I'm Kohta Takahashi, part of the sound staff for both productions and this video is super informative and full of great details. I'm glad you were impressed with the R4 opening production, because it was really hard work. Thanks for making this video! 🏁🏎😊👍
I´d like to thank you for your great work. Move Me and Euphoria are among my personal favourite tracks, not just as a videogame soundtrack, rather music in general.
Ridge Racer Type 4. The soundtrack is probably the best original racing game soundtrack to this day. It's just fantastic. I have a copy of it today 17 years later because it's that good. The visuals, sound and atmosphere of RRT4 sucked me in and didn't let me go for hours. Why don't you make games like this any more? WHY DON'T YOU MAKE GAMES LIKE THIS ANY MORE NAMCO??
@@retro4fun358 yeah, and you can actually confirm this with an emulator, there are a lot of videos here showing R4 in 1080p and it looks just like a ps2 game.
@@RainerLuizFonseca not really, the Polygon jiggling is still present because of the lack of floating point math on the PS1, sure a couple emulators can mitigate this effect but not 100%
@@metallicarabbit I meant, it looks like a PS2 game with the option to eliminate polygon jiggling turned ON (yes, they eliminate it 100% now). But jiggling "effect" aside, what's impressive is the polygon count, modeling and lighting for a PS1 game, it comes very close to early PS2 titles.
There's just something so cool about old arcade racing games. Relying on a strong stylised look rather than photo-realism make the games of yesteryear exude a magic that's kinda lost today.
Indeed! When I worked on NFS 1 (PS1) the artists had, IMHO, a perfect blend between photorealism and bright cartoon colors - probably because they took heavy inspiration from Daytona USA arcade. I never got into Ridge Racer but there is indeed something magically about the early Ridge Racers and Grand Turismos. Shame that GTS and Scam Turismo 7 are such bland, soulless experiences. I switched over to Forza Horizon 4 for a FUN simcade.
Oh man, I loved RRT4 so much! You've pretty much summed up eveything about the game that made me love it so much back in the day. I still listen to the soundtrack even now.
Precisely! ..It's still a dream of mine to one day see an R4 remaster made with the technology of today! Can you imagine that? I would happily settle for that instead of a completely new RR title (though that would be fab too). A PSVR compatible version of R4 would blow my brains! Lol.
Ooooooh the soundtrack. Burnin' Rubber, The Vibe, Naked Glow and many other songs. Dude, i made a compilation of fav songs from RRT4 just to listen and feel nostalgic
You guys should do an episode on Ridge Racer 7 for the PS3. Mainly because that game was a rare example of a 3D game on PS3 (not counting PS2 remasters) that actually ran at 1080p 60fps (albeit with occasional slowdown whenever a lot of particle effects were on screen).
PS3 is a joke judging by its generation and technical specs... some games can't even reach 25fps while running at 720p. And that's where Ridge Racer 7 and Gran Turismo 5 & 6 stands out.
Unfortunately GT4 doesn't render at 1080i, it just supports upscaling, which is much easier. But that said, it's still impressive that Polyphony found the system resources to do even that with how beautiful and fast GT4 was.
R4 is still my favorite arcade racer! The unforgettable moment when you enter the final lap at the Grand-Prix finals as the "new" millennium is shot in and the sky lights up with fireworks, all while "Movin' in circles" is pumping through your speakers. So much stile and class, thank you Namco.
RRV seems to get quite a bit of flak, but I really like it. Sure, Type 4 might very well be the best the series have ever been and I will gladly gush all over it as it might just be my favourite too. That said, Type 4 and RRV5 are very much different games. Type 4 has this career-like mode which is very fun and interesting, but I like that RRV chooses to instead scale all that back and focus on simple arcade racing. And it does it very well. It's not perfect, cars feel a bit too wide and some have oddly floaty handling but all of this can be overcome with practice and once you get it, once you're in the zone of this game, it is great fun. In order to balance out the "hate", here's some RRV gushing from yours truly: Some cars are more difficult to control but once you get to grips with them, they will reward you with even faster and thrilling races. And then there's the Duel battles and 99 lap challenge (I still haven't managed that one T_T). Simply put, if you're willing to invest in understanding RRV there is a lot of hardcore, down to the roots arcade racing to be had. And let me just say that the visuals represents another personal high point of this game. It is jaggy, sure, but the aesthetics, architecture and color are just something else. I love how it, to me at least, actually reminds me of a real city - Ridge City has got some character and I like it. In one of the tracks, you start inside the city center, gradually make you way towards the green outskirts and down to the beach only to turn back and, before you enter the classic left turning tunnel, you can see the shimmer of the glass skyscrapers above the finish line in the distance. Sometimes there is just this sensation of "place" in RRV and I find the replays to be very enjoyable. Maybe especially at night, the lightning is to me very convincing. So sum up, RRV is not Type 4. It doesn't have it's depth and diversity, it doesn't have it's fantastic soundtrack and it doesn't have it's career mode. RRV is more of a modern version of the original Ridge Racer, and it just goes to prove you don't need lots of licensed (yawn) tracks to have fun.
I think over time I have now, today, realized that RR5 is actually the better game. I played them both back to back and wowww I am enjoying RR5 a lot more right now on my pS2 than I have when I first got the game. That's pretty amazing to me. This game has lasting appeal. I sold it back in the day and got it back for $4. I NEVER bought a game back before. That's a first for me! The gameplay and control in RR5 is the best in the series for me. It took R4 and improved upon it with the 60fps control which adds greatly to the feel and fun factor. What an incredible driving experience.
I enjoyed how each car felt distinct and different from each other. Each playthrough through the campaign felt fresh since you had to relearn how to drive each track in each car.
One of my lifelong dreams is to see a remake/remaster of R4; which is my favorite game of all time. The closest thing to it is playing on an emulator with all graphics enhancements. One can only dream...
Ridge Racer Type 4 was the pinnacle of the RR franchise. The baked in lighting still looks so epic to this day. And the soundtrack, oh the soundtrack, just glorious.
That homage to the Ridge Racer V intro at the beginning made me grin. Yet another great episode! Really makes me want to revisit V, along with finally giving 4 a try.
