videogameblog

I never play racing games. I don't even like Mario Kart that much. Despite this, Ridge Racer Type 4 always seemed like something I would enjoy. I'd heard good things about it here and there, but had never been interested enough to try emulating it. I ultimately ended up playing it when I was looking through the Playstation Premium 'Classics' collection and saw it was available, so I thought I'd give it a quick try. I ended up enjoying it way more than I thought I would! It's a tonne of fun even if you're not a fan of the racing genre like me.

When I hit download I thought I'd play it for maybe 10 minutes. I threw on the Grand Prix mode quickly to try it out, expecting to lose immediately. Instead, I found the races to be structured in a way that kind of 'synchronises' the difficulty spike with your abilities; the first few you only need to place 3rd, giving you the chance to get used to the controls. Then the next batch you need to place 2nd, and there's alot more drifting involved. Then you're in the finals. You need to place 1st in every race, and all the tracks (especially the last one) are impossible without drifting. Using the experience I gained in the (brief) set of courses i'd done, I raced forward to first and somehow beat the Grand Prix mode on my first try. When you finish the announcer starts talking about how nobody expected you to win, and it really felt like the truth. It was like I was going against the odds by pushing through, getting better and scraping by each race. Like I said before I never play racing games either so it felt alot more cathartic for me to actually be able to win. The final race really feels like you're at your limit; you're given a car that goes way faster than the other ones you've been using so far, so you're blasting around the track at ridiculous speeds, letting go of the trigger at just the right time to drift. The music is also at it's best, the song playing in the back is amazing. The BPM gets more intense as you enter the final laps, only heightening the tension. I really like how this review describes the pre-2000s optimism felt throughout the game, it's especially present in the final track. You're the final winner of 1999, crossing the finish line as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. Completing the Grand Prix was a super cool experience that I'll definitely remember for a long time, especially the final track.

When people talk about RR4 the main point of discussion is usually the soundtrack. This is for good reason, as it kicks complete ass. Every single track is great, the fast BPM they all have really get you in the mood to blast around a racetrack. It was also super cool to hear all the different samples from songs I've listened to over the years. The JPEGmafia sample on 'Move Me' (my favorite track) was especially cool to be able to pinpoint. There was also a tonne of breakcore samples I picked up on, you can tell this was somewhere the genre definitely originated from. I think right now this game is tied with Persona 3 and AA:T&T for my favorite soundtrack of all time. I wish it was on spotify!!

Each song is accompanied by a map that matches it's tone perfectly. Each location feels completely unique. My favorite was Brightest Nite, I replayed it alongside the final level at least 3 times. It takes place on a dark, New York highway. The music is intense, almost grating. You're speeding down a bare, industrial highway, passing through countless dimly-lit yellow-soaked tunnels. The simplistic graphics create this nostalgic, dreamlike feel. Like a vague memory of a late drive home. It feels like something out of Wong Kar Wai's 'Fallen Angels'. Grittier maps like this are paired with ones like 'Wonderhill', which takes place at dusk as you race around a serene Japanese countryside. (I'm a huge fan of this video of a guy playing this map on a CRT. It looks so much prettier in low quality. truly the way it should be played, i ruined my first experience by playing it on a 4k TV). This map variation keeps things fresh, but also provides you with a wide variety of different visual styles that all pair with the wide variety of different music styles. Sometimes this really feels like an album that comes with a complimentary game, I cannot overstate how much the visuals compliment the music. They're like playable music videos.

The main thing that typcially deters me from racing games is the lack of gameplay variation; it usually boils down to holding down a button, drifting around corners, MAYBE boosting sometimes if the game is pushing the boundaries. Ridge Racer 4 still conforms to this simple formula, but it's so stylish and unique in it's visuals, soundtrack and overall execution that it manages to remain engaging through these means. It's easily becoming one of my favorite games in these regards. I'll definitely be revisiting in the future to do some time trials, It's kind of addicting to get your score lower. On top of everything I've praised, It also has the singular coolest opening cutscene of all time.

Can you feel the heat?