The Racing Game that Killed an Iconic Series...

Some racing games adapt and survive, some racing games adapt and... well... end. This classic racing game series is essentially lost to time, but I never played the most recent full instalment of Ridge Racer properly until today...
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[@Nismolectric]

Honestly, Bandai Namco needs to bring this series back. If Ace Combat and Klonoa can make a comeback, then why not Ridge Racer?

[@j377yb33n]

With how much attention they were giving some other series, it was possible, but apparently they recently cancelled 5 in development games without revealing what they were

[@DW98rosy]

​@@j377yb33nridge rcaer 8 (in development for the switch using unreal engine 4) was also, according to a linkedin account for a senior software engineer at bandai namco singapore, canceled at some point in 2019. with each passing day, it seems more and more unlikely that bamco will actually give us what we want: a new ridge racer.

[@matthewmondragon2074]

Its more about attention and stonks. I mean come on, many years without any news of AC8 and they're milking anime games

[@caliginousmoira8565]

did ace combat ever leave..... i know armored core did for a while.....

[@j377yb33n]

@@caliginousmoira8565 5 years between AC7 and the previous release - a f2p lootbox game on the ps3 in 2014. before that - it was 8 years since the last main game, a call of duty chasing spin off, with a psp and 3ds installment around the same idea. and before that, 12 years between the two games taking place in the fictional ace combat world.

[@iiTsFaded_]

I’m still optimistic for a Ridge Racer 8. My favorite franchise of all time. Pleaseeeeeeee, Namco. 🥺

[@Andreas32300]

Hope this was not one of that Namco’s cancelled games according to that news Yeah, something like free roam around Ridge State finding various events like Manufacturers’ Trials / Single Events / RSGP-like Championships should distinguish 8 from previous games while the main focus is still closed circuit. I have too many ideas for the next game tho

[@deanonimus2262]

i miss my childhood waifu Reiko Nagase..

[@Victor-BRz3800]

​@@Andreas32300i had some ideas like this too 😮 Free roam around the citys with street races like unbounded but Also Seasons like: Ridge City tournament (starters), Real Racing roots (medium difficulty) and the ridge 7 UFRA thing as the final season.

[@imgladnotu9527]

a ridge racers 3 that's basically the entire anthology that's also on pc would be great

[@LumanatorRightHere]

I'm very optimistic those cancelled games ended up being those anime games Bandai used to always want to pump out.@@Andreas32300

[@segeros]

they are the same people behind flatout 1 and 2 and wreckfest. 2nd comment?

[@not3ks_Aozaki]

Yes they are

[@K1-Glory]

Dont forget Flatout Ultimate Carnage

[@huzaifarasheed615]

And dirt showdown 😂

[@asteronomical]

@@K1-Gloryultimate carnage is literally Flatout 2 just with better visuals

[@turbochargedfilms]

​@@huzaifarasheed615nope, that's Codemasters. We're talking about Bugbear here

[@lukevanwyngaardt6584]

I used to play this game often during my high school days. However I didn't do much of the career until I unlocked more of the cars through creating my own tracks, which was a huge help in advancing.

[@Canada407]

Love how the lap, time & points are in the environment. No ones ever done that before or after

[@mbotxmbot8846]

In nfs the run for the wii its even better: the texts are actuall 3d models.... EVEN IN THE MENU

[@johncarl5505]

Feels like Splinter Cell Conviction.

[@titanictechno1]

Split second

[@mbotxmbot8846]

@@titanictechno1 oh yea also

[@lycanthrochick]

3 things I disliked about Unbounded: - the handling was a weird mix of realistic and arcade, and I could never get used to it - the AI was absurdly fast and I found it tough just to finish in the top 3, never mind winning - the progression system meant that I had to constantly redo races to unlock later events

[@AzuraRacing]

As a kid I played this, rented it from a shop for a week and played it and it genuinely was one of my more enjoyable experiences on my Xbox 360, definitely doesn’t deserve the negative opinion it gets

[@chielwouterscw]

Agreed. About a year ago I decided to pick it up again and honestly I loved it. It reminded me how games don't have to be groundbreaking, they have to be fun, and this game is definitely fun.

