, which is a car becomes unlocked and you receive that car. There are hundreds of these races and it all looks daunting but you can easily beat every single race under twenty hours. After all the races the game gives you progress reports, telling you exactly what is going on. The thing is, they are pretty drawn out and are given every single time you go through some races, so it gets pretty repetitive. The cars you get in the game are all made up with made up manufacturers but they vary from street racers, formula racing type cars, and trucks, all in different classes. All of the cars have a few references to old Namco titles, while others are just completely made up games. Some of the cars even have designs referring to games such as Soul Calibur or Pac-Man. Strangely, whenever your time shows up in the actual game, it shows a circular area with the old Pac-Man. Also, there is the full version of Pac-Man in the beginning of the game, that acts as a loading screen as well, which you can play for as long as you like before actually exiting out of it.

Besides World Xplorer you have your basic single race mode which lets you go through the game’s tracks and practice, but the most interesting is Global Time Attack mode which lets you try and get the best times for your personal best, but if you have Xbox Live you can post your race times against others online. You can also race against the ghost replays of the top players. The multiplayer for the game has your standard two player split-screen for the console, but Xbox Live you actually have a good amount of stuff going for you. Besides future content downloads, leaderboards, and a spectator mode, you can have a whooping fourteen racers on one track at a time racing against eachother. So far, that is the most ever for an Xbox 360 game. You can select if you would like it to be a ranked game or not, but in all honesty, the limited number of Xbox 360 systems out there makes it hard to actually find a huge amount of players at any given time. The only bad thing about the online multiplayer, is that many times you will get horrible lag, lag that is so bad that it affects your performance in the race, while others may not see the same thing. I have tested this on many occasions, and it seems to be more random than anything, but hopefully it is something Namco will fix now that the game is out in all major territories.

Visually you won’t be impressed with this game at all, especially if you have played Project Gotham Racing 3. It is definitely smooth, crisp, and has a fantastic framerate, but nothing about it screams next-generation visuals. The cars aren’t particualry detailed, with only the most basic of reflections shown on them, and some bad textures here and there which can be disappointing. The road really isn’t all that special looking, being mostly the same repeating texture, but it still gets the job done. The actual tracks have few details, with maybe a few buildings in the background, or windmills, but in some city levels you will get factories and skyscrapers, which end up making the game, look a bit better. There are a few little details such as helicopters flying above and airplanes lying around, but nothing to complicated. To say the least, the game is extremely colorful, and it is especially apparent when going through tunnels during night levels, and seeing fantastic lights and colors while going through tunnels. A few other thing sare very well modeled, but everything is very smooth, which is expected, but don’t expect any of the lighting effects, or sun bloom effects you have in PGR3.

The most Japanese thing about the game isn’t the fact that it feels linear, or the visuals are just mostly smooth with little detail, but the actual sound. The game has music that is mostly techno/electronic music mixed in with some sounds of past Namco titles, and little sound effects that might induce some nostalgia. You might think the music would be annoying, but it actually goes very well with the game, and actually speeds up or gets more intense as you go through the track. The announcer/DJ of the game, which only a Japanese game would have, is especially extremely annoying. I know there has to be a way to turn him off from talking but for the life of me I can’t find it. The announcer is like an annoying little kid watching you play, and saying obvious things over and over. Anytime one of the cars around you uses nitrous he says “Here comes some crazy nitrous!” or when you are passing someone he says “Almost there!” or he will just say extremely annoying stuff no matter what you a redoing. The actual engine and track noises are sort of disappointing with most of the engines all sounding very similar and not that loud at all, even in first-person view, with the most other sounds you hear is the sound of the tires when drifting, and the same bumping noise you get when hitting rails or cars.

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Ridge Racer 6 isn’t the worst game in the world, nor is it the best. It just doesn’t feel like the huge leap it could have been, but it is still a pretty good experience while it last. The game does become repetitive and for many it will become downright boring, but if you are a racing fan in need of something different, or have always been a Ridge Racer fan you will definitely find something to do in this game.

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