Ridge Racer

Story

In the PlayStation version, the player can play a Galaxian mini-game while the game is loading. If the player wins before the game loads, eight additional cars are unlocked to drive in the game. The twelve cars have different characteristics: some have a high top speed, others are particularly fast or twisty, others are more balanced. Some cars are named after other Namco games, such as Solvalou, Mappy, Bosconian, Nebulasray and Xevious. Once the game is loaded, the CD is only needed to play six instrumental music tracks. The player can change the CD at any time during the game, but the game will not update to indicate the change; regardless of which CD is inserted, there will always be six tracks to choose from, corresponding to the starting points of the six tracks on the game CD. After starting the game, the player can select a track, a gearbox (automatic or six-speed manual), a car and a song. During the race, the player can watch the track from a first-person perspective (or from a third-person perspective in the PlayStation version). The game can be played with the NeGcon controller from Namco. As this is an arcade racing game, collisions do not damage the car, but merely slow down the player's speed. There is also a time limit that ends the game when it counts down to zero. There are checkpoints on the track that give the player extra time when passing them. The game has only one race track, but it consists of four race configurations with different levels of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Time Trial (in the last two, the track is lengthened). The player races against eleven other cars, except in Time Trial, where there is only one opponent. The higher the difficulty level, the faster the cars drive, with the fastest cars competing in Time Trial mode. Each race consists of three laps (two on the beginner track). In the PlayStation version, after the player has won each race, 'Extra' races become available, which are driven on an inverted version of the track, and the player faces an additional opponent in Time Trial mode: the 13th speeding 'Devil' car, the fastest car in the game. If you win this race, the car is unlocked and you can drive it. In the arcade version, the winner's score is saved in the action replay highlights after the game ends. The PlayStation version also features a hidden "mirror" version of the tracks. The track becomes a "mirror image" of itself; left turns become right turns and vice versa, and the environment changes sides of the road.