[@EthanWasHereCS]

this just unlocked a core memory..

[@LumanatorRightHere]

I'm so happy you're covering this. This series needs a comeback that isn't so polarizing like Unbounded. And maybe time would be kinder to this game if it released as a separate IP as originally intended.

[@not3ks_Aozaki]

Unbounded was a last chance to try to save the series due to the series not really changing at all making it slowly fall off, which is why it was made by bugbear but it didn’t do as well as they wanted it to. The chances of a new ridge racer is low but never zero, and could get a new entry if they find that one thing to add to the series

[@caliginousmoira8565]

what about the 'trying to be real' one.... i don't remember the name, i do own it though(don't know where it is)

[@not3ks_Aozaki]

@@caliginousmoira8565 r-racing evolution

[@e-money9251]

@@caliginousmoira8565you mean the one with the sexy main protagonist and the sexy main antagonist

[@BlackLegNafez]

ridge racer had the best music in any racing game its so nostalgic

[@caliginousmoira8565]

R4

[@ahmadsyamsuri9041]

Ironically, this was my first introduction to Ridge Racer franchise, back in my high school days 🤣(aka the PS3 era). But to be honest though, this was a very underrated game (most people would say it's the worst one of the franchise, since it's very different from the previous installment and i've tried the previous ones, too) but it will always has a place in my memory; the crash, the environment, the track builder was nuts, and have had some fun battling it out with friends on splitscreen.

[@GalmLead]

Gotta say, Unbounded looks really good, compared to today's titles.

[@artoodiitoo]

This one was made by Bugbear, developers of Flatout and Wreckfest

[@Ronathon02]

You should do a video on the Motorstorm Series!

[@Stinger20638]

I miss ridge racer, honestly. I'm gonna have to pull out my 360 and play this.

[@chrislorrainephillips5959]

I have played the demo also. Was a pretty long time ago just like you said for you, keep up the amazing work!

[@ghostblade3276]

Omg omg I've been looking for this game for so damn long! I never knew the name of this game. I was so little when I played this. I have been wanting to play this game again for so damn long. Thank you for unlocking this memory for pants man!

[@kira3894]

Looks more like Split/Second than Burnout

[@pharaohatem5832]

RR64 was my shit and growing up seeing the cover girl Reiko and hearing the music made me fall in love

[@ThereMayBeLions]

Considering that Wreckfest is one of my favorite games, and the Aesthetic looks so much like Split/Second - I'm definitely looking at picking this up.

[@Stellaris556]

The best game of the Ridge Racer series in my opinion is R4. It was peak of the RR series before the year 2000 comes. The career mode is very rewarding, also the storyline is interesting for 4 different teams in the game. When it comes to soundtrack, it's an actual godsend and brought some sentimental value to it. My favorite team in R4 was RTS (RR version of Ferrari & Mercedes) & DRT (RR version of Williams & Haas).

[@zT4_J2_S0z]

Ridge Racer on PSP was my favorite game when i was a kid! Thankyou Theo for reminding me about this gem!

[@j377yb33n]

If you can get it, ridge racer 7 for the ps3 was the final one for that style and it's just a mix of everything they could throw into it

[@pijen]

My first Ridge Racer experience was Ridge Racer Type 4, on PS1. The intro video was so cool

[@supermaster2012]

Man the 3 wheel car on round 2

[@lowgamer7422]

I was looking for this game for several years but I couldn't remember the name. thanks man

[@footlongcone]

If you ever want to see where Bugbear started, find their first game, Rally Trophy. Came out in 2001, focused on the golden era of 2wd rally (about 1964-1975ish), was pc only and honestly inhaled far too many hours of my life 23 years ago.

