iPhone Review: Ridge Racer Accelerated

Publisher/Developer: Namco
Genre: Racing
Price: $2.99
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: Not quite ready for prime time, especially on the 3G.
Pros: Has the look and sound of Ridge Racer..
Cons: …but not the controls or sense of speed.

Ouch.  Or as the French say, “Le Ouch”.  This is a tough one.  My love of the Ridge Racer series is much like my love of Namco’s other seminal series, Ace Combat.  Much like Ace Combat, I’ve bought just about every incarnation of the series and it’s proven to be a staple of the last three generations of console launches.  Maybe in an attempt to get this one out by Christmas, Namco decided they would deliver only half the game, and the half they left out was the part with the legendary Ridge Racer controls.

Don't let the good looks fool you.

Even though it pains me to do so, I cannot recommend this game.  It just isn’t ready for public consumption.  Clearly based upon the two fantastic PSP releases, you get a taste on your iPhone of the sights and sounds Ridge Racer fans have come to know and love over the years.  Why is this title so cheap, being available at launch for $2.99? Similar to their Ace Combat model, Namco is selling the game engine for a low cost and hoping you purchase the rest of the assets to get a complete title.  The jury is still out on if this tactic will be a success for Namco, but be forewarned, all you get here is 2 tracks (4 if you count mirror-images) and 2 car classes.  The problem here is that for $2.99, a competent control scheme does not exist in the app.  I would have gladly exchanged a track or car for quality car control.

Pretty close to the actual framerate.

I was actually optimistic when I first fired up the game and saw that not only did Namco employ the horizon auto-level feature that worked so well in Asphalt 5, but they added ticks along the bottom of the screen with an indicator letting you know how off center you were steering.  This sounds great in theory, but in practice the sensitivity is too dull.  No matter how much you crank it up, the game never shows that trademark handling the series is known for.  The worst part is that the drift mechanic, which admittedly is a bit too easy in Asphalt 5, is completely broken here.  You do have the choice between auto-accelerate and manual gas pedal, and manual makes drifting a bit easier, but drifting is the hallmark of Ridge Racer and greater care should have gone into its implementation.  Most users will become incredibly frustrated spinning out every time they try to drift around a corner.  While you can avoid the maneuver altogether and just slow down into turns, you won’t be able to earn any nitrous, which is crucial to enjoying the game and winning advanced races.

It's all downhill from here.

The other half of the half left out is speed.  At no time during the game do you get that famous sense of speed shown in Ridge Racers (PSP) or Ridge Racer 7.  If you do manage to gain some nitrous, when you trigger it, you go from slow to less slow.  The car never feels like it’s doing more than 50 MPH and the frame-rate stutters in corners and when other cars are jockeying for position on screen.  The game touts “optimized for 3GS, 3G coming soon”.   Someone needs to tell Namco they still need to optimize this game for the 3GS.  If it ran slow on the 3GS, I was curious what the ‘unoptimized’ code did on the 3G, so I dug my old one out.  Seriously, if you have a 3G, do not purchase under any circumstances, it runs at around 9 frames per second.  Seriously.

Here is where you go to complete the game.

Also missing is any career mode or multilayer, all you get is arcade mode, duel, and survival.  If you do find a way to control your car, you can get 6 more tracks for $2.99 and the class 5 vehicles for $1.99.   The familiar look of the game is, however, in tact.  The fictional makes and models you remember are here and the music you’ve come to either love or hate is in place.  Everything about the game screams Ridge Racer until it starts moving.  As is stands now, without a substantial update, Namco should be ashamed to call this game ‘Accelerated’.  This is more like Ridge Racer ‘Broken Down Waiting For AAA’.  The only good thing I can say is at least they didn’t forget Reiko.