The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 8...

For Ridge Racer Type 4 (R4) to succeed as more than just another console racing game it had to engage players on multiple levels. The graphics engine was as good as Namco had ever done for the Playstation and the control was spot-on. It was the heart of the experience that Namco would have to explore. Who was racing and why? It was a question not often asked by developers. Why should players go through the process of winning another virtual trophy? Why should they challenge themselves to try and unlock 320 cars? It turned out that the team managers would be the way to get players more involved. The four team managers were interested in winning the most prestigious prize in auto sports history, the Real Racing Roots '99 Trophy.

Of course the driving force was a prize that every driver wanted to earn. The four managers; Robert, Shinji, Eniki and Sophie had ulterior motives. As the game began they presented one side of their personality to players. They all appeared to be one-dimensional characters in the beginning, stereotypes of the respective American, Japanese, Italian and French way of running things. As the stages progressed more and more of their back story was revealed. They would praise a great performance or sulk if the racer did poorly. As the personalities were fleshed out players learned that these managers had a lot more than the success of the team riding on them. Despite how big or successful they were on a corporate level they were still vulnerable figures. The managers were looking for a big break, a second chance, self confidence or redemption. The developers at Namco had created an emotional connection between the players and their chosen team. These relationships could only be realized by going through the game again and again.

Drivers had to earn their cars the "hard way" they could not simply keep restarting a race in order to earn credits to buy them. The R&D group for each manufacturer would develop a new car based on the performance of the driver. If they were winning the majority of their races then R&D would go all out and introduce a car that had far more horsepower and a greater top speed. If the driver did moderately in each race then R&D would come up with a car that was only slightly better. It was as if the sponsors did not trust the driver with a superior car. The way that each car handled, whether it was drift type or grip type, depended on the manufacturer. Players did not suddenly have to change their style of driving during each upgrade. They did however have to learn the nuances of a more powerful car as they were racing. This was the sort of thing that actual professional race car drivers were expected to do. Adapting to change was a mandate for racing's "on the job" training.

Namco did not miss a beat with any of the races. The real highlight of the game was in the final stage. The track "Shooting Hoops" in Los Angeles was a high point for console racing. Namco perfectly captured a moment and preserved it for gamers to enjoy. It was up to the player to make sure that the final race of the season would put their team on top. Since players had earned a new car just a race before they did not expect anything new for the final.

The manufacturers would surprise everyone by delivering their masterpiece, a super car that would out perform any previous model and perhaps be just enough to take home the gold. It was a good thing too because every other competitor would also be racing in their absolute best vehicle. Players raced a course that took place at the end of the season near midnight, symbolically the end of the millennium. The player learned that this course had to be played absolutely perfect in order to win. The slightest mistake in judging a turn would spell disaster and since players only had six laps it meant that they would have to learn the best lines as quickly as possible especially during the first lap itself.

Shooting Hoops was designed so that the player could just drive as fast as they could and leave caution to the wind. The player could hold down the accelerator through the entire course and see what their ride was capable of. It was up to them to find the right angle of approach through every turn without ever pressing the brake. If a player lost any momentum on the track then there was no chance to recover against the other super cars. This type of final race planning was a sublime way to reward players. They had survived every previous circuit which required absolute concentration lap after lap.

Putting the player in an all-or-nothing situation was the perfect final challenge. They had been trained by that point on how to adapt to the new course, new car and rival strategies. It was a way for players to demonstrate that they had become exceptional drivers in the process and even look good in the process. On the final lap, just as the player was about to catch up to and pass the final opponent the dark sky would light up with fireworks. The New Year was being celebrated with the crowning of a champion. It was enough to give long time players goosebumps. The final grand prix of 1999 would live on forever as the greatest race on Earth.

The benefits that the console had over the arcade were becoming manifest in R4. Players could pick the game up and race a few laps in arcade mode or set aside a few hours and go for a trophy in the Grand Prix mode. The limitations of the consoles were based on technology rather than programming. By the end of the '90s some of the most memorable gaming experiences could be found at home more so than in the arcade. While R4 could boast 8 tracks, several of these shared portions of roads, just like some of the circuits did in previous games. To help make the tracks more unique Namco placed the races during different times of the day. The studio also decided to take the player back and forth across the Pacific. Some of the tracks were in Yokohama and Fukuoka Japan, and some in New York and Los Angeles USA. Despite having layouts that were very similar to the tracks featured in Ridge City audiences were expected to accept that this was an international race.

