Background

With the exception of Ridge Racer 6, the Ridge Racer series has stayed loyal to appearing on Sony’s platforms. A gaming tradition continues when Ridge Racer 7 launches with the new Playstation 3, just as its predecessors were launch titles for PS1, PS2, and PSP. The king of drifting is back with some new gameplay changes and an easy to use international online mode.

If you’ve never played Ridge Racer before, you’re in for quite a ride. Ridge Racer uses a unique unrealistic system. Normal laws of physics can easily be defied as you drift around sharp corners at 200 MPH without even glancing at the brake. In fact, the entire game actually revolves around this. Not only will you need to master drifting to be successful on some of the harder tracks, but drifting fills up your nitrous gauge: the sharper and faster the drift, the more nitrous stocks up. The only catch is, you cannot generate any nitrous while nitrous is actually in use. Additionally, any type of crash whether it is with another machine or the environment doesn’t result in any type of wreck. Basically your machine will just bump away and slow down, that’s it.

In Ridge Racer 7, you take the role of a racer that starts from the bottom trying to make his way to the top, and to do so you will need to win the Ridge State Grand Prix Championship. Besides the Ridge State Grand Prix (RSGP), there are two other event types that can help you achieve your goal. The RSGP sets you against seven opponents in an accumulative point battle over multiple tracks. However, you cannot compete in these races without a car, which Ridge Racer 7 calls machines. To get your machines, you must race in the Manufacture’s Trial. Initially, there are only three manufacturers to choose from, but more come into play as you advance through the RSGP and your fame points increase. Additionally, there is the UFRA Single Event, which are one track races that have specific goals you must accomplish to earn CR (Credits) to purchase more machines and parts. Usually these UFRA events are in the modes of Overtake 13 (where you start the race at last place and must finish in first to win) and Time Trial races.

As I just mentioned briefly, in RR7 you can customize your machine, which in earlier versions was previously impossible. Using your CR points, you can enter the Machine Connector and purchase a totally new machine, or upgrade anything from cosmetic additions to new engines, tires, nitrous; the whole works. There are three different machine types, categorized by how they handle drifting, which are mild, standard, and dynamic. The Manufacture’s Trials are good ways to find which type of Machine works best for you, because in the Trials you use the car that you are competing for.