+Stoop the graphical imperfections don't effect the gameplay so for me personally I would lovingly accept the game ported to ps4 in its original entirety. Sometimes the slightest change to a game can ruin it's authenticity and Feel, and I hope namco do a classic collection as that would be the Dream Buy of the century.
+what? for real but that his opinion which i respect but honestly i hate v for the music and race tracks they trade Good Old club banging night time city cruising vibe music for beach boy crap
I imported a copy of the RRT4 OST from Japan years back, and when I travelled there many years later I was amazed to see it still in stock at Tower Records. This game feels like a defining time of my childhood, combining my love of cars and racing with beautiful art design and a soundtrack that I will remember for the rest of my life. A remaster of RRT4 would be so incredible - imagining the visuals and style of this game with modern graphics + RT would be mind-blowing!
Are you really going to do that comparison? Driveclub is a beautiful looking game and if it was an arcade style game that required twitchy controls then sure 60FPS should be the goal, but it's not. And while RR was a good looking game for it's time if they tried to sell that now, it would be laughed at. BTW I think the RR games are great overall, and I still play R4 and Vita version regularly.
bloxyman22 6 was 720p, 7 was 1080p, AND both ran at a locked 60fps. Also 7 had a bit more content than 6, and I really preferred the female announcer in 7 over 6's male announcer. I also really enjoyed the difficult challenges of the downloadable UFRA Challenges in 7.
I'm still playing Ridge Racer Type 4 on my epsxe. What i really love about RRT4 is there's a car brand that had a drift handling like Assoluto & Lizard and the Grip handling car like Terazzi & Age Solo. I remember choosing PRC & Terrazi car
If you ever want the original hardware, a 5501 ps1 model, an Xstation and a ps1digital are perfect. Cant upscale to 4k though, I wish it did. Gonna try to get three of the ps1digitals when back in stock someday.
Lazy and they what to take our money, specially they kill silent the Sony and MS. Look what happend to game citizen, they switched into PC just for hi end, and this is why Neo and Scorpio exist.
and 30fps.. just use higher resolution to fake the gamers.. most people are not aware of the 60fps.. so lets push higher resolution and people will see enough stuff to buy the hardware. But for experienced gamers.. 30fps is just no. It's cluncky and it's not smooth. Tales of Symphonia on PC for example is a good one. When you walk in town or do battle. You can see the clunky animation.. even the steps doesn't work well. you can hear the sound but that is also off. When I play a 30fps and hearing the footsteps with some little lag or loudness I know it's 30fps games. Try to experiment and move to 60fps. You will never want to go back to 30fps
"…Over time, arcade racers have faded away, but the memory remains strong. So join me as we journey back once more, to Ridge City…the city is yours…" listening to those words with U's HydroPrism playing in the background almost brought tears of sadness to my eyes. Ridge Racer: the once legendary ruler of racing games built on foundations of high performance and quirky gameplay has now become an obscure relic of the past, so much so that even the creators seem bent on burying the name with terrible game after terrible game with no goal other than to make a quick buck off of the nostalgia and the great heretage it holds
How I wish that Namco would bring a return to form with a new Ridge Racer. Prior to joining Bandai, they were a superb developer-publisher, but they seemed to have gone the way of westernisation and sloppiness ever since the merger. There's still signs of that excellence in the Tekken and Tales games, but their output really doesn't reflect their identity anymore, which I find is a shame. As John said, Namco was a mark of quality back in the PS1 and PS2 eras. The value of that brand was diminished from the middle of the PS3 era.
The Tekken comparison looked more like they muddied the image on the US release with something akin to FXAA. It did not look sharper, even the textures on the mountain were extremely muddy/blurry compared to the Japanese release.
Probably the most beloved game series ever for me. I remember purchasing my Japanese Playstation on import just to play Ridge Racer. Cost me a small fortune but I never once regretted it.
I barely remember how much I paid. I had a guy come deliver it to me personally. He drove up from London and handed over a wodge of cash. I have a feeling including the game it was like £700.
I prefer Rage Racer over every other Ridge Racer game. The Soundtrack was nuts, the graphics great (though not as refined as in RRt4) and the challenge was awesome. My biggest complaint concerning Ridge Racer type 4 and RR5 is that both were waaaay too easy. Streets were so wide you could easily drive an 18 wheeler blindfold, especially in RR type 4.
I'd love a remake of RR4. Not sure if it would be full price these days though, unless they had all the old tracks with newer ones. Namco did a poll on twitter for which RIdge Racer they'd want remade and 4 won by a pretty large margin. I really do miss Arcade Racers in general. Sucks that Ridge Racer died with a bad Vita game and a Burnout rip-off.
Great video, however it is a shame that R4's strongest element (and most unique for the franchise) was glossed over...The story. I really wish that the career story game play in R4 would have been carried over to future titles. It is why I feel in some ways that, although future RR titles were prettier, the series in many ways hit it's peak with R4.
Old Namco man. I miss them. They were KILLING the game industry with EVERY release from that time till the end of PS2. Then they had to merge with Bandai and fuck it up. Man, great video DF, brought me back man. Wanna buy a PS2 and some old Namco games now.
R4 was a stunning game for its time. Dare I say it, as good as the racers Sega put out. I'd love to see Namco produce a compilation disc of RR remasters for the PS5. 1 all the way to 7 in 4k/60fps, would be incredible!
I still vividly remember October 26, 2000. I was in 6th grade and couldn't wait for my last class of the day, health, to end. Finally school let out and I practically ran to my mom's car. I think she had the PS2 box in the car, but can't remember for sure. What I can remember is taking it upstairs with Ridge Racer V, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Timesplitters. When Ridge Racer V's real time intro started playing, I was convinced this was it, there was no way graphics could ever look better than this. Funny to look back on, but the leap from PS1/Saturn/N64 to PS2/Xbox/GameCube was the largest perceptual leap in graphic quality between one console generation and the next, in my opinion (leaving out Dreamcast because it was sort of in between, and I didn't one until after it went on fire sale in 2001 after it was discontinued). Only the Xbox 360 had a similar impact on me with PGR3. It might have been a bigger leap if you also switched to an HDTV at the same time, but most people were still using CRTs for several years after, so most people could only notice the improvement in shader effects, lighting, shadows, etc. Even still it was an obvious leap forward. Everything since has felt like an evolution rather than a revolution.
