When I think about generation-defining inflection points in gaming, I think about Ridge Racer. The series has accompanied the launches of several game consoles over the years, but nothing can quite compare to that debut on the original PlayStation. Ridge Racer released to arcades in 1993 and looked like the future, with its texture-mapped polygon tracks and smooth gameplay. Somehow, a little more than a year later, it was running on a small machine that Japanese players could plug into their TVs, with minimal concessions. And almost a year after that, on September 9, 1995, it launched alongside the PlayStation in North America. Happy 30th, Ridge Racer and, incidentally, PlayStation.
If you’ve never played the original Ridge Racer, it was quite simply the gold standard in arcade racing for its time, alongside Sega’s Daytona USA, of course. In arcades, players drove the iconic red F/A Racing car, which looked more or less like an A80 Supra, around a track that would later be known to fans as Seaside Route 765.
This course, with its 13 turns and a path that begins in the city and reaches the coast, is one of those classic racing game tracks that suits all skill levels. Turn 3 out of the tunnel and Turn 9—the sharpest corner on the track, leaving the beach—necessitate drifting to navigate at a decent speed, and this would become Ridge Racer’s most defining gameplay characteristic. Like the original Sega Rally’s four tracks, or Trial Mountain and Deep Forest from Gran Turismo, it’s a circuit I’ve never tired of, and have spent three decades trying to hone my approach around.
The idea that Sony’s first console could bring all of that home was unprecedented. Remember, this was at a time when most racing games were still of the sprite-scaling Out Run variety, and what few polygonal games there were kept to the PC or niche platforms and didn’t look or play anywhere nearly as slick. Ridge Racer on the PlayStation ran at a lower resolution and half the framerate of its arcade counterpart, but it was still so smooth and looked so good. Much as I’m more of a Daytona guy myself, it wiped the floor with Sega’s rival product on its Saturn home console, which ran at 20 frames per second to Ridge Racer’s 30.
Now, for many years, it was difficult to go back and experience the original Ridge Racer. You had to have a PS1 and a copy of the game, or a copy of Ridge Racer Type 4 that included the Turbo Mode bonus disc—an updated version of Ridge Racer with better graphics and performance. Thankfully, that all changed just a few months ago with the release of Hamster’s Arcade Archives: Ridge Racer on PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and Xbox Series consoles.
This new edition of the game is a port of the arcade source material, rather than the PlayStation version we’re celebrating today, but it is largely a better experience. It runs at 60 fps and, in my opinion, handles far more satisfyingly. Exiting drifts always felt very clunky to me in the PlayStation launch title, while I’m much faster—and have a far better time—lapping Seaside Route 765 in the arcade release. The only feature I really miss from the console port is the chase camera angle.
Hard though it is to believe, it’s been 13 years since the last mainline Ridge Racer game, on the PS Vita. You have to believe it’ll return someday, but also wonder why it’s been gone away for so long. Less hardcore and punishing racing games are having a bit of a resurgence these days, and Ridge Racer has a style and flavor all its own. If nothing else, today is the perfect day to revisit where it all began.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
