Grand Prix

The Grand Prix is Ridge Racer series's main game mode that serves as its career mode, debuting in Rage Racer.

Rage Racer

Rage Racer introduced the Grand Prix mode for the first time. All Grands Prix are held at the same tracks: Mythical Coast, Over Pass City, Lakeside Gate and Extreme Oval (Oval races are introduced from Class 3 onwards). There are 5 "standard" Grands Prix available at the start. Once all the "standard" Grands Prix are complete, players are able to access the "Extra" GP as well as maxed out credits for the main Grand Prix mode (however, the player must start over again with no money and only the beginning car, Gnade Esperanza, when starting the Extra GP mode). The Grands Prix are named as the following:

• Class 1: Calme GP
• Class 2: Brise GP
• Class 3: Rafale GP
• Class 4: Mistral GP
• Class 5: Tempete GP
• Class 1 Extra: Aisance GP
• Class 2 Extra: Agitation GP
• Class 3 Extra: Irritation GP
• Class 4 Extra: Colere GP
• Class 5 Extra: Rage GP
• Class 6 Extra: Diable GP

All the "standard" Grands Prix run on forward direction, while Extra GP (with the exception of Diable GP) are run on reverse. (Holding L1 + R1 + Select + Start when the race is loaded allows the player to play in opposite direction instead.) Players are rewarded financially for podium finishes in all GPs, which is necessary to purchase or upgrade cars.

There are 12 competitors (player included) in Rage Racer, with the exception of the Diable GP which only has 5 competitors (player included). All opponent competitors drive unique cars inaccessible to the player, some of which deliberately designed to mimic playable cars, which is more evident during the Diable GP.

Ridge Racer Type 4

Ridge Racer Type 4's Grand Prix mode is dubbed the "Real Racing Roots '99". Players get to experience a more sanctioned race-like feel throughout the Grand Prix by the introduction of a linear racing season and a selection of cars and racing teams. The Grand Prix consists of 8 courses that are divided into "heats". The courses, although fictitious, are now located in real-life cities around the world (although this appears to be ignored in PSP games). The conditions are as follows:

• The 1st heat is 2 laps long and requires 3rd position or better to advance, and uses Stage 1 cars.
• The 2nd heat is 3 laps long and requires 2nd position or better to advance and uses Stage 2 cars.
• The Final GP is 3 laps long, requires 1st place finish to advance, and uses Stage 3 cars. Exception applies to the final round which is 6 laps long and uses Stage 4 cars.

The first heat races are in:

• Helter Skelter (located in Yokohama, Japan, held on Saturday, May 1st, 1999).
• Wonderhill (located in Fukuoka, Japan, held on Saturday, May 15th, 1999).

The second heat races are in:

• Edge of the Earth (located in New York, USA, held on Thursday, July 1st, 1999).
• Out of Blue (located in Yokohama, Japan, held on Thursday, July 15th, 1999).

The Final GP races are in:

• Phantomile (located in Yokohama, Japan, held on Friday, September 24th, 1999).
• Brightest Nite (located in New York, USA, held on Friday, October 22nd, 1999).
• Heaven and Hell (located in Fukuoka, Japan, held on Friday, November 26th, 1999).
• Shooting Hoops (located in Los Angeles, USA, held on New Year's Eve 1999).

All Grand Prix races in Ridge Racer Type 4 feature an 8-car grid, each team having two cars each (the CPU teammate cars use the same livery and number as the player's, with yellow numbers and different color windshield decals).

Throughout the Grand Prix, the team managers may comment differently if the player does not win the first and/or second heat races, which also affects car choices for the next stages. During the finals, the team managers will make comments that relate to team's storyline.

Ridge Racer V

Ridge Racer V featured a revised Grand Prix mode. Players start with the first Basis GP which feature Standard-class cars, and upon winning the GP, he/she will unlock the Extra Grands Prix. All of the courses are located in Ridge City. The Grands Prix are as following:

Easy difficulty:

• Basis GP (Standard class)
• Heroic GP (Extra class)
• Blast GP (Extra class, sudden death)
• Knight GP (Extra class)
• Throne GP (Extra class, oval course)

Normal difficulty:

• Frontal GP (Standard class)
• Bravery GP (Extra class)
• Gale GP (Extra class, sudden death)
• Baron GP (Extra class, reverse courses)
• Monarch GP (Extra class, oval course)

Hard difficulty:

• Fountain GP (Standard class)
• Spartan GP (Extra class)
• Tornado GP (Extra class, sudden death)
• Duke GP (Extra class, reverse courses)
• Tyrant GP (Extra class, oval course)

Maximum Grand Prix:

• Ultimate GP (Extra class).

