R: Racing Evolution

It’s about speed, performance, and dominating the winner’s circle

JP release: 27th November 2003
NA release: 9th December 2003
EU release: 2nd April 2004
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
NGC Magazine Score: 77%
Mods Used: None

Outside of a very early PS2 game, the main Ridge Racer series was mostly absent for this console generation. Instead, Namco decided to do something different with Ridge Racer: a simulation game with licensed cars – essentially their attempt at a multiplatform Gran Turismo, and even had a story where Rena Hayami, an ambulance driver, ends up joining a shadowy racing team.

That said, it doesn’t go all in on the simulation side, so it seems to end up with the worst aspects of both styles. You have to slow down a lot and the game even feels quite slow overall, even in the fastest cars, and there’s lots of tuning, but then there’s also a fairly small selection of cars, not many tracks and you can ram your opponents, who will not fight back (despite their trash talk threatening it) and there’s no risk of damage.

It does look the part, though, the tracks are really nicely detailed with a very nice mix of locations and types – including some rally tracks and a drag strip – and they all start with a wide view of the track that shows off the impressive draw distance. The cars also look really well detailed

R Racing Evolution seemed like a game that disappointed most people. Ridge Racer fans missed the crazy drifting mechanics while simulation fans wanted more detail. That said, there was one good reason to buy the game: it came with a copy of Pac-Man Vs.

Fine

Remake or remaster?

Probably the only Ridge Racer that couldn’t be re-released due to licensing, but they could potentially re-use the story in a more arcade style Ridge Racer.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get R: Racing Evolution.