On Ridge Racer Type 4 - one thing no-one ever mentions is the small racing story line with Shinji Yazaki for Pac Racing Club (remember that time when Reiko writes you a note?), or when Robert Chrisman from Dig Racing Team casually says he wants to replace you... even at the time these card stories were basic, it was a pretty immersive touch adding a narrative into an arcade racer. That game is pure gold.
Actually, Robert Chrisman doesn't want to replace you. It's the manager who wants to do so. Chrisman even takes the risk of losing his job when he says he doesn't want to replace you
Loved this episode... Just tought you should have talked more about Type 4... Like the ending of the championship, with the fireworks, at new years eve...
You're a man after my own heart, Mr. Linneman! R4 is a technical marvel and one of my most adored arcade racers for all the reasons you state. Another wonderful retrospective under the belt.
Great analysis. Ridge Racer Type 4 is undoubtedly my personal favourite game on the PS1 and to this day, still has the greatest intro cinematic of all time. It was great to learn a bit more about it.
What is 'automated drifting' in PSP version? I haven't played RR5 so i can't compare it but I liked PSP version handling, and the performance was great too, having this on a portable device felt like the future has come today.
I love the PSP games as well, no doubt, but going around corners is simply a lot easier. The handling in RRV is more challenging to master and is easy to mess up until you've grasped it. It just feels somewhat more rewarding.
I was thinking before watching this video that Ridge Racer 2 for the PSP should be considered the best of the series simply because it basically has all the courses and soundtracks from 1 to Rave Racer, but the video was right about the handling. It's a lot easier on the PSP and the drifting does feel like it is on rails unlike 5.
napaceHbIK it's really distracting when in the new ridge racers you are drifting and somehow your car automatically turns sharper without pressing any buttons
Only expensive PCs graphically outperformed the PS2 at the time, most people's PC's were graphically similar to the PS2 in 2001. No way could my 2001 PC have run Dead or Alive 2 at 60fps. Although it did run Quake 3 at 60fps. PC's didn't truly take over until Doom 3 2004.
it seems that everyone focused on how good is the game forgetting that he pointed how crapy PC games looked back in the day they still do the most graphical achievements made on consoles and it show that a good devlopers is the one who makes good graphics+good gameplay not laZy ass ones . and it shows that consoles used to be better than PC's even the 360 was better than all PC's back in the day
Back then: Good games that pushed the hardware to its limits, many of which were *console exclusive* games. Now: Mediocre games that only look pretty, many of which are *also on PC*. Really makes you think, huh?
I agree, in 80's - 2005 games were run at full 30-60 FPS cap, nowadays games are pretty sick, even on console which I have a PS4, and litterally it'll be a waste if I build a PC just for that........RIP GENERATION.....all AAA games on console, they can't even capped at full 30 FPS.
Back then gaming on PC was more complicated. You had to know what you were doing with the hardware and the software. This without the internet until early 2000's. And monitors sucked compared to a nice and big TV. The first time I booted a game on PC, it didn't work. I had to get a graphics card ... because the PC didn't have a "3D accelerator". Now things are way simpler, and PC is everywhere and can do anything. Arcade machines are powered by PCs (Taito Type X etc ...) and consoles are basically becoming cheaper PCs (OG Xbox, Xbox One, PS4).
+John Doe many of the exclusives in the PS2 days were also lazy ass devs. It didn't take much back then to convince the devs not to port their games to PC or another console, nowadays you either need a 1st party developer or a really large sum of money to keep something exclusive. Nowadays porting is much easier because of similar architectures so you see more multiplats. Back then porting was too much work so even a smaller payment could guarantee exclusivity. And a lot of the exclusives didn't even have a signed exclusivity deal, the devs were just too lazy to port their games.
These retro videos are great, but I think you should mention how the PAL versions of these games fared, because some where actually optimized to run at 50 Hz and higher vertical resolution, but most of them didn't. So it would be nice to see who are the developers and publishers who actually gave a shit about gamers in PAL regions.
R4 had the better menu screens and I dare to say it was the first game ever to have such flashy menu options. RRV was a difficult game but other than amazing graphics for its time, it fell short following R4. Too bad the franchise hit the crapper with the last console RR game and oddly the last good RR game was the iPhone version (RR Slipstream). I hope Namco decides to bring RR back to its roots. I want to drive in Ridge City again!
You didn't even mention the really awesome menu design of Ridge Racer Type 4 or it's (still unique) story system where how well you placed determined whether or not your team got enough money to buy you a new car.
I thought that track sounded rather Ridge Racer-y and the composer worked on most of the old RR games too. I was curious to see if anyone would spot it. Well done! :D
Ridge Racer Type 4 takes a giant steamin dookie on Ridge Racer V. 4 had the perfect handling, nice little story cutaways, probably the best PS1 graphics ever, Reiko Nagase, and an amazing funky electronic soundtrack that characterized the game perfectly. I feel like V did almost nothing better then 4 apart from graphics but that didn’t even impress long due to the release of Gran Turismo 3. R4 had passion, soul put in. V just felt like a PS2 launch title with pretty looks but little substance, combined with awful physics, and overall blandness. V was the beginning of the end for me.
RRT4 has Jaw dropping graphics and frame rate sure, but average gameplay and poor replayability, it's so overrated IMO. Sure the car handling is good, but it's hard to learn and even harder to master. Don't get started with the unlocked cars thing. RR5 fixed the handling and added more gameplay, but with a heavy cut back on feature. RR6 looked a lot more seamless, with RR7 being the peak of franchise, but underrated.
DigitalFoundry! HOW CAN YOU NOT discuss the R4 menu! Its even more beautiful than the ridge racer 5 menu! Seriously amazing and timeless design which is completely ignored by this video.... A true disappointment to me, a ps1 collector.
We can now emulate Ridge Racer 7 (ps3) on pc with rpcs3! Good times! \o/ And yes, that Ridge racer type 4 intro was soooo flashy! I remember seeing it on tv and going "wow! the future is now!" :D
While RRT4 is a masterpiece and nobody should argue about it, RR5 was honestly disappointing. Lack of tracks and fugly aliasing kinda killed it, no matter how well it handles.
