Ridge Racer 2 (PSP)

Ridge Racer 2
Developer	Namco
Publisher	Namco
Release date	PlayStation Portable 14 September 2006 13 October 2006 PlayStation 4/5 20 December 2022
Genre	Racing
Game modes	World Tours Single Race Time Attack Wireless Battle
Players	1 Player 2-8 Players (Wireless Battle)
Age rating
Platform	PlayStation Portable PlayStation 4 (backwards compatible) PlayStation 5 (backwards compatible)
Media	UMD
Game Timeline
Previous Game	Ridge Racer 6
Next Game	Ridge Racer 7

Ridge Racers 2 (marketed as Ridge Racer 2 outside of Japan) is the second Ridge Racer game released for the Sony PlayStation Portable and is the sequel to Ridge Racers released two years prior. It also serves as the third Ridge Racer game released on a handheld console. It was released on 14 September 2006 in Japan and 13 October 2006 in Europe. Unlike its predecessor, the game was originally not released in North America.

On 20 December 2022, Ridge Racers 2 was rereleased on PS4 and PS5 worldwide, meaning it finally made its debut in North America.

Ridge Racer 2 (PSP Intro)

Gameplay

Mechanics

Ridge Racers 2, like the first PSP game, serves as a "best hits" of previous titles in the Ridge Racer series, with courses and vehicles harkening back to games as far back as 1993's Ridge Racer. The main focus of the game is high-speed drift racing across a handful of different courses remastered from previous Ridge Racer titles. The twelve unique courses available in the first Ridge Racers return in this game, with an additional nine courses that complete the collection of courses taken from Ridge Racer Revolution, Rage Racer, and Ridge Racer Type 4.

Returning from Ridge Racers is nitrous boosting, a mechanic that allows players to temporarily gain a speed boost that allows them to overtake opponents faster. Machines are fitted with three nitrous tanks that are filled when drifting along corners while they are not in use. However, unlike in previous console title Ridge Racer 6 which was released the year before, only one nitrous tank can be used at a time.

Also returning in this game are the three main drift types introduced in the first PSP game. Machines fall into one of three drift types:

• Standard (STD), which provides a good balance between speed, drift angle and grip;
• Mild (MLD), which allows easier entry into and exit from drifts at the cost of lower top speed;
• and Dynamic (DYN), which boasts the highest top speeds at the cost of extended drift angle which requires more precise control to regain grip.

World Tours

Returning from the initial PSP release are the World Tours, a grand prix-style game mode that serves as the main source of progression in the game. The 56 World Tours available in the game incrementally introduces players to the world of Ridge Racer in the form of multi-race events across different locations and machine classes. Completion of the World Tours is also essential to unlocking the 21 reverse courses available in the game for play outside of World Tours mode.

Although the game was released in 2006, according to the series' timeline, the premise of Ridge Racers 2 continues and picks up from the eponymous Ridge Racer World Tour from 2004. As a result, the race calendar was expanded to cover all courses featured throughout the history of Ridge Racing, including former overseas venues in Japan and the United States featured in Real Racing Roots '99.

Game modes

• World Tours: The main career-based grand prix mode.
• Arcade: A quick race mode around one course of the player's choosing. It is very similar to Ridge Racers' Single Race mode, the key difference being the addition of a timer that is replenished by reaching checkpoints around the courses, mimicking the race events in the original Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution.
• Time Attack: A time trial mode where players race around a course as fast as they can to achieve the fastest lap times.
• Duel: Newly introduced in Ridge Racers 2, this is a quick race mode around a course where players battle only one AI opponent.
• Survival: Newly introduced in Ridge Racers 2, this is a quick race mode around a course in a 4-car grid, with the car in last place being eliminated after each lap.
• Wireless Battle: A wireless battle through players' local network.

Courses

Like its predecessor, Ridge Racers 2 features courses found in past Ridge Racer titles. It also adds 9 courses to Ridge Racers' 12, bringing the total number of courses in the game to 21.

• The two original courses from Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer 2 return as Seaside Route 765 and Ridge City Highway. Note that the other Ridge Racer V courses still do not appear in this game.

• The Novice and Intermediate courses from Ridge Racer Revolution return as Sunset Drive and Crystal Coast Highway. The Expert course was also added under the name EX Revolution Road.

• Over Pass City and Lakeside Gate from Rage Racer return as Union Hill District and Lakeside Parkway. Mythical Coast and The Extreme Oval were also added, with the latter being renamed slightly to Extreme Oval.

• Heaven and Hell and Wonderhill from Ridge Racer Type 4 return as Crimsonrock Pass and Diablo Canyon Road. The six remaining courses from the game were also added: Helter Skelter appears under the name Hurricane Skyway, Out of Blue as Ocean Bay, Edge of the Earth as Edgestone Expressway, Brightest Nite as Britenight Cruiseway, Phantomile as Phantom Mile, and Shooting Hoops as Shuttleloop Highway.

