Rage Racer

Rage Racer
Japanese	レイジレーサー
Developer	Namco
Publisher	Namco
Release date	December 3, 1996 April 30, 1997 June 1997
Genre	Racing
Game modes	Single player
Age rating
Platform	PlayStation
Media	CD-ROM
Game Timeline
Previous Game	Ridge Racer Revolution
Next Game	R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

"Anyone can race, but only one can win. RAGE RACER."

― Japanese cover tag line.

Rage Racer is the third console main-series installment in the Ridge Racer series released for the Sony PlayStation. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in the United States and Europe.

Gameplay

Rage Racer borrows the arcade-style high-speed drift racing mechanics of its arcade and console predecessors, with players racing against computer-controlled opponents along different courses.

Grand Prix

Introduced for the first time in the Ridge Racer series is the Grand Prix, which serves as the game's main form of progression. Divided into five events, the various Grands Prix introduce the player to the four courses in the game and rewards them with in-game currency called eg that can then be used to purchase new cars or upgrade already owned ones.

Each race awards players with different amounts of eg and badges depending on whether they finish 3rd (bronze), 2nd (silver), or 1st (gold). Races can be completed in any order as many times as desired; however, once all races in a class have been cleared, the next Grand Prix class will be unlocked, regardless of the player's highest finishing position in the races. The player is also awarded a trophy based on the badges earned from each individual race, as well as a "classup bonus" in eg.

Rage Racer also introduces a life system, where players are given five chances throughout an entire Grand Prix run to complete all races across all classes. Should a player finish below third place in a race, they may choose to either forfeit the entire Grand Prix run or use one of their lives to try again. Once all five lives have been used up, the run is forfeited; however, players may still restart the Grand Prix from the highest class they were able to unlock.

The five Grand Prix events are listed below.

Course	Reward (eg)
	1st	2nd	3rd
Calme GP (Class 1)
Mythical Coast	400	160	80
Over Pass City	550	240	120
Lakeside Gate	500	220	110
Brise GP (Class 2)
Mythical Coast	2,400	1,000	500
Over Pass City	3,400	1,500	750
Lakeside Gate	3,200	1,400	700
Rafale GP (Class 3)
Mythical Coast	12,000	5,000	2,500
Over Pass City	18,000	7,500	3,750
Lakeside Gate	16,000	7,000	3,500
The Extreme Oval	22,000	6,000	3,000
Mistral GP (Class 4)
Mythical Coast	60,000	25,000	12,500
Over Pass City	85,000	37,500	18,750
Lakeside Gate	80,000	35,000	17,500
The Extreme Oval	90,000	30,000	15,000
Tempete GP (Class 5)
Mythical Coast	375,000	125,000	62,500
Over Pass City	420,000	137,500	93,750
Lakeside Gate	400,000	175,000	87,500
The Extreme Oval	300,000	150,000	75,000

Once the Grand Prix is completed, an Extra Grand Prix is unlocked, featuring events identical to those in the regular Grand Prix, with the courses instead being raced in reverse. Like the regular Grand Prix mode, the Extra Grand Prix mode awards players with eg to buy and upgrade cars; however, players start from a clean slate in the Extra Grand Prix, with cars, upgrades and eg not carrying over from the regular Grand Prix.

Once all five Extra Grand Prix events are completed, a final event is unlocked, featuring a set of five-car battles across the game's four courses raced in their forward directions, intended as the boss levels akin to the time trial modes from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution.

The six Extra Grand Prix events are listed below.

Course	Reward (eg)
	1st	2nd	3rd
Aisance GP (Class 1)
Mythical Coast R	400	160	80
Over Pass City R	550	240	120
Lakeside Gate R	500	220	110
Agitation GP (Class 2)
Mythical Coast R	2,400	1,000	500
Over Pass City R	3,400	1,500	750
Lakeside Gate R	3,200	1,400	700
Irritation GP (Class 3)
Mythical Coast R	12,000	5,000	2,500
Over Pass City R	18,000	7,500	3,750
Lakeside Gate R	16,000	7,000	3,500
The Extreme Oval R	22,000	6,000	3,000
Colere GP (Class 4)
Mythical Coast R	60,000	25,000	12,500
Over Pass City R	85,000	37,500	18,750
Lakeside Gate R	80,000	35,000	17,500
The Extreme Oval R	90,000	30,000	15,000
Rage GP (Class 5)
Mythical Coast R	375,000	125,000	62,500
Over Pass City R	420,000	137,500	93,750
Lakeside Gate R	400,000	175,000	87,500
The Extreme Oval R	300,000	150,000	75,000
Diable GP (Class 6)
Mythical Coast	1,250,000	625,000	312,500
Over Pass City	1,875,000	937,500	468,750
Lakeside Gate	1,750,000	875,000	437,500
The Extreme Oval	1,500,000	750,000	375,000

Car physics and handling

Introduced in Rage Racer are the concepts of drift and grip tires, which allow players to customize how much cars powerslide around corners versus how little braking is required for them to take tighter corners better. Cars can be set to one of five levels of drift / grip handling, depending on how the player chooses to drive them.