The is really nothing out there that made me feel a special kinda feeling when playing Ridge Racer Type 4. everything was perfect. music especially, cars, tracks etc. I tried it the other day. Couldn't play it to save my own life compared to the Pro playing days I had. I REALLY miss those days of gaming. Rage Racer was brilliant fun as well.
John, your videos are really awesome! Richard and the rest of the team's are great and all; I'd qualify theirs as being informative, while yours have real style! You could definitely set up your own channel :)
Watching DF Retro consistently makes me less impressed with many current titles graphics. These developers achieved so much on incredibly limited hardware!
Great job! Could you please cover ridge racer/ revolution and my personal favorite rage racer. We need more attention on this IP. I need more ridge racer! I will be happy with remasters at this point.
Love that R4 soundtrack. I had the digitized copies of R4's soundtrack and saved it on my PS3 and that became my customised BGM for GT5 because they allowed you to select your own playlist when racing. Not bad drifting in Toscana and hearing "....step back it's Ridge Racer, it's Ridge Racer, I feel the need for for speed..." I know GT5 had a lot of flak for those PS2-ish standard cars, but R4's soundtrack made me enjoy that game a lot, that's for sure.
I was quite the RR connoisseur back in the day. Rage Racer was another great PS1 Namco racer. Quite a few people were turned off by the different color scheme. I really enjoyed the custom decal maker though. And, the racing was on point. RRT4 was still the best though. I really liked the track intro's. Names like "Edge of The Earth" and "Helter Skelter" were really awesome.
the soundtrack in RR5 was fucking awesome man also, I was unmatched in this game in the arcades. my times stayed at the top of the score list for over 2 years until the arcade got rid of the machine. that was a sad day for me. this was the first game I bought for my launch PS2, what a great time for gamers!
I'm Kohta Takahashi, part of the sound staff for both productions and this video is super informative and full of great details. I'm glad you were impressed with the R4 opening production, because it was really hard work. Thanks for making this video! 🏁🏎😊👍
yoooo
Both beautiful games that you had worked on!
🏎👍@@AlexMitchell-sj4sb
🏎@@AlexMitchell-sj4sb
I´d like to thank you for your great work. Move Me and Euphoria are among my personal favourite tracks, not just as a videogame soundtrack, rather music in general.
Ridge Racer Type 4. The soundtrack is probably the best original racing game soundtrack to this day. It's just fantastic. I have a copy of it today 17 years later because it's that good. The visuals, sound and atmosphere of RRT4 sucked me in and didn't let me go for hours. Why don't you make games like this any more? WHY DON'T YOU MAKE GAMES LIKE THIS ANY MORE NAMCO??
if the resolution was a bit higher in Ridge Racer Type 4 you could think its a PS2 game
@@retro4fun358 yeah, and you can actually confirm this with an emulator, there are a lot of videos here showing R4 in 1080p and it looks just like a ps2 game.
@@RainerLuizFonseca not really, the Polygon jiggling is still present because of the lack of floating point math on the PS1, sure a couple emulators can mitigate this effect but not 100%
@@metallicarabbit I meant, it looks like a PS2 game with the option to eliminate polygon jiggling turned ON (yes, they eliminate it 100% now). But jiggling "effect" aside, what's impressive is the polygon count, modeling and lighting for a PS1 game, it comes very close to early PS2 titles.
love how they took away the trance dance techno and replace it with Acid jazz etc that soundtrack is the best that have ever bin
There's just something so cool about old arcade racing games. Relying on a strong stylised look rather than photo-realism make the games of yesteryear exude a magic that's kinda lost today.
Couldn’t agree more. Plus the eclectic soundtracks and fast paced gameplay add to that special arcade magic
Agree 100% its what keeps shmups timeless for me 🤘
Indeed! When I worked on NFS 1 (PS1) the artists had, IMHO, a perfect blend between photorealism and bright cartoon colors - probably because they took heavy inspiration from Daytona USA arcade.
I never got into Ridge Racer but there is indeed something magically about the early Ridge Racers and Grand Turismos. Shame that GTS and Scam Turismo 7 are such bland, soulless experiences. I switched over to Forza Horizon 4 for a FUN simcade.
@@JonathanPaspula even in 2023 its still legend.
@@MichaelPohoreski even Ayumu Uehara and Rina tennoji also loved Ridge Racer Type 4. So much.
Oh man, I loved RRT4 so much! You've pretty much summed up eveything about the game that made me love it so much back in the day. I still listen to the soundtrack even now.
Precisely! ..It's still a dream of mine to one day see an R4 remaster made with the technology of today! Can you imagine that? I would happily settle for that instead of a completely new RR title (though that would be fab too). A PSVR compatible version of R4 would blow my brains! Lol.
Ooooooh the soundtrack. Burnin' Rubber, The Vibe, Naked Glow and many other songs. Dude, i made a compilation of fav songs from RRT4 just to listen and feel nostalgic
Play it in epsxe and its gorgeous
nice to see you here!!
@@heathers6508 Thanks!
You guys should do an episode on Ridge Racer 7 for the PS3. Mainly because that game was a rare example of a 3D game on PS3 (not counting PS2 remasters) that actually ran at 1080p 60fps (albeit with occasional slowdown whenever a lot of particle effects were on screen).
PS3 is a joke judging by its generation and technical specs... some games can't even reach 25fps while running at 720p. And that's where Ridge Racer 7 and Gran Turismo 5 & 6 stands out.
@@STRIDER_503 amen 😎
Hello Dragon!
Ridge Racer peaked with R4, that game was polished to perfection!
Yep. Ridge Racer Type 4 and Nijigasaki High School Idol Club anime series in my opinion are some of the alltime bests.
You should do Gran Turismo 4 for a DF Retro episode. It is the most technologically impressive racing gaming on the PS2, imo.
I ask for this to, 1080i was absurd.
