All the fast-paced action you've come to expect from the Ridge Racer name--now in the palm of your hands on the Nintendo DS
Well, we've played Ridge Racer on PSP to death, and marvelled at its resemblance to RR5 on PS2. There's only so much braking, accelerating and drifting we can do before putting that weird golf game back in the slot. But now we have a different RR challenge: the DS version no less, with its strap'n'stylus control combo. Lemme at it! Me first!Ahem. There are three environments in Ridge Racer DS, each with three courses of varying difficulty: Novice, Intermediate and Expert. The first course is Ridge Racer Classic, with its backdrop of the original RR cityscape. The crowded downtown, the mountain tunnels and the sunny beaches are all present and correct. For the RR elite, there is a high speed race through the moonlit downtown. Number two is Revolution Northwest with the heights of the evergreen mountains and the plunge into the valleys and canyons. These narrow, twisting courses require all your driving skill and precision to master, especially in the latter stages. Lastly, there's Renegade Southwest, and three courses set in the sun-baked desert that'll really test your driving skills, as gulches and twisting tunnels pass by in a blur.In solo mode, there are three main racing options on offer: Quick race is pretty self-explanatory - two laps around the RR Novice course in an S-Class car against 11 opponents; Grand Prix lets you choose any available car and track and allows you to select certain settings before letting you loose against 11 other cars; then there's Car Attack, where you can compete for better cars. Once you have won the first stage trophy, the Car Attack mode will become available. As in GP mode, select an available track and car, change selected settings, and off you go, against a single computer opponent which drives a more powerful car. Beat it, and you get to use the losing car from thereon in. Lastly in single player mode, there's Time Attack, and if you don't know what that means, are you really sure you should be playing a driving game'Ridge Racer DS is really very good. The controls are erm, interesting to say the least: traditional control pad for ease; stylus for medium hard difficulty; and the wrist strap for bitchin'! And the multiplayer aspect is great. Up to six racers can compete at once, wirelessly of course, with each player needing their own card to take part. We haven't tried this yet ('cos we're a friendless bunch) but it sounds promising enough.