Thanks for the shout and for at least trying the game (and making, narrating and uploading a video in a few hours)! – I guess I have fond memories of playing it on my N64 as I love Ridge Racer on the playstation and the N64 never really have many decent racing games so I made sure I picked it up when I saw it; I suppose I ignored its shortfalls at the time.
Your review was spot on though; it can at times feel more of a shunting battle (with both the cars and the track) than a race and your explanation of box collision does ring true but I still like it and to me it feels ‘ridge racery’ enough. I also think the number of tracks is pretty generous for a single game and although there aren’t the excellent tunes like ‘rare hero’ and ‘rotterdam nation’, I think they did a god job with the soundtrack especially given the storage limitations for a cartridge game.
Never try the DS version though. Even with a DS.
no problem at all mate i had semi forgotten about this version existing. i’d never played it before so it was interesting to see and, yes, you’re right, for n64 owners it’s “close enough”. the original ps1 games had their flaws, too. this one is just maybe a bit spoiled by overly aggressive ai which, for some reason, were toned right down on the ps1 in all the ridge racer games on that system especially the arcade ports. the arcade originals, as you can probably see from my videos or if you’re familiar with them, feature a lot more “interaction” with opponents and it can get quite annoying. it’s a bit of a crapshoot if you’ll do well or not as you’re fighting against them as well as the course. i reviewed rage racer late last night and that’s another ps1 title that does the (mostly) one car at a time overtaking much better. the cars pretty much stay in their lanes but have just enough autonomy to make things tricky, rather than arsey. the ps1 titles all had box collision, too, i think, certainly the first couple. despite having MORE collisions, the n64 version handles them better in that you’re not completely punished for getting into it with another car. the ps1 ridge racer is particularly bad for that, with every car coming off better than you do in a collision.
with regards to tracks, they’re fine. it’s nice to see a completely new track, too. the desert one feels strange in a ridge racer game but was quite well laid out and fun to play. one thing i did not mention however in the review is the steering. it’s really not good. the analog stick oversteers and using the d-pad makes you understeer. quite strange. there’s no play in the analog really, and it first kicks in at an angle that’s stronger than you’d want. if you pay attention in the video, i’m moving it like tap-tap-tap to go round corners, you can’t just hold it at an angle and match the angle of the corner, it’s always too severe. small niggle and it’s also something that was an issue on the ps1 until they implemented proper analog control but, still, it’s annoying being as the n64 analog stick is perfectly capable of working well and i feel it was quite shoddily implemented here. i should have mentioned that but it skipped my mind while i was playing (also it doesn’t take me very long to do videos usually as i just narrate them 99% of the time while i’m actually playing. i think it gives a more realistic instant reaction rather than doing it afterwards and it also means i can bookend the commentaries easier)
i did miss the music, yes, but in all honesty they did do a good job having a “real” sounding soundtrack on the system with such a small data footprint. that’s one thing i disliked more and more as the series went on, as the music changed from loud and obnoxious bangers and breakbeat stuff into pretty weak sort of trance music or conventional rock. i think ridge racer is by far the best with some stupid fast music blaring out. we were really spoilt with the original ps1 and arcade soundtracks, they really stand out in the pantheon of soundtracks in general and add so much to the game.
i actually owned the ds version for a while. terrible :-/ i also have ridge racer 3ds which isn’t as bad but it’s pretty bare bones. the 3d is nice though. i wish they’d do a new nintendo handheld with a proper 3d screen but i think that’s highly unlikely. it was great to be able to play stuff in 3d without some contraption attached to your face though !
yes mate it looked fucking awful :p i think i upscaled it 5x or something :p i can’t face the vaseline textures of the n64, ever. just really not a fan of that system.
This is the only console entry I’ve not played! Along with Wipeout 64, it’d be one of the reasons I’d pick up an N64. Not really a fan of the console otherwise.
i wouldn’t say it’s worth it mate to be honest. i thought it was nice to begin with but the further you get into the game, the more frustrating it becomes, sadly. at low levels/low speeds the handling is (almost) forgiveable. it’s far from terrible, but when you start to do the tougher courses it just doesn’t capture the gliding/racing feel of the originals and feels much more like you’re just roughhousing your way around the track. the ai in particular is ridiculous, too, it just takes seemingly random lines and will jump about the track, pretty much glitching from one side to the other at times. i had a funny race where one car actually got semi stuck on TOP of another, no idea how that happened, but i wasn’t recording that one, sadly. i’ve never tried wipeout 64, i didn’t play much n64 in the past. my mate had one but just had a few games for it. we played a lot of the original mario party which was actually quite fun, but i wasn’t a fan of waverace which he thought was great. it just seemed really slow to me. and i didn’t like the zelda games on it as i thought they were drab looking. i know they’re meant to be some of the best but i subsequently played through ocarina of time and thought it was “ok”. maybe a “you had to be there” sort of thing. i still think the best zelda game is the wind waker. i couldn’t get on with the new ones on the switch, either, i just found them annoying to control and a bit aimless. again, probably not a popular opinion !
