December 01, 2004 - Regardless of Namco's official line on the product, Ridge Racer DS is, at its core, a "port" of the company's Ridge Racer 64 game released on that console back in 2000. And that's certainly not a bad thing considering that Ridge Racer 64 was a pretty top-notch racer on the N64 a half decade ago, an impressive, NST-developed extension of the Namco arcade racing franchise.

As we've already experienced with Super Mario 64 DS, it's clear that the Nintendo DS system was created with the capabilities of the Nintendo 64 in mind. And it's also pretty obvious that it's this particular reason why we're getting Ridge Racer DS as a launch title. Quick development cycles beget either ports or half-baked game designs, and in this case we're getting a spot-on portable conversion that likely isn't going to sell anyone on the system and its capabilities, but it at least seeds the Nintendo DS' library with one of the few solid addition to the launch line-up.

Features

• 20 GP races
• 32 available/unlockable vehicles
• Cartridge save (three slots)
• Multiplayer support (six players, single/multi card)

Nintendo's own NST development group, who has already proven itself Nintendo DS capable with its Metroid Prime Hunters project, had been commissioned by Namco to revive one of its first products out of the studio for dual-screen gamers. Ridge Racer 64 was already a successful game design on the console, even though its existence was more the "black sheep" of the series due to the fact that it was, gasp, a Western-developed version of a decidedly Japanese franchise. The Nintendo 64 game was a great way for the development team to get their feet wet, as it gave the guys the opportunity to put their skills to use by "porting" a high-profile PlayStation game into the N64 platform, all the while giving them creative opportunity to offer Nintendo 64 owners a new take on the existing arcade racing formula.

Ridge Racer DS isn't like Super Mario 64 DS, at least in terms of "N64 ports" on the system. The DS version doesn't add or change much from the original design -- this is, pretty much, a dual-screen version of the game that hit the scene a half decade ago. The developers push the second screen by reducing the "clutter" on the main, upper-screen, moving the track map, lap times, and transmission gear to the lower screen. The rest of the lower display is taken up by an enormous, nearly full-screen representation of the vehicle's steering wheel. While this wheel may appear somewhat stupid and wasteful in still screens, it's, believe it or not, a handy indication of how much rotation's being applied during a turn...especially when hitting the skids into the all-important powerslides.

Ridge Racer was never about realism. At the series' core, it's a balls-out arcade racer, and Ridge Racer 64/Ridge Racer DS remains true to the franchise by focusing on tremendous speed, tight action, and intense racing competition. Powersliding is, and has always been the series' heart, giving players the ability to hit near 90 degree chicanes without the need to hit the brakes in the process. Ridge Racer 64 took this one step further by letting players push the powerslides into full-out 360 degree turns. It was this decision that gave the design a love it/hate it relationship with gamers, but there's no denying that it adds a bit of cool factor to the game's look...especially when players successfully hit turns in a full out car rotation at top speed.

The other design bulletpoint in the series Ridge Racer's aggressive computer AI opponents, and the challenge that comes from trying to beat them. Ridge Racer DS offers the same aggression, and later that aggression turns into pure frustration. This game is not easy, and its requirement to come in first place to move on to the next race can get absolutely brutal deeper in the game. And with 20 different challenges in the Grand Prix mode, it's not a quick cakewalk to finish. There's not a whole lot of variety in the tracks, though, since there's really only three different locations, and the different courses are simply branches off the same main circuits.