+Panino Manino and the HD OG Xbox titles also would be cool to see
I think the only reason besides music licensing keeping it from a PS4 rerelease is that it will render GT Sport unmarketable :)
Unfortunately GT4 doesn't render at 1080i, it just supports upscaling, which is much easier. But that said, it's still impressive that Polyphony found the system resources to do even that with how beautiful and fast GT4 was.
Agreed and it was arguably the last good game in the GT series.
R4 is still my favorite arcade racer! The unforgettable moment when you enter the final lap at the Grand-Prix finals as the "new" millennium is shot in and the sky lights up with fireworks, all while "Movin' in circles" is pumping through your speakers. So much stile and class, thank you Namco.
Aww. No time for R4's menus?
i know right those menus are amazing
Bring back arcade racers! enough of the simulation crap!
No, explosive arcade racers like burnout, otherwise whats the point
Driveclub has your back.
I'll have to check that out, but its licensed cars so weak damage model if any.
Four comments above yours a guy says a new Burnout has been confirmed.
driveclub
RRV seems to get quite a bit of flak, but I really like it. Sure, Type 4 might very well be the best the series have ever been and I will gladly gush all over it as it might just be my favourite too.
That said, Type 4 and RRV5 are very much different games. Type 4 has this career-like mode which is very fun and interesting, but I like that RRV chooses to instead scale all that back and focus on simple arcade racing.
And it does it very well. It's not perfect, cars feel a bit too wide and some have oddly floaty handling but all of this can be overcome with practice and once you get it, once you're in the zone of this game, it is great fun.
In order to balance out the "hate", here's some RRV gushing from yours truly:
Some cars are more difficult to control but once you get to grips with them, they will reward you with even faster and thrilling races. And then there's the Duel battles and 99 lap challenge (I still haven't managed that one T_T). Simply put, if you're willing to invest in understanding RRV there is a lot of hardcore, down to the roots arcade racing to be had.
And let me just say that the visuals represents another personal high point of this game. It is jaggy, sure, but the aesthetics, architecture and color are just something else. I love how it, to me at least, actually reminds me of a real city - Ridge City has got some character and I like it. In one of the tracks, you start inside the city center, gradually make you way towards the green outskirts and down to the beach only to turn back and, before you enter the classic left turning tunnel, you can see the shimmer of the glass skyscrapers above the finish line in the distance. Sometimes there is just this sensation of "place" in RRV and I find the replays to be very enjoyable. Maybe especially at night, the lightning is to me very convincing.
So sum up, RRV is not Type 4. It doesn't have it's depth and diversity, it doesn't have it's fantastic soundtrack and it doesn't have it's career mode. RRV is more of a modern version of the original Ridge Racer, and it just goes to prove you don't need lots of licensed (yawn) tracks to have fun.
I think over time I have now, today, realized that RR5 is actually the better game. I played them both back to back and wowww I am enjoying RR5 a lot more right now on my pS2 than I have when I first got the game. That's pretty amazing to me. This game has lasting appeal. I sold it back in the day and got it back for $4. I NEVER bought a game back before. That's a first for me!
The gameplay and control in RR5 is the best in the series for me. It took R4 and improved upon it with the 60fps control which adds greatly to the feel and fun factor. What an incredible driving experience.
I enjoyed how each car felt distinct and different from each other. Each playthrough through the campaign felt fresh since you had to relearn how to drive each track in each car.
One of my lifelong dreams is to see a remake/remaster of R4; which is my favorite game of all time. The closest thing to it is playing on an emulator with all graphics enhancements. One can only dream...
I personally love the “old” aesthetic :)
duckstation is better then any remake or remaster that could be done. it's not the 90's anymore, everything would be different.
i swear i have the best settings. i need to show proof. it looks just how it does in my memories, but in 4k
Ridge Racer Type 4 was the pinnacle of the RR franchise. The baked in lighting still looks so epic to this day. And the soundtrack, oh the soundtrack, just glorious.
That homage to the Ridge Racer V intro at the beginning made me grin. Yet another great episode! Really makes me want to revisit V, along with finally giving 4 a try.
Chisato Nishikigi also loved Ridge Racer V. So did all 6 Hasu no Sora Characters.
Please Remake Ridge racer V - my favourite racing game of all time.
+Stoop the graphical imperfections don't effect the gameplay so for me personally I would lovingly accept the game ported to ps4 in its original entirety. Sometimes the slightest change to a game can ruin it's authenticity and Feel, and I hope namco do a classic collection as that would be the Dream Buy of the century.
+Stoop 6 was ok for me to be honest but maybe the music carried it slightly, I don't understand how we haven't had another Ridge in all these years.
5 sucked, it was a disgrace to the RR franchise.
+what? for real but that his opinion which i respect but honestly i hate v for the music and race tracks they trade Good Old club banging night time city cruising vibe music for beach boy crap
+Stoop The jaggies are fine. Makes it look pinsharp.
I imported a copy of the RRT4 OST from Japan years back, and when I travelled there many years later I was amazed to see it still in stock at Tower Records. This game feels like a defining time of my childhood, combining my love of cars and racing with beautiful art design and a soundtrack that I will remember for the rest of my life. A remaster of RRT4 would be so incredible - imagining the visuals and style of this game with modern graphics + RT would be mind-blowing!
GAME from year 2000 in PS2 can run at locked 60fps and then Driveclub is 30fps on PS4
and yet still no Anti-aliasing.
remember driveclub has higher graphics and stuff than RR5
Remember that Ridge Racer was a great looking game at the time
+Gibus McFallenHatten RR5 is high end graphics, the developers are lazy now.
+MethadonX Shevancko for its time
i agree that devs are lazy tho
Are you really going to do that comparison? Driveclub is a beautiful looking game and if it was an arcade style game that required twitchy controls then sure 60FPS should be the goal, but it's not. And while RR was a good looking game for it's time if they tried to sell that now, it would be laughed at.
BTW I think the RR games are great overall, and I still play R4 and Vita version regularly.
Anybody want Ridge Racer 7 for ps4?
Im OK with the ps3 edition that runs on 1080p and 60 fps.
i'd be more interested in Burnout 5 than another RR
I'd like a great Ridge Racer on PS4. RR7 was not great. 4 and 5 were great.