[@crayyan2552]

I think the main reason the game Got Binned was becuase it essentially was having an Identity Crisis. The dev's were looking for a way to innovate and honestly this game is NOTHING like past itterations, Heck there arent even any cars from the old/previous games in this game. You also had collaborations from NAMCO in the past games like Pac Man Cars in the PSP Ports and other unique Vehicles. It had a Story ish vibe back then. This game looks Like if MW 2012 and Burnout had a baby. If they had stuck to their original Arcade Circuit formula and expanded on it, I feel like the Franchise could have stayed around for much more longer. And even back then I didnt even know they HAD a ridge racer for Consoles/ PC in 2012. There was most Definetly a HUGE LACK of Marketing on this game, Just like MCLA did

[@roflBeck]

I played the demo for this too. The only Ridge Racer I had played before it was Ridge Racer DS, and just from that I could tell it was not Ridge Racer, it was just trend chasing. Since then I've played some of the others, like the original, Type 4, PSP, etc. They're fun stuff. It has this drift model that lets you drift on rails, so you can do hairpins at 160 or whatever.

[@gbalao8885]

Finally, Pants making Ridge Racer content. Really hope you make let’s plays of the series, especially R4, PSP, 6 and 7.

[@spongey_1039]

I'm surprised you remember blur that was my favorite game of the ps3 and still is. Id get off school and play hrs each night its sad it's no longer able to be played

[@GustavoHenrique003]

3:38 Great collection of games

[@dylanlumpe]

Bugbear also did FlatOut, FlatOut 2 was exceptional, that damage model was crazy

[@quinn1331]

That Track Editor Is Actually Neat.

[@Andreas32300]

First game played was DS one, haven’t played R4 which was the highest rated, but god dang I love 7 so much you can immerse yourself as a Ridge Racer competing in a pro series. Waiting for Ridge Racer 8 to comeback with all cars from 7, 3D, Vita and refreshed cars from V like Tornade / Toreador (based on Ford GT or Mustang) and Fortune (based on current Honda Civic Type-R). Terrazi Gaia (from Ace Combat 7 billboard) could make debut in 8!

[@DW98rosy]

if RR8 ever happens, it needs to be RRV, RR2 (PSP) 7, 3D, and vita, all combined into one, pretty much, with refreshed car designs in some cases. other of my wishes for the game include the addition of cosmic terminal (track with its map shown in the 2006 E3 demo movie for ridge racer 7 that never made the final game), the addition of an *option* to explore the open world of ridge state in one of your owned machines (as in, just exploration, and could be used for side quests/side stories that aren't mandatory, but no main story/main campaign progression through here), a more fleshed-out livery editor that ideally gives us 3 or 4 editable body colors (with all the color options from 7 as well as the RGB thing that game had), more visual customization options (building off of what 7 gave us), more detailed machine specifications, and i could go on for a while, but i'll leave this comment here.

[@Andreas32300]

@@DW98rosy Free roam is also my consideration when thinking about Ridge State, since we have so many regions in the State. Like, Ridge City is the home to Seaside Route 765, Ridge City Highway and other so many tracks (from RRV) and Rave City would be the most glamorous region (also include that Novice track from Rave Racer). I was thinking about street races where you can challenge racers, the money you get is not much but oh boy you can gain a lot of reputation there. Cosmic Terminal, from the E3 trailer, could be a Rave City track iirc. Since RR7 has 4 categories homologated by UFRA (FIA version of RR), I would like championships in each end of the category be R4 to R1 (similar to F4 to F1), R4 is entry-level driven by Ridge Racer Academy (yeah, I have a Racing Academy in mind for the game) rookies, R3 is regional, R2 is national, and R1 is the premier-class, and the racers dream to become the winner of R1 Ridge Racer World Championship. Other than RSGP main events, there should be side/feeder championships, which is the multi-race version of UFRA Single Events.

