Rage Racer

Rage Racer
Japanese	レイジレーサー
Developer	Namco
Publisher	Namco
Release date	December 3, 1996 April 30, 1997 June 1997
Genre	Racing
Game modes	Single player
ESRB	ESRB: K-A for Kids to Adults - Suitable for all ages.
Platform	PlayStation
Media	CD-ROM

"Anyone can race, but only one can win. RAGE RACER."

― Japanese cover tag line.

Rage Racer is the third title in the Ridge Racer series of racing games released on the Sony PlayStation, following Ridge Racer Revolution and succeeded by R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. Created and published by Namco, was first released in Japan in 1996 and later, in America and Europe through 1997.

Visually the game takes a different approach compared to the previous PlayStation Ridge Racer games; looks more realistic and has a darker colour scheme, taking a lot of this from the arcade game Rave Racer. For the first time in series, Rage Racer introduces a brand new advanced single player career system which uses credits that player can get after winning races, then it can be used to buy or upgrade cars.

Gameplay

Flow of the game

The start line. Lakeside Gate course.

The racing is separated into five classes, named 'Class 1' through to 'Class 5'. The game's objective is to earn money (Credits, or 'eg'), which can be spent on buying new cars or on upgrading existing cars. There are three races in Grade 1 and Grade 2 - Mythical Coast, Over Pass City and Lakeside Gate. The Extreme Oval is introduced from Class 3. The game begins with the player in Class 1 with the Gnade Esperanza, the game's only Grade 1 car. The player must place in the top three in all of each Classes' events to progress to the next class. Each class has 3 chances to try. This is different than the early Ridge Racer games when the player can have unlimited restarts. The player must retire from the Grand Prix if all 3 chances had been tried and failed to get into the top 3 position. All of the money and cars that the player won stays, but the trophies would be lost. If the player wins all three races in a class using the correct grade of car (e.g. a Grade 1 car in Class 1), the gold trophy for that class is earned. Otherwise, the player simply moves on to the next class. When the player has completed the five 'Normal GP' events, the 'Extra GP' is unlocked. This allows the player to race the same classes on reversed courses. As well as unlocking the Extra GP, the player receives 999,999,999 e.g. in Normal GP - more than enough to purchase all of the cars and upgrade them to Grade 5 (except for the Japanese version, which Grand Prix and Extra GP starts from scratch). Upon finishing Class 5 in the Extra GP, Class 6 is unlocked, along with the three 'secret' cars. Although it's in the Extra GP, the races in Class 6 are driven on the forward tracks. Class 6 features only four opponents rather than the eleven faced in all other classes.

Tracks

First person view during a race in Mythical Coast course.

Rage Racer has four tracks, which all can be driven backwards as well as forwards. Compared to the tracks in the previous games, Rage Racer tracks are very long and detailed, except for "The Extreme Oval", at 3,074m. The remaining 3 tracks are "Mythical Coast" (4,641m), "Over Pass City" (6,640m) and "Lakeside Gate" (6,237m). Rage Racer was also one of the only games in the series that did not feature an onscreen map during the race. "Mythical Coast" has a varied range of corners and hills and suits an all-round vehicle such as the Gnade Esperanza. "Over Pass City" features many steep inclines and suits the high acceleration Lizard vehicles. "Lakeside Gate" is a technical, twisting course, to which the quick handling Age cars are best suited. "The Extreme Oval" is a flat out oval with wide banked turns. The high speed Assoluto cars are most at home on this track.

Vehicles

There are four car manufacturers in Rage Racer. Each of the four manufacturers favours a different attribute. Age cars are lightweight and feature excellent handling. Lizard cars favour large displacement engines with high torque outputs which give their cars great acceleration. Assoluto cars are designed with maximum power and top speed in mind. The sole Gnade car, the Esperanza, is an all-rounder with average stats in each area. With the exception of Gnade, each manufacturer has three 'standard' cars, and one 'secret' car. Age's three 'standard' cars are the Erriso (Alouette in Japanese version) at Grade 2, the Abeille at Grade 3 and the Pegase at Grade 4. Gnade's only car is the Esperanza. This is the first car you are given at the beginning of the game and starts at Grade 1. Lizard's cars are the Acceron (Instinct in Japanese version) at Grade 2, the Bayonet at Grade 3 and the Hijack at Grade 4. Assoluto's cars are the Fatalita at Grade 3, the Istante at Grade 4, and the Ghepardo at Grade 5. All of the 'standard' cars can be upgraded, with the cost increasing greatly from one grade to the next. The highest level to which the cars can be upgraded is Grade 5. This means the Assoluto Ghepardo cannot be upgraded, as it is a Grade 5 car as standard.

This is the first game in the Ridge Racer series that permits the player to race with a truck, but it only comes with manual transmission. The only truck in this game is the Lizard Hijack, and is available from Class 4 in the game. In the extra Grand prix, there is an extra Grade 6 class where you can buy 'secret' cars. These cars are called the Age Vainqure (Victoire in Japanese version), Lizard Bulldog (Tempest in Japanese version) and the Assoluto Squaldon (Dragone in Japanese version). The Age can go around most of the game's corners flat out at the car's top speed, the Lizard can accelerate up steep inclines as if they weren't there, and the Assoluto has a top speed in excess of 360 km/h.

The makes are particular for different courses. Age is for "Lakeside Gate", Lizard is for "Over Pass City", Gnade is for "Mythical Coast" and Assoluto is for "The Extreme Oval".