Ultimate GP is only available after completing all GPs in Hard difficulty.

Ridge Racer V features a 14-car grid. The "sudden death" races are basically eliminator-styled races. A sudden death race starts with the full 14-car grid, and the cars at the last place are eliminated after a certain sector time limit is expired.

PSP Series

The Grand Prix in the PSP series is now dubbed "Ridge Racer World Tour", consisting of four tours:

• Basic Tour
• Pro Tour
• EX Tour
• Max Tour

All non-duel Tours feature a 12-car grid. Some tours are thematic in nature, for example events dedicated only to circuits from certain games. The Max tour, however, is comprised of a four-car grid, with races known for being artificially challenging due to the extreme rubberbanding of the AI opponents, as well as their unlimited nitrous boosts. These events features no rewards for completing, even down to the final event of the game, save for a final congratulatory message after completing the final Max tour for the first time.

All races are held in Ridge State, with the exception of international locations in the United States (Edge of the Earth, Brightest Nite and Shuttleloop Highway) and Japan (Helter Skelter, Diablo Canyon Road, Ocean Bay, Phantomile and Crimsonrock Pass), previously seen in the Real Racing Roots '99 season.

Ridge Racer 6

"Welcome to the new Ridge Universe. The Universe awaits you..."

―World Xplorer Introduction

The World Xplorer in Ridge Racer 6 features a chart that consists of 7 routes, for a total of 235 races:

• Basic
• Special
• Pac-Man
• Duel
• Expert
• Master
• Final

Each route starts at a first available race, and follows the connections through a series of races the player unlocks as they progress. The player can decide at anytime to finish the Route. Routes will automatically be finished at a race with no unlocked races connected, or when the player reaches the border to another section. Connections between races within routes are called zones, with a question mark in its center. When all races in a zone are unlocked or when certain races are completed, the player is awarded with a new car or, sometimes, bonus content.

All events are located in Ridge State.

To unlock the Pac-Man tour, the player must score 15,000 points in the Pac-Man minigame once unlocked (this is not possible on the pre-loading screen).

Ridge Racer 7

Ridge Racer 7's main event is the Ridge State Grand Prix that's sanctioned by a governing body named UFRA that consists of 13 Grands Prix and one final Grand Prix.

• RSGP 01: Acid (Category 4)
• RSGP 02: Bass (Category 4)
• RSGP 03: Chrome (Category 4)
• RSGP 04: Disco (Category 3)
• RSGP 05: Euphoria (Category 3)
• RSGP 06: Filter (Category 3)
• RSGP 07: Grip (Category 3)
• RSGP 08: Heat (Category 2)
• RSGP 09: Industria (Category 2)
• RSGP 10: Junx (Category 2)
• RSGP 11: Kick (Category 2)
• RSGP 12: Lucid (Category 2)
• RSGP 13: Movin' 2 The Beat (Category 1)
• RSGP 14: Final State (Category 1)

All events are located in Ridge State. All Grands Prix feature an 8-car grid, and named alphabetically with the exception of the final Grand Prix.

Notable in the choice of names for the Grands Prix are their allusions to titles of songs featured in past Ridge Racer games. Below is a list of possible references for each Grand Prix:

Name	Possible reference
Acid	Acid Eutron (Ridge Racer 6)
Bass	Bassrider (Ridge Racers)
Chrome	Chrome Drive (Ridge Racers)
Disco	Disco Ball (Ridge Racers)
Euphoria	Euphoria (Rave Racer) Euphoria (Ridge Racer V)
Filter	—
Grip	Grip (Ridge Racer 2 / Ridge Racer Revolution)
Heat	Heat Floor (Rave Racer)
Industria	Industria (Rage Racer)
Junx	Junx (Ridge Racer V)
Kick	—
Lucid	Lucid Rhythms (Ridge Racer Type 4)
Movin' 2 The Beat	Movin' in Circles (Ridge Racer Type 4)

Ridge Racer 3D

The Grand Prix mode in Ridge Racer 3D is divided into three stages:

• Basic Grand Prix, consists of 18 events
• Advanced Grand Prix, consists of 18 events
• Expert Grand Prix, consists of 12 events

In the Expert Grand Prix, the player must advance first to the next race at all times, and may feature Eliminator events, where the last placed racer on the final lap is eliminated. Also at this level, advanced nitrous types are unlocked, except for Duel cars.

All events are located in Ridge State and, except for the duels (events 42 to 47) which has two races each, consist of four races each.