It’s easy to dismiss the “Ridge Racer” series. Debuting alongside new consoles, like “Ridge Racer 6” and “7” for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively, or shortly after new consoles, like “Ridge Racer 64,” the franchise often seems less interested in showing you a good time than how well the latest entry renders the helicopter swooping over the track as you zoom past the waterfall. Releasing as one of the first playable games for a system that can generate 3-D images without glasses, “Ridge Racer 3D” would seem to be following this tradition of pretty but unremarkable games. But like your best friend you don’t realize you’re in love with, “Ridge Racer 3D” is uglier than you’re used to — and more fun.
Yes, “3D” is surprisingly rough around the edges. Race setup menus take too long to get through, car models are blocky, and windshield reflections of your surroundings are so pixelated, you wonder why they even bothered. On top of this is an announcer so repetitive, the nonstop utterance of the word “slipstream” goes from maddening to hypnotic.
“3D” is also far more old-school than what modern racing fans may be used to. There’s virtually no way to customize the cars you buy as you progress through tournaments. And crashing, as it is, does no damage to your car; it only slows you down.
| ‘Ridge Racer 3D’ |
| » Systems: 3DS |
| » Price: $39.99 |
| » Rating: 4 out of 5 stars |
Still, this is the most exciting racing game to come along in a while, and the best hand-held racer outside “Mario Kart DS.”
For one, “3D” gives players the greatest sense of speed since “Star Wars Episode I: Racer.” That game, more than a decade old, achieved this illusion by making the tracks claustrophobic, so you were constantly dodging all the obstacles flying by. “3D” achieves this with a top-notch drifting system that lets you take even hairpin turns incredibly fast. Letting off the accelerator for a second while turning sends your car into a spin, and every car drifts a little bit differently, requiring varying levels of corrective steering to get out of the spin. Mastering this technique is great fun, and despite all the game’s frustrations, there are few things in gaming more satisfying than sliding past competitors in the controlled fishtail that defines “Ridge Racer 3D.”