4 was awesome, 5 was terrible, 7 was imo even better than 4.
bloxyman22
6 was 720p, 7 was 1080p, AND both ran at a locked 60fps. Also 7 had a bit more content than 6, and I really preferred the female announcer in 7 over 6's male announcer. I also really enjoyed the difficult challenges of the downloadable UFRA Challenges in 7.
I'm still playing Ridge Racer Type 4 on my epsxe. What i really love about RRT4 is there's a car brand that had a drift handling like Assoluto & Lizard and the Grip handling car like Terazzi & Age Solo. I remember choosing PRC & Terrazi car
You should try Duckstation. It upscales better than ePSXe, and has the perspective correction for texturing.
If you ever want the original hardware, a 5501 ps1 model, an Xstation and a ps1digital are perfect. Cant upscale to 4k though, I wish it did. Gonna try to get three of the ps1digitals when back in stock someday.
@@mopeybloke Setsuna Yuki preferred Terrazi and DRT cars.
Great episode!
Console game from 2000-still beautiful to this day
Console game from 2016-Blurry laggy mess
What happened to console gaming?
Money happened.
Sugar Hieroglyph I'm so glad I switched to PC gaming, modern consoles are pathetic, it seems no console was good after the PS3
Lazy and they what to take our money, specially they kill silent the Sony and MS. Look what happend to game citizen, they switched into PC just for hi end, and this is why Neo and Scorpio exist.
and 30fps.. just use higher resolution to fake the gamers.. most people are not aware of the 60fps.. so lets push higher resolution and people will see enough stuff to buy the hardware. But for experienced gamers.. 30fps is just no. It's cluncky and it's not smooth. Tales of Symphonia on PC for example is a good one. When you walk in town or do battle. You can see the clunky animation.. even the steps doesn't work well. you can hear the sound but that is also off. When I play a 30fps and hearing the footsteps with some little lag or loudness I know it's 30fps games. Try to experiment and move to 60fps. You will never want to go back to 30fps
Loving DF Retro, keep them coming!
DF Retro is the BEST thing on this channel!!!!
"…Over time, arcade racers have faded away, but the memory remains strong. So join me as we journey back once more, to Ridge City…the city is yours…" listening to those words with U's HydroPrism playing in the background almost brought tears of sadness to my eyes. Ridge Racer: the once legendary ruler of racing games built on foundations of high performance and quirky gameplay has now become an obscure relic of the past, so much so that even the creators seem bent on burying the name with terrible game after terrible game with no goal other than to make a quick buck off of the nostalgia and the great heretage it holds
How I wish that Namco would bring a return to form with a new Ridge Racer. Prior to joining Bandai, they were a superb developer-publisher, but they seemed to have gone the way of westernisation and sloppiness ever since the merger. There's still signs of that excellence in the Tekken and Tales games, but their output really doesn't reflect their identity anymore, which I find is a shame. As John said, Namco was a mark of quality back in the PS1 and PS2 eras. The value of that brand was diminished from the middle of the PS3 era.
Ace combat also reflects their former greatness...
@@milesr4609 Yeah, now, but it took ages.
@@milesr4609 Ace combat 7 was good, but somehow had less content than the FREE Ace Combat Infinity
@@frumpsterfire yes, but has a story based on Strangereal. Thats better than any free content.
@@milesr4609 It wasn't a great one im
The Tekken comparison looked more like they muddied the image on the US release with something akin to FXAA. It did not look sharper, even the textures on the mountain were extremely muddy/blurry compared to the Japanese release.
Yesss, the R4 soundtrack was something fucking else! :O
The moment I saw this video in my subscription box I shouted: IT'S RIDGE RACER!
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER
The Japanese really know their music back in the days.
Probably the most beloved game series ever for me. I remember purchasing my Japanese Playstation on import just to play Ridge Racer. Cost me a small fortune but I never once regretted it.
I know. Was kinda pissed off waiting until January 2001 to receive my ps2. But, played Japanese console in a games shop. He wanted £5/600 for a PS2.
I barely remember how much I paid. I had a guy come deliver it to me personally. He drove up from London and handed over a wodge of cash. I have a feeling including the game it was like £700.
I prefer Rage Racer over every other Ridge Racer game. The Soundtrack was nuts, the graphics great (though not as refined as in RRt4) and the challenge was awesome. My biggest complaint concerning Ridge Racer type 4 and RR5 is that both were waaaay too easy. Streets were so wide you could easily drive an 18 wheeler blindfold, especially in RR type 4.
I'd love a remake of RR4. Not sure if it would be full price these days though, unless they had all the old tracks with newer ones. Namco did a poll on twitter for which RIdge Racer they'd want remade and 4 won by a pretty large margin. I really do miss Arcade Racers in general. Sucks that Ridge Racer died with a bad Vita game and a Burnout rip-off.
I play it on emulator from time to time. Then my PS4 controller's port for the usb connector broke.
***** How would that even look on a modern TV?
RR4 is the best racing game ever...Seriously.
f zero gx or need for speed underground for me
Not even close
Yes it is...
Great video, however it is a shame that R4's strongest element (and most unique for the franchise) was glossed over...The story.
I really wish that the career story game play in R4 would have been carried over to future titles. It is why I feel in some ways that, although future RR titles were prettier, the series in many ways hit it's peak with R4.
No mention of the lame PAL version with the massive borders and bottom of the cars missing.
Old Namco man. I miss them. They were KILLING the game industry with EVERY release from that time till the end of PS2. Then they had to merge with Bandai and fuck it up. Man, great video DF, brought me back man. Wanna buy a PS2 and some old Namco games now.
Yep, both old Namco and old Square. Best technical developers of all-time!
This was way back when racing games were a lot more fun and better.
they had heart, this new gen stuff is too sterile.
R4 was a stunning game for its time. Dare I say it, as good as the racers Sega put out. I'd love to see Namco produce a compilation disc of RR remasters for the PS5. 1 all the way to 7 in 4k/60fps, would be incredible!
I've only played the PSP game, but using the words "realism" and "Ridge Racer" is... strange. This series revels in its arcade roots.
I still vividly remember October 26, 2000. I was in 6th grade and couldn't wait for my last class of the day, health, to end. Finally school let out and I practically ran to my mom's car. I think she had the PS2 box in the car, but can't remember for sure.