[@GozuTenno962]

God why am i so nostalgic towards early 2010s era of racing games. Everyday i ogled at the screen shots of ridge racer unbounded as well as split second. I do miss thst innovative era of racing games....i dearly miss it

[@r10101]

For me personally, this game and Driftopia (it's short-lived f2p counterpart) were crippled entirely by the handling, due to how cardinal a sin it makes; *it's never consistent.* Compared to how precise and exact you could be in 7 as cars are guided along the road in it, it's a substantial far-cry compared to the, well, the only way to say it would be ice physics of Unbounded.

[@KSH13OFFICIAL]

Thank you mate for introducing me too this franchise!

[@supermaster2012]

RR7 built up upon the shoulders of the previous 4 games, solidifying car brands and design philosophies. RR fans wanted more of the same and we still do (RR7's servers are still up and you can regularly find people playing).

[@rorroryusoul]

Very cool video black panthaa

[@omarmousselmal5876]

I love your content bro, from algeria ❤❤❤

[@AssassinsbrotherFraser]

this was one of my first car games fr

[@anthonylu1237]

I bought this game since 2020, conpleted everything. And then made lots of Ridge Racer Unbounded videos. This game isn't that bad, at least I can make hundreds of custom races tracks. To drive, destroy and dominate. : D

[@AlexLoeding]

Dude Ridge Racer now that’s old school!!!

[@troypheko1283]

Finally, thank you Pants for making this, we NEED MORE people talking about Ridge Racer, if you ask me, Ridge Racer 7 remastered on Unreal Engine 5, same feel as RR7 from 2006, we have conversations of a comeback...

[@jayceventura8575]

Fun fact: While Bugbear was busy doing Ridge Racer: Unbounded, the other developer decided to make Flatout 3 and turned into a straight-up garbage, ruining the name and reputation of the entire Flatout franchise.

[@ALCTheBlade]

Ridge Racer: Unbounded was such a departure from the traditional elegant drifting of the previous Ridge Racer titles. Honestly, they should've spun this off as another racing series, possibly even bringing back the Rage Racer name to fit its aggressive, destructive theme, while keeping Ridge Racer focused on perfecting precision drifts and slipstreams.

[@DW98rosy]

this wasn't supposed to have been a ridge racer game, originally. bugbear had started working on this as possibly a new original IP, then namco said "hey our series is failing, could you put the ridge racer name on this?" (or something of the sort happened), bugbear agreed, and we end up with this abomination of a game.

[@ALCTheBlade]

@DW98rosy makes sense. The game never even released in Japan.

[@wyattmunger5529]

@@DW98rosy Abomination's a bit harsh. It's still a good game, incorrect Ridge Racer label notwithstanding.

[@Solomon_C]

@@wyattmunger5529 Agreed

[@Solomon_C]

@@wyattmunger5529 Ridge Racer Unbounded is underrated lowkey

[@markisaki979]

This game's soundtrack legit had music from SKRILLEX.

[@hoodlum5607]

finally pants made a ridge racer video, you should definitely go play the traditional ones

[@LightningWolf127]

Racing games back then were such a different breed 😎

[@ospreyslender8931]

Ridge Racer Type 4 in the PS1 was the very first videogame I ever played, this series had a strong influence on my childhood, pretty good one at that.

[@TheLazyBoi_]

You have no idea, how much time I spent in the track builder I love this game so much, even if the handling is beyond horrible

[@johanwahlen1966]

Hi Pants! When are you making a video on the new porsches in The crew 2? Had such a good time customizing them.

[@omarshaikh5455]

I swear one of the first few games I bought on Steam was Ridge Racer Unbounded. I kept on losing since I didn't know the Handling model.

[@anymus5891]

I'VE BEEN LOKING FOR THIS GAME FOR YEARS OMG I FORGOT THE NAME TANK YOU

[@CIA833]

New subscriber. IF you can. Please make a video about Motorstorm. And especially Apocalypse. This one deserves to be visited again by YOU😅😅. and have a great day. Mate. And yeah. Remember me😊😊😊

[@BlackPanthaa]

That's a good idea!

