Namco’s ‘Ridge Racer’ was one of the early titles to be released for PSP which came out around the same time as the console itself. It follows the classic arcade style of car racing and has the graphics to make it one of the best games to be released so far for PSP. Ridge Racer has always been alongside Sony, going back to the original Playstation. It always seems to showcase what the console is capable of and the conversion to PSP is no exception.

When you first boot up the game on your PSP you know that you are going to be in for a treat. The intro movie is incredible (I showed all my friends how cool it looked). The menus are really easy to navigate and are designed well to get you straight into the action. You are first presented with different options for game play. The first and most epic section of the game is World Tour. It comprises of a number of different tours that need to be completed. To progress you must finish with or higher than the finishing position designated by the computer. This is not too hard to start with but it gets more difficult as the game progresses. If you finish a tour with flying colours then more courses and cars become unlocked. The second type of game play is Single Race. I found this to be quite a handy option when you have short bus trips into the city and only have limited gaming time. The last is Time Attack where you have to beat your own personal best time on each track.

Before you start any race you get to choose the class of car you want to drive. These range from fairly standard street car styles to fully customised performance machines. After selecting a car you also get to pick the colour of your vehicle. After deciding on the car options your car is ready to race. The game play is helped by the use of the analogue stick on the PSP. I have found some games have been very hard to control due to only using the directional pad. You have two options of view to choose from, in-car view or behind the car. The car handling itself is fairly precise for a PSP game. You have the option of making the car drift when turning sharp corners. The more you drift, the more reward you get. On the left hand side of the screen is three bars, as you drive around the course and drift, the bars fill up giving you nitro boosts. They don’t last for very long but may give you the difference between winning and losing a race when it gets down to the serious end of a tour. The courses themselves are quite varied and you will find that you won’t get bored of looking at the same thing all the time. They range from sunny afternoons near beaches to rocky mountain top racing. There are more complicated tracks for people who are a fan of drifting or straight forward speed tracks.

Overall Ridge Racer is a great game with enough complexities to make it interesting but easy enough to pick up and just drive. It would be suitable for both young and old to play. The game becomes more addictive as you unlock new cars and tracks. If you are in the market for a racing game for your PSP and enjoy a game that combines entertainment and realism then this is the one.

Rating: 4 out of 5