Thanks for the shout and for at least trying the game (and making, narrating and uploading a video in a few hours)! – I guess I have fond memories of playing it on my N64 as I love Ridge Racer on the playstation and the N64 never really have many decent racing games so I made sure I picked it up when I saw it; I suppose I ignored its shortfalls at the time.
Your review was spot on though; it can at times feel more of a shunting battle (with both the cars and the track) than a race and your explanation of box collision does ring true but I still like it and to me it feels ‘ridge racery’ enough. I also think the number of tracks is pretty generous for a single game and although there aren’t the excellent tunes like ‘rare hero’ and ‘rotterdam nation’, I think they did a god job with the soundtrack especially given the storage limitations for a cartridge game.
Never try the DS version though. Even with a DS.
no problem at all mate i had semi forgotten about this version existing. i’d never played it before so it was interesting to see and, yes, you’re right, for n64 owners it’s “close enough”. the original ps1 games had their flaws, too. this one is just maybe a bit spoiled by overly aggressive ai which, for some reason, were toned right down on the ps1 in all the ridge racer games on that system especially the arcade ports. the arcade originals, as you can probably see from my videos or if you’re familiar with them, feature a lot more “interaction” with opponents and it can get quite annoying. it’s a bit of a crapshoot if you’ll do well or not as you’re fighting against them as well as the course. i reviewed rage racer late last night and that’s another ps1 title that does the (mostly) one car at a time overtaking much better. the cars pretty much stay in their lanes but have just enough autonomy to make things tricky, rather than arsey. the ps1 titles all had box collision, too, i think, certainly the first couple. despite having MORE collisions, the n64 version handles them better in that you’re not completely punished for getting into it with another car. the ps1 ridge racer is particularly bad for that, with every car coming off better than you do in a collision.
with regards to tracks, they’re fine. it’s nice to see a completely new track, too. the desert one feels strange in a ridge racer game but was quite well laid out and fun to play. one thing i did not mention however in the review is the steering. it’s really not good. the analog stick oversteers and using the d-pad makes you understeer. quite strange. there’s no play in the analog really, and it first kicks in at an angle that’s stronger than you’d want. if you pay attention in the video, i’m moving it like tap-tap-tap to go round corners, you can’t just hold it at an angle and match the angle of the corner, it’s always too severe. small niggle and it’s also something that was an issue on the ps1 until they implemented proper analog control but, still, it’s annoying being as the n64 analog stick is perfectly capable of working well and i feel it was quite shoddily implemented here. i should have mentioned that but it skipped my mind while i was playing (also it doesn’t take me very long to do videos usually as i just narrate them 99% of the time while i’m actually playing. i think it gives a more realistic instant reaction rather than doing it afterwards and it also means i can bookend the commentaries easier)
i did miss the music, yes, but in all honesty they did do a good job having a “real” sounding soundtrack on the system with such a small data footprint. that’s one thing i disliked more and more as the series went on, as the music changed from loud and obnoxious bangers and breakbeat stuff into pretty weak sort of trance music or conventional rock. i think ridge racer is by far the best with some stupid fast music blaring out. we were really spoilt with the original ps1 and arcade soundtracks, they really stand out in the pantheon of soundtracks in general and add so much to the game.
i actually owned the ds version for a while. terrible :-/ i also have ridge racer 3ds which isn’t as bad but it’s pretty bare bones. the 3d is nice though. i wish they’d do a new nintendo handheld with a proper 3d screen but i think that’s highly unlikely. it was great to be able to play stuff in 3d without some contraption attached to your face though !
You’re definitely playing this one of the PC by the looks of it – it’s much blurrier on the real N64 hardware! 😊
yes mate it looked fucking awful :p i think i upscaled it 5x or something :p i can’t face the vaseline textures of the n64, ever. just really not a fan of that system.
This is the only console entry I’ve not played! Along with Wipeout 64, it’d be one of the reasons I’d pick up an N64. Not really a fan of the console otherwise.
i wouldn’t say it’s worth it mate to be honest. i thought it was nice to begin with but the further you get into the game, the more frustrating it becomes, sadly. at low levels/low speeds the handling is (almost) forgiveable. it’s far from terrible, but when you start to do the tougher courses it just doesn’t capture the gliding/racing feel of the originals and feels much more like you’re just roughhousing your way around the track. the ai in particular is ridiculous, too, it just takes seemingly random lines and will jump about the track, pretty much glitching from one side to the other at times. i had a funny race where one car actually got semi stuck on TOP of another, no idea how that happened, but i wasn’t recording that one, sadly. i’ve never tried wipeout 64, i didn’t play much n64 in the past. my mate had one but just had a few games for it. we played a lot of the original mario party which was actually quite fun, but i wasn’t a fan of waverace which he thought was great. it just seemed really slow to me. and i didn’t like the zelda games on it as i thought they were drab looking. i know they’re meant to be some of the best but i subsequently played through ocarina of time and thought it was “ok”. maybe a “you had to be there” sort of thing. i still think the best zelda game is the wind waker. i couldn’t get on with the new ones on the switch, either, i just found them annoying to control and a bit aimless. again, probably not a popular opinion !