[@brandongotsole]

This that burnout paradise hand me down 🤣😭

[@DragoCubX]

Unbounded was the first Ridge Racer I played, but only because it was gifted to me when it was new lol. It was neat, but like no one else had it, or had even heard of it, so I didn't keep playing for long. And yes, the track editor always seemed a weird inclusion to me as well

[@dakotaalford1264]

I wish they would make split second 2 I love that game

[@AgentCrocodile]

After the atrocities that were Ridge Racer Slipstream and Ridge Racer Draw & Drift, as much as it pains me, there is almost null chance for us to get a main entry. Bandai Namco were working on RR8 but on the Switch. The Switch, of all platforms. Let that sink in. Then some problems came up with development, possibly costs and maybe a few investment issues, that they had to cancel the game. A true shame, because on a trip to Argentina that I had back in 2013 exposed me to the first entry of Ridge Racer in the form of an Arcade and thus made me love Ridge Racer as a whole. All I can wish for is that they release either the collection of all the Ridge Racer games on Steam or for them to release Ridge Racer 8 on PC. Especially since the concepts they had, such as the Terrazi Gaia (Acura NSX in the RR universe), hinting at a very high possibility that they can develop it if they are allowed.

[@subzerodragon110]

I enjoyed unbounded and as blur was mentioned it does have dedicated services so you still can play that game to this day

[@jasonthornton748]

I want that game bad. I love the chaos!

[@NJDJ1986]

this game is like combined with 3 things: Flatout, Burnout, & NFS The Run!

[@tonybarnes2920]

If you ignore that they call it Ridge Racer, it's a good discount Burnout with a track editor. I liked how you opened up shortcuts by boost-smashing through them.

[@SlendyPlaysGames]

this feels like a successor to Split Second tbh. i remember this game but never played it

[@BansaGaming]

I had so much fun with this game

[@Greenville63]

Wow the memories such an amazing game

[@endymir3X]

I never heard of this game but it looks cool

[@NinjahM3]

I remember this game, I played a demo of it, then a friend had it but i never got it 😥.

[@LilDiabloRob]

Dude I haven’t played ridgeracer SINCE day one of my PS2 days at release when I was in middle school lol.

[@Deputy_Doofus]

I started playing this game on steam and got a good chunk of it done, but I eventually stopped playing it for a while and decided to uninstall it until I felt like coming back to it again. However, the game isn’t connected to the steam cloud so when I got back into the game, all my progress was reset and that basically killed all my motivation to continue the game for a while.

[@kianwynterdeguzman6073]

This version of ridge racer reminds me more of split second

[@CharlemagneAkira]

I started from the Ridge Racers from PSP and then decided to visit the rest of the franchise from the beginning to today. Too bad it won't be possible to have a successor that can be named Ridge Racer Type 8 as an example

[@luandeoliveira1581]

I remember playing the demo of this in my xbox 360, everything looked so much like NFS The Run the layout colors was identical

[@Filipe1020]

Theo please play the first games from Ridge Racer! Especially Type 4

[@Victor-BRz3800]

I'm still waiting for a new Ridge racer game... ye.

[@D3VYN3]

I unironically love this game, definitely an overhated game. it's chaotic and explosive fun and punching your way through buildings never gets old

[@RYAN..99]

loved the video would love to see wreckfest on the channel

[@N3V2-Nevto]

Ridge racer type 4 was my peak RR in this series. Everythi g encapsulates the generation of a new year 2000 and the soundtrack is what I love most. 💙 Unbound waa interestinf to play for sure (does have bangers too with cool gameplay too)

[@kingofpassionplusyt]

this game is like Spyro the year of the dragon 🐲. game u never know it's going to come or happen. i love Spyro 2003 game.

[@pauldoake6188]

Finally your talking Ridge Racers. You can get original red namco car dlc I still play this version on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

[@Normalaatsra]

Bamco replaced RR with PCARS by being the publisher, the original PCARS received a Ridge Racer themed DLC for stock cars, something that nobody talks about. With EA acquiring and immediately canning the series in typical EA fashion, BN don't have a racing IP to use right now but RR again.

