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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

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R4: Ridge Racer Type 4[b] (Ridge Racer Type 4 in Europe) is a racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the fourth title in the Ridge Racer series after Rage Racer and the last to be released for the PlayStation. It was released on December 3, 1998 in Japan and further released the following year in Europe and North America. It was later re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2011, again in 2023 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and pre-loaded on the PlayStation Classic which was released on December 3, 2018.[2] It is the first Ridge Racer series game on the PlayStation to use Gouraud shading on polygons and was followed by Ridge Racer V in 2000.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
North American cover art
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco[a]
Producer(s)Shigeru Yokoyama
Programmer(s)Masatoshi Kobayashi
Artist(s)Kazutoki Kono
Composer(s)Kohta Takahashi
Hiroshi Okubo
Asuka Sakai
SeriesRidge Racer
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: 3 December 1998
  • EU: 16 April 1999
  • NA: 4 May 1999[1]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Development edit

Music edit

Hiroshi Okubo served as the sound director and lead composer of the game's soundtrack, with Kohta Takahashi and Asuka Sakai also contributing several tracks, and Tetsukazu Nakanishi and Koji Nakagawa contributing two tracks each. Whereas previous games had music inspired by rave and hardcore, R4 instead explores music styles encompassing funk, breakbeat, acid jazz, UK garage, progressive house, and neo soul.[3] Okubo had previously composed additional tracks for Ridge Racer Revolution with Nobuhide Isayama and the whole soundtrack of Rage Racer with Nakanishi, both of which roughly retain the rave sound of the earlier games. A handful of tracks in the game, including the theme song "Ridge Racer (One More Win)", feature vocals by American singer Kimara Lovelace. Okubo first discovered her at a club event in Nishi-Azabu in May 1998; he was impressed by her powerful voice, and felt she fitted the game direction's keywords of "urban" and "cool".[4]

The music was design to correspond with the game's human drama, so the composers aimed to evoke emotions of sadness and tension in their tracks. Both Takahashi and Sakai previously did not have much knowledge or interest in club music; initial tracks they composed for the game were frequently rejected by Okubo for not fitting into the club sound or being "game like". Takahashi described him as "the gatekeeper to club sound hell",[5] while Okubo took piano parts from one of Sakai's tracks and reworked it into "Quiet Curves",[4] much to her annoyance.[6] Nakagawa, who was working on the soundtrack for Techno Drive at the time, was asked by Okubo to contribute due to his experience with composing techno music, while Nakanishi was involved towards the end of the project.[7]

A soundtrack for the game, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 Direct Audio was released by Media Factory on January 27, 1999.[3] On March 21, 2019, SuperSweep released R4: The 20th Anniv. Sounds, consisting of two CDs: the first includes new remixes by a variety of artists, and the second including a remastered version of the original soundtrack.[8]

Gameplay edit

 
A typical race in progress, taking place at the Helter Skelter circuit, featuring the player driving the Terrazi Ambitious as part of the Pac Racing Club attempting to overtake the Lizard Bonfire of Dig Racing Team.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 is an arcade-style racing game with a strong emphasis on powersliding around corners. Vehicles use one of two styles of powersliding depending on the make of car they select: Drift and Grip. Drift cars require players to tap the brake once while turning to break into a smooth powerslide while Grip cars requires players to alternate between brakes and gas while turning to powerslide.[9]

Vehicles are earned by playing through the game's Grand Prix mode. Players select one of four teams; R.C Micro Mouse Mappy (France), Pac Racing Club (Japan), Racing Team Solvalou (Italy), and Dig Racing Team (United States), who each have varying difficulties, and one of four manufacturers; Age Solo (France), Lizard (United States), Assoluto (Italy), and Terrazi (Japan), which determines the style of car and powerslide type the player will use. In each race, the player must attempt to reach a qualifying position, with later stages requiring players to place in higher positions to qualify. Depending on the qualifying position in each race, players will be awarded a new vehicle, or an upgrade to their current one, based on their team and manufacturer, with better cars earned for reaching consistently higher positions (i.e. the best cars are earned by placing 1st in each match while the least impressive cars are earned by just clearing the minimum qualifying positions). There are a total of 320 vehicles earned by racing with every combination of team, manufacturer and qualifying position. If the players unlock all 320 cars, they will unlock an additional one modelled after Pac-Man, for a total of 321 vehicles.[9]

The game also features Time Attack mode, in which players can attempt to get the fastest time on each course, and VS. Battle, a split-screen mode for two players (the first to appear in the home console series) and an undocumented PlayStation Link Cable mode, allowing four players to play simultaneously. Players can also create their own car decors and participate in Extra Trials against powerful prototype cars. The game is also compatible with the JogCon peripheral and the PocketStation device, which allows players to trade cars with friends.[9][10]

Release edit

A peripheral, the JogCon, was released alongside the game, packaged in special editions. The device features a steering wheel type device in the middle of the controller to provide accurate control.

