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.