Along with this came an overhaul on the cars' physics, where not all corners require powerslide drifts to take. Some turns in some courses are better taken as grip turns, where players reduce speed to allow the car to turn as much as possible to enter and exit a corner; while others are better taken as drift turns, where players allow cars to powerslide around a turn without having to sacrifice speed.

The change in car physics is very apparent in Rage Racer, as collisions cause great speed losses, and taking too long to exit a drift causes the car to lose so much speed that mastering how to exit drifts effectively becomes an important asset for players aiming for first place and the best lap times.

Courses

Rage Racer features a stark contrast to the courses introduced in previous console titles Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution as well as arcade title Rave Racer with regards to the look of its courses. While its predecessors featured vivid locations mimicking Japanese land- and cityscapes, Rage Racer adopts a darker, more European-style aesthetic in its four courses. Each features unique characteristics that best suit one of the four car manufacturers' vehicles.

All four courses share the same home stretch along the starting point, with three branching out to the right and one to the left.

• Mythical Coast features a seaside village and ruins inspired by Greek architecture. Notable features include a big jump followed immediately by a sharp turn, and a hairpin turn right before the tunnel leading back to the main city area.
• Over Pass City features a long uphill incline and mountainous segments next to open ocean. Notable features include a tricky S-curve and a loop that both require mastery of the game's unique drift/grip system.
• Lakeside Gate features multiple tunnels, waterfalls, and a lake next to which the player races. Notable features include narrow roads, occasional elevation changes, and a very tight hairpin that requires extensive practice to pass through unscathed.
• The Extreme Oval, unlike previous Ridge Racer courses, is an oval course akin to real-life NASCAR races. Instead of focusing on drifting, this course demands that players be as precise yet as fast as possible to net victory. Notable features include heavily banked angles on the curved portions and the fact that the course is always raced in six laps instead of three.

Vehicles

Introduced in Rage Racer are car manufacturers, which further characterize the different cars available in the game. This is in contrast to the cars found in previous Ridge Racer titles, whose manufacturers are not explicitly mentioned.

Four car manufacturers are featured in the game, with each manufacturer boasting a different specialty that gives their cars an advantage in certain courses.

• Gnade is a German manufacturer whose sole car, the Esperanza, is an all-rounder with average stats, perfect for the tameness of Mythical Coast.
• Age is a French manufacturer whose cars sport excellent handling, pairing well with the many tight turns found in Lakeside Gate.
• Lizard is an American manufacturer that focuses on giving their cars great acceleration, which is helpful for the intense elevation changes of Over Pass City.
• Assoluto is an Italian manufacturer focused on pure speed. Its fast cars are a must when trying to net victory at The Extreme Oval.

At the beginning of the game, players are given the Gnade Esperanza at Grade 1. Each of the three other car manufacturers has three "standard" cars and one "secret" car. All of the "standard" cars can be upgraded, with the cost increasing greatly from one grade to the next. The highest level to which the cars can be upgraded is Grade 5. The "secret" cars, on the other hand, are not upgradable and belong to a secret sixth grade labeled "Grade ?".

Rage Racer is also the only game in the Ridge Racer series to feature cars that can only be driven with manual transmission, requiring players to learn how to shift gears to use certain cars. These cars are usually the most powerful in the manufacturers' lineup and are labeled as such in the car shop.

Below is a table showing a list of all the cars available in the game, as well as their upgrade prices. Cars marked with a * are manual-only cars, while car grades without prices denote a grade the car cannot be bought in or upgraded to. Names in parentheses denote the car's name in the game's Japanese release.

