Namco Pac-Man

Namco Pac-Man
Pac-Man in Ridge Racer 2 (PSP)
Also called	Pac-Man car
Appearance	Ridge Racer Type 4 Ridge Racer V Ridge Racer (PSP) Ridge Racer 2 (PSP) Ridge Racer 6 Ridge Racer 7 Ridge Racer 3D

The Namco Pac-Man (also known as Pac-Man car) is a special vehicle that is unlockable in Ridge Racer (PSP), Ridge Racer 2 (PSP), Ridge Racer V, Ridge Racer 6 and Ridge Racer 7.

Variants

Ridge Racer Type 4

Pac-Man in R4

This car has the shape of Pac-Man, smiling and doing the "thumbs up" and the "wink wink" gesture, but his legs are replaced with two wheels. "He" has a rear wing with an exposed engine on his rear. It has relatively good acceleration, and it will glow whenever it is driven in tunnels and even has it's own exclusive song, titled "Eat 'em Up!".

It also features a Drift handling type and is a Stage 4 vehicle, but strangely enough, it is also the slowest out of all Stage 4 cars, with the maximum speed at 151mph (similar to RTS' Assoluto Infinito at Stage 3). His vehicle is the 321st vehicle in the game and is only available upon unlocking all 320 cars.

This version also makes an appearance on Drift Spirits as a part of Pac-Man-themed Drift Survival event held in June 2021.

Ridge Racer V

The Pac-Man car in Drift Spirits, based on the RRV car

His car resembles a Porsche 356 A Speedster, albeit much smaller in size and also much faster than the actual car. To unlock his vehicle, you will have to drive a total distance of 1,500 miles or 3,000 km (depending on game region), which will also allow access to the Pac-Man GP, where you will race his vehicle against the ghosts, which ride on scooters. Winning the Pac-Man GP will unlock the ghosts and their scooters.

His vehicle features a four-speed transmission and a top speed of 184mph (296km/h), and is powered by the PWD1980 engine, which resembles a Power Pellet. It also features Grip-style handling as well (although labeled as drift).

This version also makes an appearance on Drift Spirits as a part of Pac-Man collaboration event held in May 2019. Unlike the original that appeared in V, Pac-Man bounces and has animations that show that he is actually driving.

Ridge Racer (PSP)

Pac-Man in Ridge Racer (PSP)

His car is inspired by planes from World War II (most notable with the propellers and the stylized plane teeth on the front) with an engine that is powered by Power Pellets. It has a poor nitrous system which can only be used for a short time, but it charges faster to compensate. It features a three-speed gearbox, and can reach 218mph, which is by far the fastest normal top speed out of all the cars in the game. That being said, it is betrayed by its weak nitrous boost. Handling-wise, it is rather grippy, but can be challenging to control due to its understeer. Despite its drift type being classified as "special", it feels like a car with a Mild drift type.

Ridge Racer 2 (PSP)

Pac-Man in Ridge Racer 2 (PSP)

His car is now a fighter jet-like vehicle which is also powered by Power Pellets. It is found in Special Class 2 and can reach a speed of 390km/h, as with the other cars in its class. It retains its understeery handling, quick nitrous-charging characteristics and short boosts from the previous game. Another thing noticeable is that its nitrous boost is still weak as it can only boost to 426km/h. Surprisingly in Max Tours, this car will get left behind by the player and the other AI machines and will normally be nowhere to be seen during races as it falls behind pretty quickly.

Ridge Racer 6

"For its 50th anniversary celebration, Namco created the ultimate eco-vehicle specifically for Pac-Man. The engine is powered by fruit, and releases no harmful gases into the atmosphere. The chassis may look fragile, but it is built from a secret compound, developed deep within the Namco labs. Nothing else comes close."

―In-game description text

In Ridge Racer 6, Pac-Man's vehicle is a UFO that is stated to be powered by fuel cells that are fueled by fruit, and thus, is environmentally friendly. It is also an anti-gravity vehicle like the Assoluto Pronzione, and because of this, its handling is similar to Dynamic-type vehicles with very poor inertia drifting capabilities, due to the lack of friction on the road. However it boasts quick acceleration, especially from a standstill, due to the instantaneous torque provided by the fruit-powered fuel cells, and as a result, the sound of the powerplant is not that loud.

Like in previous games, his vehicle's nitrous features quick and excellent charging abilities, but its nitrous duration is very short. Unlike the previous games though, its nitrous boost is fairly strong. When boosting, the machine's body will rotate on its axis, but the rotation will be faster when Double or Triple nitrous is being used.

Due to the nature of anti-gravity machines, Pac-Man can easily drift to quickly charge up his nitrous. Using it produces a quick high-speed burst, but its duration is severely short compared to other machines.