[@chillex524]

You should do a video on that cancelled need for speed game from 2008 called need for speed terror five!

[@Billy.Butcher]

Oh shit, I played the demo of this many times

[@Fontaine_R]

If namco is not gonna come out with a new ridge racer anytime soon, at least give us long time fans all the old ridge racer games (1-7)in one big collection, remastered in hd with 60fps!

[@UltraVarietyChannel]

I remember seeing tons of people say this game was garbage and I really don't see it. I don't think its some hidden masterpiece, but I thought it was a lot of fun. Destruction was cool, handling was solid, and I never had any bugs or anything either. Then there's the track editor which was a nice additional feature. I'm really sick of bandwagon hate.

[@DW98rosy]

it has the ridge racer name on it when it is so clearly not a ridge racer game (which it wasn't intended to be). that's why people hate it, and justifiably so. if it hadn't had the ridge racer name tacked on, maybe this game wouldn't be remembered how it is.

[@okamithelucario]

I loved this game so much, i dropped so many hours into the track creator but sucked at the game so i could never progress through the main campaign. I need to pick up a copy of it for 360 since my weak laptop cant handle it

[@user-tw3yx8kf3w]

This was my child hood bro Ridge racer unbounded best game I played and would play it again if I had the console

[@LordLOC]

Bugbear tried their damage/destruction stuff in the Flatout games long before RR Unbounded came along. That being said, it'd be nice to get a new Ridge Racer. It's been long enough since the last "normal" RR that a new RR in that style would probably work well enough.

[@Eggyteevee]

I played this game almost 10 years ago, sometimes I had some images of this game popping in my head and thought "what was this game", hoenstly it felt like a bunch of memories mashing togheter and creating a fake one Untill I saw someone mentioning this game in a vídeo 2 years ago, and my memory snapped and I remembered the game And I like it, I think it was fun back then, and it still looks fun

[@davidroberts8760]

This was such a fun game I had Xbox 360 full jail break My Father could burn any game back then !!! I had over 350 games And my Dad burned every on on Pirate Bay online!!! Never paid nothing except for Dual DVD discs!!! LoL 😮🎉❤😅

[@Se-no-cs]

They can't just go from extremely arcady to battle racing like that like they could like make it like a spin-off or just a a brand new series

[@fusion_sixx]

time to get back into TC2 for the newest cars that motorfest doesnt have! srsly i gotta get them aswell finally 😂 😂

[@burnwolfpromotions]

I remember playing the living sh*t out of RR2 on the PSP back in the day. After that I got the PsVita version, it def was a setback since everything (cars, tracks, I think even music) was locked behind a paywall. But even still I enjoyed it. I am still believe in RR8, perhaps it will even be playable on PC.

[@gamergabs1991]

I was late buying it but brought it for PS3 awhile I quite enjoyed it even though it wasn't really ridge Racer game

[@jazzanutz]

Also, this game was definitely well known for it's crazy difficulty as well as nuts AI 😂

[@kingofpassionplusyt]

Everyone went quiet about the dope sweat bound ak nfs pantz unbound lol.

[@Rockport1911]

I didnt know about this game, thought the series ended even before that. Looks solid but I dont think it can compete in the " Burnout- genre" against SplitSecond or Blur. They came lat and it doesnt stand out enough to be a " hidden gem" these days. And the " Asphalt" series cemented itself within the mobile Arcade gaming. 3:19 Yeah games where small back then, Blur and SplitSecond arent more than 4 GB space. NfS Heat is 35 GB. Of course modern games have much more graphics and content, but sometimes I struggle to see 25GB extra in 4K textures :)

[@HBHR-rm4bk]

I never even heard of this game before this video but it looks fun tho I'd like to drive licensed cars in these games as well like MW2012 and customize them like post NFS 2015 The concept of track editor is awesome and racing games of all sorts should consider having these options Thanks for the inspiring video :D

[@NALTOHQ]

I NEED ANOTHER RIDGE RACER.

[@qimarjhaisykes5688]

Split Second Vibes.