Name	Purchase / upgrade cost (eg)
	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade ?
Gnade
Esperanza	0	1,600	13,200	61,900	310,000
Age
Erriso (Alouette)		2,600	11,300	70,500	361,500
Abeille			14,500	69,400	329,300
Pegase*				143,300	583,700
Vainqure (Victoire)						2,143,500
Lizard
Acceron (Instinct)		4,000	10,600	69,900	362,500
Bayonet			15,200	62,400	331,400
Hijack*				136,700	577,000
Bulldog* (Tempest)						2,836,800
Assoluto
Fatalita			20,000	77,500	405,700
Istante				151,600	559,700
Ghepardo*					695,900
Squaldon* (Dragone)						6,666,666

Music

The music in Rage Racer features a significant change in style from its predecessors. Whereas earlier Ridge Racer games' music focused on the techno and eurobeat genres and was headed by the Sampling Masters (Shinji "MEGA" Hosoe, Ayako "AYA" Saso, Nobuyoshi "sanodg" Sano and Takayuki "J99" Aihara), Rage Racer's music instead focused on the drum n' bass and jungle genres and was headed by Hiroshi Okubo and Tetsukazu Nakanishi.

No.	Title	Composer
1	Rage Racer	Hiroshi Okubo
2	Mathemabeat	Hiroshi Okubo
3	Lightning Luge	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
4	Industria	Hiroshi Okubo
5	Hurricane Hub	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
6	Mech Monster	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
7	Silver Stream	Hiroshi Okubo
8	Stimulation	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
9	Volcano Vehicle	Tetsukazu Nakanishi

By obtaining five gold trophies in the Grand Prix mode (i.e., by completing all Grand Prix races in 1st place), players unlock a tenth music track, Deep Drive by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, which can also be played during races.

Official soundtrack

Unlike other Ridge Racer games, no official soundtrack album was released for Rage Racer. However, the music featured in the game can be played on CD players by inserting the game's CD. In addition to the music played during races, other tracks from the game can also be played.

No.	Title	Composer
1	Story / Menu Theme	Hiroshi Okubo
2	Rage Racer	Hiroshi Okubo
3	Mathemabeat	Hiroshi Okubo
4	Lightning Luge	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
5	Industria	Hiroshi Okubo
6	Hurricane Hub	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
7	Mech Monster	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
8	Silver Stream	Hiroshi Okubo
9	Stimulation	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
10	Volcano Vehicle	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
11	Replay	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
12	Replay (Time Attack)	Hiroshi Okubo
13	High Score	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
14	Game Over	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
15	Victory	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
16	Deep Drive	Tetsukazu Nakanishi

Development

In an interview with the Namco development team, Nobuhisa Mikoda (Rage Racer game designer and project director) admitted that the game was "somewhat off series and aimed to pursue enjoyment in shift controlling".

Rage Racer was the first in the Ridge Racer series to feature a CGI animated introduction. It also served as the debut of Reiko Nagase, Ridge Racer's mascot, who would then go on to appear in most succeeding Ridge Racer titles.

Reception

The game was received with generally favorable critics, receiving an 82.70% rating in GameRankings. Game Revolution gave a "B" rating, considering it a solid arcade racing game with great scenery and pumping, but citing lack of variety and creativity in the courses. GameSpot rated the game a 7.6, described it as an outstanding sequel, but with poor unrealistic collision problems with the cars. IGN rated the game a 7.0, recommended the game to Ridge Racer fans, but they commented that the new features in the game has been seen before in other racing titles. Other reviews praised the new progress system in the Grand Prix mode, the music, and the number of cars and their upgradability.

Trivia

• This is the first and only Ridge Racer game not to show a minimap on screen.
• This is the first Ridge Racer game to feature product placement for real brands in the form of billboards and banners for Advan and Yokohama tires.
  • A special version of Rage Racer was made in partnership with Nissan titled Rage Racer R390 GT1 Special, where the player drives a Nissan R390 GT1 in the game. It was showcased at major Japanese motor shows in winter 1997–1998. It is currently unknown what has happened to copies of the special version of this game, or if it has ever been preserved.
  • This would mark the only time real-life vehicles would appear in the Ridge Racer series.
• At the beginning of the regular and extra GPs, a prologue movie is played before the race menu appears. In the game's Japanese release, the video features a narrator and longer text, while in the American and European releases the narration is removed and the text is shorter.
• When the intro movie to Rage Racer is unlocked as a prize in Ridge Racers and Ridge Racers 2, the narrator's voice and the vocals are no longer present.

Gallery

North American cover art

North American back cover

European cover art

European english back cover

European game disc

Japanese cover art

Japanese back cover

Tittle screen

Rage Racer - Koshiki guide book

Magazine advertisement 1

Magazine advertisement 2

In-game screenshot

Reiko Nagase as depicted in the game's intro sequence.