Because Pac-Man's arms and legs are embedded onto the vehicle, when viewed from a distance, his vehicle is actually a mobile exoskeleton.

There are two ways to unlock the car, by scoring 15,000 points in the Pac-Man mini-game, or challenging him in a series of duels. This is similar to the New Rally-X car from Ridge Racer (PSP), another special machine which requires a score of over 50,000 points in the New Rally-X minigame and to complete World Tour #18: "Thriller".

Ridge Racer 7

Pac-Man in Ridge Racer 7

Pac-Man's vehicle in Ridge Racer 7 is a converted Andorgenesis, which appeared from a Namco arcade game, Xevious. Yet again, it is an anti-gravity vehicle similar to the Assoluto Pronzione. Like in Ridge Racer 6, it still has no gearbox, and only has direct drive, but can accelerate rather quickly from a standstill.

Its nitrous system is based off of Hi-Nitrous, but has an added feature where it can automatically charge as anti-gravity vehicles do not properly drift.

In June 2020, this version of Pac-Man car became available on Drift Spirits as a part of series of in-game events commemorating Pac-Man's 40th anniversary.

Ridge Racer 3D

He pilots a scaled-down Solvalou, the player's ship in the arcade game Xevious. The two halves of a Sheonite are positioned in front of the vehicle and spin as though they were wheels; however they are not touching the ground. It could be possible that his Solvalou-like vehicle lacks an internal anti-gravity generator and relies on the Sheonite as a similar device instead.

Restrictions apply when using the car in RR3D; the car cannot be used in multiplayer races, as well in single-player One-Make Races and event 46 (the Pac-Man duel, where the car is unlocked for winning the events) of the Grand Prix mode.

Trivia

• Given that Pac-Man's vehicle in Ridge Racer Type 4 is based on his likeness, it is possible that it is an autonomous vehicle that he is operating remotely.
• In general, with all of Pac-Man's vehicles since Ridge Racer V to the present, it may imply that Pac-Man himself is also a competing racer in the Ridge Universe racing series and the Ridge State Grand Prix. In the games, he is always referred to as a "little yellow guy".
• In Ridge Racer 7 and 3D, the HUD of Pac-Man's vehicle displays the speed using a special set of characters instead of human-readable numbers. The symbols have a triangular form and are actually part of the Xevi language from the Xevious series.

A Diagram depicting what symbol corresponds to what number

• Pac-Man's vehicle is one of three cars in both Ridge Racer 6 and Ridge Racer 7 with a unique driver model, as it features Pac-Man himself driving it. The other two cars with unique drivers would be the Danver Bass Cruiser and the Monstrous limousine.
• In Ridge Racer 6, when the player unlocks Pac-Man's vehicle, unique Pac-Man-themed music will play on the unlock cutscene, which is unique compared to the other special cars, and all cars in general.
• When using nitrous on Pac-Man's vehicle in Ridge Racer 7, he will tap the nitrous button and the floor below the cockpit will glow. When Double or Triple Nitrous is being used, he will tap the button even faster.
• The physical instrument dash on Pac-Man's vehicle in Ridge Racer 7, when viewed and looked closely, features the original cover art of Xevious, suggesting that the instrument dash is basically the joystick and buttons from the Xevious arcade cabinet.
• The "Pac-Man SP" livery variant of the Kamata SYNCi can be obtained via DLC. It has no connections to Pac-Man, aside from the theming, considering the driver model seen is that of a normal driver, although this could also be a developer oversight.
  • Despite this, lore-wise, as Pac-Man does not have a vehicle of his own in Ridge Racer Vita, it is possible that the "Pac-Man SP" Kamata SYNCi is his vehicle instead.
• The fact that Pac-Man's vehicles in Ridge Racer 6, 7 and 3D are anti-gravity vehicles may suggest that they may use Assoluto's patented anti-gravity generators and other such related technologies in order for them to float in the air.
• Both this and the Monstrous in Ridge Racer 7 cannot have their racing numbers changed, due to the lack thereof. As a result, when racing in any Grands Prix, where all cars have their numbers shown, there will be no number displayed.
• When driving, Pac-Man does not animate in Ridge Racer (PSP) (1 and 2) and 3D. This may likely be due to technical limitations.
• In RR6 and RR7, Rocket Starting on this car is quite unusual as you need to keep the RPM between 3000 and 4000 RPM rather than just below the redline. This can be easily performed by holding the throttle at max and releasing it right when the the number 3 disappears and number 2 starts to appear on the countdown. The RPM will slowly go down to the needed RPM right at GO and the rocket start can be performed.