Players that committed themselves for a season of racing had the best racing experience in any console generation. The reason why was owed to how much time and energy the developers had invested into delivering the complete package. The graphics were amazing, control was perfect, introduction of team managers and manufacturers revolutionary. Namco found the perfect balance between the sim and arcade experience. It was a game that could be fun, challenging and even frustrating all in the same lap. Every following Ridge Racer game from Namco would be measured against R4. There were some surprises that Namco had held off to until the very end of the game. These things would become part of the Ridge Racer DNA for every following title. The next blog will look at the return of an icon. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 7...

The Ridge Racer Team had become very confident with the franchise and wanted to give audiences an entirely new perspective on the series. They began by rewriting the game from the ground up. The hardware they were working with was beginning to show its age and Sony had already shipped development kits for the upcoming Playstation 2. R4 would be the swan song for the original Playstation console. As such the team at Namco wanted to make sure that the game went out on top. To keep players engaged it would not be enough to simply have a great racing game to play through, audiences wanted to be engaged on multiple levels, they wanted more immersion.

It would be difficult for Namco to sell players on $4000 deluxe sit down arcade cabinets for just one game. They needed to do something to recreate the arcade feel while providing all of the benefits of home gaming. The studio developed an analog controller called the Jogcon. It was an updated version of the classic Playstation controller only this version had a steering wheel situated in the center. Players could drive with their left hand or even with their thumbs.

The Jogcon was sold with special editions of the game. It was by far less expensive than purchasing a dedicated gaming steering wheel while still giving a greater sense of control over the digital directional pad. The dual analog joysticks would not appear on a console until the Playstation 2 a year later. How the gamer played the title was one thing, how they were expected to perceive it was something else entirely.

Namco had a very ambitious goal for the franchise. They wanted audiences to take the game in earnest, or at least as seriously as the biggest AAA titles from other studios. They wanted players to believe that they would be competing in a living, breathing environment. A place that would only grow and become better as the years went on. From this point on the studio would present a more complete picture of the world that the developers had imagined but could never commit to the game. Instead of an attract screen that flashed random gameplay elements or an opening film that played like a disjointed music video the studio went for a full blown movie experience. It was apparent in the cinematic Ridge Racer Type 4 opening. The "race queen" model Reiko Nagase was formally introduced to audiences. She had appeared in every iteration of the game up until that point but hadn't been a named main character until then. The team managers that players would drive for; Robert Chrisman, Shinji Yazaki, Eniki Gilbert and Sophie Chevalier got top billing.

The game didn't actually feature any longer cinematic sequences than the introduction.The story portions covered during the Grand Prix mode were presented as 2D frames with text. The memory was limited to the storage capacity of a CD-ROM after all. That did not stop the studio from trying to immerse players into the experience. The game had eight courses double the amount of courses in Rage Racer and more than any previous title, not including mirrored or reverse courses. It also had over 20 music tracks, again double of what the team was able to put into Rage Racer. They had clearly learned how to optimize every ounce of storage and processing power available to them. The biggest surprise was yet to come for audiences.

Players learned that they would be competing for the prestigious Real Racing Roots '99 trophy. The game put them in the role of a hot freelance driver that had caught the attention of four notable teams. Each team featured cars that handled and performed differently, breaking from the school of design that had players choose between a beginner, intermediate and expert cars. The teams represented the legacy of the designers at Namco. There was the Dig Racing Team, which featured Dig Dug livery. The Pac Racing Club, which as you can imagine was themed on Pac Man. Racing Team Solvalou had the colors of the space shooter Xevious and finally R.C. Micro Mouse Mappy which had the colorful cars themed on the puzzle game Mappy. Each of the clubs had different owners and team managers with diverse priorities. The garages that served as the backdrop between levels would be set by the team that players joined. They could tell during the selection process which teams had huge budgets and which were modest.

Players learned that not only could they choose from the four teams but they could also choose from four auto manufacturers. The livery for each team would be wrapped on whichever starting car the player selected. As the game progressed players would earn new cars from their sponsors. Players could not buy cars with race winnings, as they did in Rage Racer. Instead it was a one-season run with no repeats and no cash payouts. New cars were earned based on how well gamers placed in each race. It was the economics of real world racing being introduced to the series. Sponsors rewarded victory generously and tightened their purse strings during a losing season.

Between the four teams, four manufacturers, eight tracks and multiple finishing positions it was possible for players to unlock 320 cars. Granted many of these were the same car but with different team colors on them but the high end cars for getting first place were unique for each team and manufacturer combination. As soon as racing fans found out the sheer number of cars they could earn they went crazy over the title. Namco had given players a title that would keep them busy well until the Playstation 2 had rolled out. What kept the players engaged was far more than just a great gaming experience. The immersion that Namco was going for would reveal itself little by little as the game progressed. The next blog will take a closer look at how the studio accomplished that. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!