What I can remember is taking it upstairs with Ridge Racer V, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Timesplitters. When Ridge Racer V's real time intro started playing, I was convinced this was it, there was no way graphics could ever look better than this. Funny to look back on, but the leap from PS1/Saturn/N64 to PS2/Xbox/GameCube was the largest perceptual leap in graphic quality between one console generation and the next, in my opinion (leaving out Dreamcast because it was sort of in between, and I didn't one until after it went on fire sale in 2001 after it was discontinued).
Only the Xbox 360 had a similar impact on me with PGR3. It might have been a bigger leap if you also switched to an HDTV at the same time, but most people were still using CRTs for several years after, so most people could only notice the improvement in shader effects, lighting, shadows, etc. Even still it was an obvious leap forward. Everything since has felt like an evolution rather than a revolution.
So much dedication haha
On Ridge Racer Type 4 - one thing no-one ever mentions is the small racing story line with Shinji Yazaki for Pac Racing Club (remember that time when Reiko writes you a note?), or when Robert Chrisman from Dig Racing Team casually says he wants to replace you... even at the time these card stories were basic, it was a pretty immersive touch adding a narrative into an arcade racer. That game is pure gold.
Actually, Robert Chrisman doesn't want to replace you. It's the manager who wants to do so. Chrisman even takes the risk of losing his job when he says he doesn't want to replace you
ACE COMBAT TRILOGY ON PS2, MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
GRAN TURISMO QUADRILOGY!!!
Do more Ridge racer!!!! Do the PSP version. That's my favorite PSP game. And maybe 6 vs 7?
Its Ridge racer! Riiiidge racer!
remember that one ?
Ridge Racer Type 4, the most stylish racing game ever made.
Loved this episode... Just tought you should have talked more about Type 4... Like the ending of the championship, with the fireworks, at new years eve...
Next please- Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
You're a man after my own heart, Mr. Linneman! R4 is a technical marvel and one of my most adored arcade racers for all the reasons you state. Another wonderful retrospective under the belt.
Great analysis. Ridge Racer Type 4 is undoubtedly my personal favourite game on the PS1 and to this day, still has the greatest intro cinematic of all time. It was great to learn a bit more about it.
What is 'automated drifting' in PSP version? I haven't played RR5 so i can't compare it but I liked PSP version handling, and the performance was great too, having this on a portable device felt like the future has come today.
I love the PSP games as well, no doubt, but going around corners is simply a lot easier. The handling in RRV is more challenging to master and is easy to mess up until you've grasped it. It just feels somewhat more rewarding.
I was thinking before watching this video that Ridge Racer 2 for the PSP should be considered the best of the series simply because it basically has all the courses and soundtracks from 1 to Rave Racer, but the video was right about the handling. It's a lot easier on the PSP and the drifting does feel like it is on rails unlike 5.
napaceHbIK it's really distracting when in the new ridge racers you are drifting and somehow your car automatically turns sharper without pressing any buttons
ridge racer on psp is not bad (2nd game - who's more complete). But i more prefer outrun 2006 and motorstorm - on psp. And i play RR4 on psp.
6 years late on this one, but I love everything about this episode. Nice work Mr. Linneman.
wow i love DF retro, please resident evil on next time :D
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACERRRR !!!!!!!!!!!! We're ready and waiting for you! Come on!
Love DF Retro :)
Please do a max payne 1 episode, such a great game and tons of ports to discuss. Would make for another great episode.
Anyone know the music in the background at 3:30 ???
Ridge 7 is still pretty great. One of my reasons for keeping the PS3. It also has the greatest race girl model on THAT start screen.
DF Retro is so good, and they're getting better and better. So glad you've started focusing on them :)
Love the intro. Used to love Type 4
do nfsmw 2005, best racing game, period.
RRT4 has the best music!
Type4 is and will always be the best racing game ever made
The PAL version of Rdige Racer 5 was pretty rough, so I've finally got around to importing an NTSC copy. The way it was meant to be played!
why was the PAL version bad? I can't find any info online about this. Was it letterboxing and/or the game running slower or something else?
Only expensive PCs graphically outperformed the PS2 at the time, most people's PC's were graphically similar to the PS2 in 2001. No way could my 2001 PC have run Dead or Alive 2 at 60fps. Although it did run Quake 3 at 60fps. PC's didn't truly take over until Doom 3 2004.
I rewatch this video every 5 months or so. I miss Ridge Racer so much. Love the DF Retro series, John!
Lmfao the intro.... Homage due!!!
it seems that everyone focused on how good is the game forgetting that he pointed how crapy PC games looked back in the day they still do the most graphical achievements made on consoles and it show that a good devlopers is the one who makes good graphics+good gameplay not laZy ass ones . and it shows that consoles used to be better than PC's even the 360 was better than all PC's back in the day
Goddamn, I fucking LOVE this video. Especially the RR4 part, the game definitely deserves all the praise it gets.
Back then: Good games that pushed the hardware to its limits, many of which were *console exclusive* games.
Now: Mediocre games that only look pretty, many of which are *also on PC*.
Really makes you think, huh?
I agree, in 80's - 2005 games were run at full 30-60 FPS cap, nowadays games are pretty sick, even on console which I have a PS4, and litterally it'll be a waste if I build a PC just for that........RIP GENERATION.....all AAA games on console, they can't even capped at full 30 FPS.
Back then gaming on PC was more complicated. You had to know what you were doing with the hardware and the software. This without the internet until early 2000's. And monitors sucked compared to a nice and big TV.
The first time I booted a game on PC, it didn't work. I had to get a graphics card ... because the PC didn't have a "3D accelerator".
Now things are way simpler, and PC is everywhere and can do anything. Arcade machines are powered by PCs (Taito Type X etc ...) and consoles are basically becoming cheaper PCs (OG Xbox, Xbox One, PS4).
It's just lazy ass devs.
Annoyed Armos naughty dog and kojima always strive to push the consoles to their limits
+John Doe many of the exclusives in the PS2 days were also lazy ass devs. It didn't take much back then to convince the devs not to port their games to PC or another console, nowadays you either need a 1st party developer or a really large sum of money to keep something exclusive.
