Ridge Racer

Gameplay-wise, it marked the change from the "classic" style last seen in Ridge Racer V to the new drifting mechanic and nitrous boost that the series would incorporate from there on, including on Ridge Racer 6 and Ridge Racer 7. Critically acclaimed, praised for its visuals, gameplay and soundtrack; it was notable at the time for providing home console-like graphics at a smooth 60 fps framerate on a mobile gaming system, harnessing the PSP's graphical abilities. An updated version with more tracks and modes was released for the PSP in 2006 titled Ridge Racer 2; seven years after Ridge Racer on PSP came Ridge Racer on PlayStation Vita.

• Title — Ridge Racer • Developer — Namco • Designer — Hisashi Kawamura • Series — Ridge Racer • Platforms — PlayStation Portable • Genre — Racing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Director — Masaya Kobayashi • Producer — Isao Nakamura • Composer — Hiroshi Okubo

• Illustration — Gameplay screenshot The core aspect of the entire Ridge Racer series is drift racing, that is traditional lap racing against opponents with the added twist of intentionally oversteering and sliding the car through sharp corners and turns, known as "drifting", which earns the player several bonuses during a race. There are a total of 24 courses in the game. Game modes are World Tour, Single race, Time Trial, and Wireless Battle, which supports up to 8 player multiplayer over the PSP's ad hoc Wi-Fi network capability. World Tour consists of 2 to 6 races per tour, representing a specific world of Ridge Racer. Notable in the game is the "nitrous boost" system. The player has a Nitrous Gauge made up of three nitrous tanks, which at the start of a race are either completely depleted or only partially full. As the player drifts through the corners (especially at very high slip angles) during the race, their nitrous gauge fills up. When the player fills up one of the three nitrous tanks, it can be activated to achieve a temporary speed boost. The nitrous tanks cannot be recharged while any tank is in use though, but the residual speed increase when the nitrous boost expires can be used just before entering corners to recharge the player's nitrous tanks at a faster rate than normal. The game also features a full motion video opening, that shows series mascot Reiko Nagase, marking her return following her absence from Ridge Racer V. Available in the game is a fully playable version of the 1980 Namco arcade game Rally-X, which appears when the game initially loads up.

The game was announced under the title New Ridge Racer at E3 2004. An updated demo build was playable at the Tokyo Games Show later that year. Sony confirmed on November 5, 2004 that Ridge Racers would be a launch title. The title, with the additional 'S' at the end to make it a plural, was made to represent the game as a unified gathering of all the previous Ridge Racer games. Development took approximately 9 months. The director, Kenya Kobayashi, said their goals were to "hit the sweet spot for fans" and "make the most of the hardware specifications".

Hiroshi Okubo, who composed for previous Ridge Racer entries and sound directed R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, served as the game's sound director. In relation to the idea of Ridge Racers being a unified gathering of content from previous games, Okubo assembled a large team of composers, many of whom had composed for previous Ridge Racer games. The team included in-house composers such as Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Yuu Miyake, as well as composers who had since left Namco such as Shinji Hosoe, Nobuyoshi Sano, and Kohta Takahashi. The game's music is split into five discs: Red and Blue Disc both consist of new tracks, Remix Disc consists of remixed music from previous Ridge Racer games, and Classic Disc 1 and 2 features selections of tracks from previous games. A 2 CD soundtrack was published by Namco and distributed by King Records on April 27, 2005. Its production was delayed due to the team having to review rights and contracts, as well as prioritizing the game's launch. Some tracks that were shortened for their in-game versions appear in full length. The version of "Drive U 2 Dancing Remix" here notably includes vocals; Ayako Saso had submitted both vocal and instrumental versions as options during development.