Reception edit

Contemporary edit

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[11]

Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot[19] and Next Generation gave positive reviews to the game.[21] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 35 out of 40.[15]

Retrospective edit

James O'Neill of Push Square noted it as the best of the PS1 Ridge Racer games.[24] Jeremy Peeples of Hardcore Gamer said in 2018 that "R4 remains a high mark for the series and no entry has quite topped it yet." In 2023, Time Extension ranked the game first on their "Best Ridge Racer Games" list.[25] Polygon and GamesRadar have ranked the game among the best PS1 games.[26][27] Den of Geek included the game on their list of "20 PlayStation One Games That Were Way Ahead of Their Time" for getting the balance of "arcadey" and "realistic" right, also noting it as one of the best-looking PS1 titles.[28]

Sales edit

It was a commercial success in Japan, the United Kingdom,[29] and the United States.

The game sold 759,527 units in Japan[30] and 297,564 units in the United States,[31] for a total of 1,057,091 units sold in Japan and the United States.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Published in North America by Namco Hometek and in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
  2. ^ Japanese: リッジレーサータイプ4, Hepburn: Rijji Rēsā Taipu Fō

References edit

  1. ^ "psx.ign.com: R4: Ridge Racer Type 4". 2001-03-03. Archived from the original on 2001-03-03. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  2. ^ "Announcing PlayStation Classic's Full Lineup of 20 Games". PlayStation.Blog. 29 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b Greening, Chris (August 1, 2012). "Ridge Racer Type 4 Direct Audio". VGMO.
  4. ^ a b R4 / RIDGE RACER TYPE 4 / DIRECT AUDIO (CD) (in Japanese). January 27, 1999.
  5. ^ Greening, Chris (June 15, 2011). "Kohta Takahashi Interview: Cutting-Edge Namco Scores". VGMO.
  6. ^ Greening, Chris (June 8, 2010). "Asuka Sakai Interview: What Constitutes Game Music?". VGMO.
  7. ^ "ナムコ「リッジレーサーズ」 サウンドチーム大集合(前編)". GAME Watch (in Japanese). December 22, 2004.
  8. ^ Kotowski, Don (June 25, 2019). "R4 -THE 20TH ANNIV. SOUNDS-". VGMO.
  9. ^ a b c リッジレーサータイプ４オフィシャルガイドブーク (in Japanese). アスペクト. 7 January 1999. ISBN 9784757203075.
  10. ^ Namco Official Guide Book R4 (in Japanese). 3 December 1998. 4907892080072.
  11. ^ a b "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  12. ^ Mark Kanarick. "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  13. ^ Edge staff (February 1999). "R4 - Ridge Racer Type 4". Edge. No. 68. Future plc. pp. 74–75. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  14. ^ Sushi-X; Ricciardi, John; Davison, John; Hager, Dean (June 1999). "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 119. Ziff Davis. p. 135.
  15. ^ a b "R4 -リッジレーサー タイプ4- [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. ^ "[R4] Ridge Racer Type 4". Game Informer. No. 73. FuncoLand. May 1999.
  17. ^ Dan Elektro (1999). "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  18. ^ Sean Johnson (June 1999). "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  19. ^ a b Jeff Gerstmann (17 December 1998). "Ridge Racer Type 4 Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  20. ^ Craig Harris (5 May 1999). "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  21. ^ a b "[R4:] Ridge Racer Type 4". Next Generation. No. 55. Imagine Media. July 1999. pp. 90–91. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  22. ^ Keith Stuart (May 1999). "Ridge Racer Type 4". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. 45. Future plc. pp. 80–84. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  23. ^ Mark MacDonald (May 1999). "R4: Ridge Racer Type 4". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 8. Ziff Davis. pp. 80–81. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  24. ^ O'Neill, James (4 December 2018). "Ridge Racer Type 4 Review (PS1)". Push Square. Hookshot Media. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  25. ^ McFerran, Damien (16 February 2023). "Best Ridge Racer Games - Every Ridge Racer, Ranked". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  26. ^ Parish, Jeremy (30 November 2018). "The 20 best PlayStation 1 games". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  27. ^ Thorpe, Nick; West, Josh; Retro Gamer Team (26 June 2022). "The 25 best PS1 games of all time". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  28. ^ Byrd, Matthew (13 August 2022). "20 PlayStation One Games That Were Way Ahead of Their Time". Den of Geek. DoG Tech LLC. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  29. ^ "Game Charts". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. 46. Future plc. June 1999. p. 124. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  30. ^ "PlayStation". Game Data Library. Famitsu. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  31. ^ "PlayStation US Sales from 1995-2003". Game Pilgrimage. NPD Group. Retrieved 18 October 2020.

External links edit

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