Prologues differences between Japanese and North American version

At the very beginning of the whole series (either regular GP or extra GP), there will be a prologue movie for the player to see before the race menu appears. However, the Japanese version and the North American version are different. The Japanese version will have the female voice and the paragraphs are longer, but the North American version will not have the female voice and the paragraphs are shorter.

Grand Prix classes and names

• Regular Grand Prix: (raced in original direction)
  • Class 1: Calme GP
  • Class 2: Brise GP
  • Class 3: Rafale GP
  • Class 4: Mistral GP
  • Class 5: Tempete GP

• Extra GP: (raced in reverse direction)
  • Class 1: Aisance GP
  • Class 2: Agitation GP
  • Class 3: Irritation GP
  • Class 4: Colere GP
  • Class 5: Rage GP

• Final special class: (raced in forward direction)
  • Class 6: Diable GP

Courses

• 1. Mythical Coast
• 2. Over Pass City
• 3. Lakeside Gate
• 4. The Extreme Oval (available starting from Class 3)

Cars list and costs

Gnade (Germany)

• Gnade Esperanza (Grade 1) (This car is given in the beginning of the game.)

Age (France)

• Age Erriso (Age Alouette in Japanese version) (Grade 2) - 2,600 e.g.
• Age Abeille (Grade 3) - 14,500 e.g.
• Age Pegase (Grade 4) - 143,300 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)
• Age Vainqure (Age Victoire in Japanese version) (Grade ?) - 2,143,500 e.g.

Lizard (USA)

• Lizard Acceron (Lizard Instinct in Japanese version) (Grade 2) - 4,000 e.g.
• Lizard Bayonet (Grade 3) - 15,200 e.g.
• Lizard Hijack (Grade 4) - 136,700 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)
• Lizard Bulldog (Lizard Tempest in Japanese version) (Grade ?) - 2,836,800 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)

Assoluto (Italy)

• Assoluto Fatalita (Grade 3) - 20,000 e.g.
• Assoluto Istante (Grade 4) - 151,600 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)
• Assoluto Ghepardo (Grade 5) - 695,900 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)
• Assoluto Squaldon (Assoulto Dragone in Japanese version) (Grade ?) - 6,666,666 e.g. (Only provided with manual transmission)

Development

Reiko welcomes the players.

In an interview with the Namco development team, Nobuhisa Mikoda (Rage Racer game designer and project director) admitted that the game was "somewhat off series and aimed to pursue enjoyment in shift controlling".

Rage Racer was the first in the Ridge Racer series to feature a CGI animated introduction. Here the Ridge Racer "mascot girl" Reiko Nagase was introduced for the very first time.

This game uses the same game's covers for both the Japanese version and the North American version.

Soundtrack

Tracklist

1. Menu theme
2. Rage Racer
3. Story
4. Mathemabeat
5. Lightning Luge
6. Industria
7. Hurricane Hub
8. Mech Monster
9. Silver Stream
10. Stimulation
11. Volcano Vehicle
12. Deep Drive (unlockable by obtaining 5 gold trophies)

There was never an "official" direct-audio soundtrack released for this game unlike its prequels, Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer 2, and Rave Racer, which all had soundtracks on Victor Records in Japan before the Playstation was released in the United States, but it's possible to listen to it by inserting the game CD, which is a CD-ROM XA disc, into any CD player.

Produced and compossed by Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Hiroshi Okubo during summer/fall 1996, the genre of music consisted mostly of 90's electronica and drum'n bass, which was a slight departure from the euro-dance/club styles that early Ridge Racer. It marked the beginning of Namco's new primary Sound Team after their former members began working with other companies doing production on games such as Street Fighter EX (1996) and Driving Emotion Type-S (2000).

Reception

The game was received with generally favorable critics, holding 82.70% in GameRankings. Game Revolution gave a "B" rating, considering it a solid arcade racing game with great scenery and pumping, but citing lack of variety and creativity in the courses. GameSpot granted a 7.6, described it as an outstanding sequel, but with poor unrealistic collision problems with the cars. IGN rating the game with 7.0, recommended the game to Ridge Racer fans, but they commented that the new features in the game has been seen before in other racing titles. Other reviews praised the new progress system in the Grand Prix mode, music, amount of cars and updatings.

Trivia

• A special version of Rage Racer exists under the partnership with Nissan titled "Rage Racer R390 GT1 Special." As the title implies, the player will be driving a Nissan R390 GT1 in the game. It was showcased at major Japanese motor shows in winter 1997-1998. It is currently unknown what has happened to copies of the special version of this game, or if it has ever been preserved.
  • This would mark the only time real, licensed vehicles would appear in the Ridge Racer series.
  • Ridge Racer (PSP) 2 would feature another real-world car, the Yamasa Raggio, although said car was created out of the game.
• Rage Racer is the first game in the series to feature product placement for real brands, where in this case, advertising for Advan and Yokohama tires can be seen.
• When the intro movie to Rage Racer is unlocked as a prize in Ridge Racer (PSP) and its sequel, the female narrator's voice and the vocals are no longer present.

Gallery

North American cover art

North American back cover

European cover art

European english back cover

European game disc

Japanese cover art

Japanese back cover

Tittle screen

Rage Racer - Koshiki guide book

Magazine advertisement 1

Magazine advertisement 2

In-game screenshot

Sources

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