Nowadays porting is much easier because of similar architectures so you see more multiplats. Back then porting was too much work so even a smaller payment could guarantee exclusivity. And a lot of the exclusives didn't even have a signed exclusivity deal, the devs were just too lazy to port their games.
These retro videos are great, but I think you should mention how the PAL versions of these games fared, because some where actually optimized to run at 50 Hz and higher vertical resolution, but most of them didn't. So it would be nice to see who are the developers and publishers who actually gave a shit about gamers in PAL regions.
I've really enjoyed RR on PSP. Both of them.
R4 had the better menu screens and I dare to say it was the first game ever to have such flashy menu options. RRV was a difficult game but other than amazing graphics for its time, it fell short following R4. Too bad the franchise hit the crapper with the last console RR game and oddly the last good RR game was the iPhone version (RR Slipstream). I hope Namco decides to bring RR back to its roots. I want to drive in Ridge City again!
Riiiiidge Racerrr!!! xD
R5 might actually be the most underrated game in the series. I hear absolutely nobody talking about it.
Yeah.. Also Rage Racer
I would really like to see an episode on Need for Speed: Most Wanted
ME2
Ooh yes it would be interesting to see the differences between the PC, PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 ports
Yep and the GameCube Port too ^^ Some info i gathered over time: the PS2 version runs at 512x444
+CHAOSHACKER In my opinion the 360 edition is the best but I want to learn more about the differences.
I agree it has the best textures & lighting effects even compared to the PC version
You didn't even mention the really awesome menu design of Ridge Racer Type 4 or it's (still unique) story system where how well you placed determined whether or not your team got enough money to buy you a new car.
why you put music from tekken 7?
I thought that track sounded rather Ridge Racer-y and the composer worked on most of the old RR games too. I was curious to see if anyone would spot it. Well done! :D
John Linneman cuz Ridge Racer/Tekken series OSTs is one of my favorites. Hope you can make the video about Ace Combat 3
Moo.
I think that music is Ridge Racer's. Probably the same composer
what's the specific track name?
Ridge Racer Type 4 takes a giant steamin dookie on Ridge Racer V. 4 had the perfect handling, nice little story cutaways, probably the best PS1 graphics ever, Reiko Nagase, and an amazing funky electronic soundtrack that characterized the game perfectly. I feel like V did almost nothing better then 4 apart from graphics but that didn’t even impress long due to the release of Gran Turismo 3. R4 had passion, soul put in. V just felt like a PS2 launch title with pretty looks but little substance, combined with awful physics, and overall blandness. V was the beginning of the end for me.
amazing looking game,
RRT4 has Jaw dropping graphics and frame rate sure, but average gameplay and poor replayability, it's so overrated IMO. Sure the car handling is good, but it's hard to learn and even harder to master. Don't get started with the unlocked cars thing. RR5 fixed the handling and added more gameplay, but with a heavy cut back on feature. RR6 looked a lot more seamless, with RR7 being the peak of franchise, but underrated.
DigitalFoundry! HOW CAN YOU NOT discuss the R4 menu! Its even more beautiful than the ridge racer 5 menu! Seriously amazing and timeless design which is completely ignored by this video.... A true disappointment to me, a ps1 collector.
We can now emulate Ridge Racer 7 (ps3) on pc with rpcs3! Good times! \o/ And yes, that Ridge racer type 4 intro was soooo flashy! I remember seeing it on tv and going "wow! the future is now!" :D
While RRT4 is a masterpiece and nobody should argue about it, RR5 was honestly disappointing. Lack of tracks and fugly aliasing kinda killed it, no matter how well it handles.
RRV its special remake of original RR games. RR4 be a different game
The is really nothing out there that made me feel a special kinda feeling when playing Ridge Racer Type 4. everything was perfect. music especially, cars, tracks etc. I tried it the other day. Couldn't play it to save my own life compared to the Pro playing days I had. I REALLY miss those days of gaming. Rage Racer was brilliant fun as well.
I wonder if anyone has done a fix to the jaggie problem using tekken’s technique
John, your videos are really awesome! Richard and the rest of the team's are great and all; I'd qualify theirs as being informative, while yours have real style! You could definitely set up your own channel :)
This video is such a journey
Only Racing Lagoon has a better ost than Type 4. Personal of course
completely agreed, type 4 is the better game though
Watching DF Retro consistently makes me less impressed with many current titles graphics. These developers achieved so much on incredibly limited hardware!
Great job! Could you please cover ridge racer/ revolution and my personal favorite rage racer. We need more attention on this IP. I need more ridge racer! I will be happy with remasters at this point.
The demo disc isn't exactly the same in Europe 0_0
RR4 was the best looking racing game on all platforms at the time.
What a great vid. Kids today will never know the feeling of going to the arcade and then the arcade coming to the home with PS2 / PS3 titles
R4 has some of my favorite presentation in all of video games
Love that R4 soundtrack. I had the digitized copies of R4's soundtrack and saved it on my PS3 and that became my customised BGM for GT5 because they allowed you to select your own playlist when racing. Not bad drifting in Toscana and hearing "....step back it's Ridge Racer, it's Ridge Racer, I feel the need for for speed..." I know GT5 had a lot of flak for those PS2-ish standard cars, but R4's soundtrack made me enjoy that game a lot, that's for sure.
What is it with RR 4 and 5 having terrible exterior cams?
Maybe do one on Doom (1993) or Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)? Doom's had some interesting ports, especially the SNES one.
DF, please do Auto Modellista next!!
I was quite the RR connoisseur back in the day. Rage Racer was another great PS1 Namco racer. Quite a few people were turned off by the different color scheme. I really enjoyed the custom decal maker though. And, the racing was on point. RRT4 was still the best though. I really liked the track intro's. Names like "Edge of The Earth" and "Helter Skelter" were really awesome.
Past games were way more fun
Nice Video Love the past tech great to see past invention
the soundtrack in RR5 was fucking awesome man
also, I was unmatched in this game in the arcades. my times stayed at the top of the score list for over 2 years until the arcade got rid of the machine. that was a sad day for me. this was the first game I bought for my launch PS2, what a great time for gamers!