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Ridge Racer 7
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Considering that the only other decent racing title at launch is Need For Speed: Carbon, Ridge Racer seems to be the safest choice for gamers who have a need to burn rubber on November 17th.

A Ridge Racer game has graced both the North American PS1 and PS2 launches dating back to 1995. With the emergence of the PS3 the seventh entry in this series is again at Sony’s side, a familiar friend, who seems to enjoy being present as a new generation of gaming is christened.

Those of you familiar with the series understand that Ridge Racer has always been about balls-to-the wall speed and drifting. I never really understood why Namco included an option for utilizing the brakes, but that argument is for another day. For the moment, let’s examine Ridge Racer 7 and the legacy it will likely leave behind.

Blue flames from the tail pipe=lots of speed.

It really isn’t appropriate to begin a Ridge Racer review without discussing the beautifully crafted vehicles and sparkling world that Namco Bandai has created with the PS3’s power. Purported to run at 1080p and a constant sixty frames per second, Ridge Racer certainly has upped the ante in graphical department. My Sony Bravia only displays 720p, but let me just state that the visuals are sufficient enough to please even the most hardcore graphics whore.

The sleek and sexy sports cars, although fictitious, are modeled incredibly well with a seemingly unending palate of colors to appease Ridge Racer fans. With high definition resolution, the vehicles are really the star of the show this time around. The background graphics certainly haven’t suffered in the transition from last gen to next gen either. Not only will you see some familiar tracks from previous titles, gamers will be treated to some new areas with features such as cascading waterfalls and tracks covered with lush foliage.

Smile for the camera as your car drifts into the wall.

All the while the frame rate does seem to stay locked in at sixty frames per second and to be quite honest; it’s as graphically impressive as any racing game I have ever seen. While the cosmetic aspects of the game have made a leap to the next gen, the music and sounds of the game will seem quite familiar to fans of the series. There’s nothing dreadful mind you, it’s just that the familiar upbeat techno tunes, squealing tires and whining engines are present in this seventh iteration, as it was in the Xbox 360’s Ridge Racer 6.

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