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North America

Ridge Racer DS

by Steven Rodriguez - November 14, 2004, 7:59 pm EST

This might very well be the first racing game where having touchy controls is a good thing.

Imagine driving a racecar at top speed down a twisting racetrack, using only your index finger to turn the steering wheel. This sounds like a pretty crazy thing to do, but Namco thinks it's the perfect thing for the DS version of their Ridge Racer game series. It's still going to be the same Ridge Racer gameplay seen in the other games, but the twist this time around will be the unique way you'll be controlling your vehicle.

The bottom touch screen will display a giant steering wheel. With the stylus or your fingertip, you can control your car by "turning" the steering wheel to the left or right. The farther to the left or right you move the wheel, the more you turn in that direction, just like an analog stick on a console. It's a rather clever way to incorporate analog steering on a system with a digital control pad. Whether or not this method of controlling the game will be completely practical or easy remains to be seen, but it is an optional control scheme. The standard D-Pad can also be used to steer. If nothing else, it could pave the way for other games to use a psuedo-analog control setup on the touch screen.

The top screen will show the race from either the first or third-person perspective, depending on your personal preference. With the power of the DS, the game will be in full 3D, and won’t look all that different than Ridge Racer 64. In fact, the developer of the N64 version, NST, is also taking care of the DS version, so expect there to be similarities in how the game looks and plays.

The two titles are so similar, in fact, that virtually all the tracks from the N64 game will appear in the DS version. Yes, that means the original Ridge Racer track that we all know and love is present, along with the Renegade and Revolution tracks. It's not known if the game will have any new tracks to race on, but we do know that there will be new secret cars to unlock. It's a Namco game, so you'll be driving around in a Pac-Man machine for sure. Word also has it you'll also get to take a spin in a Mario-themed car, if you're good enough.

Ridge Racer DS's multiplayer options give us something in a portable racing game that we've never gotten to experience before. Up to 6 players can participate in a single race, sans wires. Each player doesn’t need a copy of the game to play multiplayer, because Ridge Racer supports the single-card multiplayer that the Game Boy Advance helped to pioneer. If a lot of people have a DS in the area, only one person needs the game for some easy multi-person racing action.

Ridge Racer DS is one of the group of Nintendo DS launch titles, and it will be available on November 21 alongside the system’s launch.

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Genre Racing
Developer Nintendo Software Technology
Players1 - 6

Worldwide Releases

na: Ridge Racer DS
Release Dec 07, 2004
PublisherNamco
RatingEveryone
eu: Ridge Racer DS
Release Jun 03, 2005
PublisherNamco
Rating3+
aus: Ridge Racer DS
Release Jan 04, 2006
PublisherNamco
RatingGeneral

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