• The City and Mountain courses from Rave Racer return as Midtown Expressway and Greenpeak Highlands, as well as the two new courses based on them: Downtown Rave City and Silvercreek Dam.

Vehicles

Ridge Racers' vehicle collection returns in Ridge Racers 2, with a few differences particularly in the Special classes.

The eight car manufacturers from Ridge Racers all return in Ridge Racers 2, with Terrazi returning from its previous appearance in Ridge Racer 6.

• Kamata (Japan)
• Age (France)
• Danver (United States)
• Gnade (Germany)
• Assoluto (Italy)
• Himmel (Germany)
• Soldat (France/Italy)
• Terrazi (Japan)
• Namco

Nine unique machines are offered in six main classes, each comprised of three machines offered in three performance tiers of increasing performance (Type-S, Type-R, Type-Z). Only the three Type-S models in each class are made available at the beginning of the game, with the other machines unlocked by progressing through the World Tours mode. The different performance tiers are differentiated not only by their top speed but also their body designs and liveries, the livery's primary sponsor being included in the machine's name.

Machine Classes 1 to 3 feature a total of nine unique vehicles, with Classes 4 to 6 serving as upgraded versions of their respective classes.

Ridge Racers' Special Class is now split into two Special Classes of four machines each, all of which boast the highest performance among all the machines in the game. These machines are also given a fourth Special (SPL) drift type, setting them apart from the machines from the first six classes. The game's Special machine collection includes:

• the Danver Hijack and Terrazi Wild Gang, which were introduced previously in Ridge Racer 6 as non-Special machines;
• the Kamata Angelus and Soldat Crinale, which borrow their designs from Ridge Racer V instead of Ridge Racers;
• the Age Angelus Kid and Crinale Kid, which are remasters of Ridge Racer Type 4's Age Solo Ecureuil;
• the Namco Pac-Man, which now sports a design drastically different from in the first PSP title;
• and the Soldat Yamasa Raggio, a recreation of the real-life Yamasa Raggio made in 2006 in partnership with pachislot machine manufacturer Yamasa.

In total, the game offers 62 different machines with 17 unique models, all of which will be unlocked after completion of the World Tours mode.

Below is a table showing all available cars in the game, including the names of each livery across the different performance types.

Machine	Drift Type	Performance Type
		Type-S	Type-R	Type-Z
Class 1
Kamata Fiera	STD	Shootaway	Warpman	Naviway
Age Prophetie	MLD	Toypop	Phelios	Grobda
Danver Bayonet	DYN	Sheonite	Ordyne	Bakutotsu
Class 2
Age Abeille	STD	Phelios	Bakutotsu	Ordyne
Gnade Esperanza	MLD	Nebulasray	Galaxian	Starluster
Assoluto Bisonte	DYN	Sheonite	Bacura	Andorgenesis
Class 3
Assoluto Fatalita	STD	Bacura	Derota	Gamp
Himmel EO	MLD	Starluster	Galaga	Gaplus
Soldat Raggio	DYN	Gamp	Andorgenesis	Gil&Ki
Class 4
Kamata Fiera	STD	Shootaway	Warpman	Naviway
Age Prophetie	MLD	Shootaway	Nebulasray	Sheonite
Danver Bayonet	DYN	Sheonite	Starluster	Baraduke
Class 5
Age Abeille	STD	Quox's	Warpman	Nebulasray
Gnade Esperanza	MLD	Galaxian	Galaga	Starluster
Assoluto Bisonte	DYN	Toroid	Gamp	Andorgenesis
Class 6
Assoluto Fatalita	STD	Solvalou	Grobda	Starluster
Himmel EO	MLD	Nebulasray	Bosconian	Galaxian
Soldat Raggio	DYN	Bacura	Bakutotsu	Druaga
Special 1
Danver Hijack	SPL (DYN)	Digdug
Terrazi Wild Gang	SPL (MLD)	Dragonsaber
Kamata Angelus	SPL (MLD)	—
Soldat Crinale	SPL (DYN)	—
Special 2
Age Angelus Kid	SPL (MLD)	—
Age Crinale Kid	SPL (MLD)	—
Namco Pac-Man	SPL (MLD)	—
Soldat Raggio	SPL (STD)	Yamasa

(NOTE: While Special Machines' drift types are simply labeled as SPL, they exhibit behaviors and attributes of regular drift types.)

Music

Ridge Racers 2 features the 30 BGM tracks present in its predecessor, as well as 6 new remixes and 6 additional classic tracks for a total of 42 BGM tracks. Each track is also assigned to one of the 42 courses in the game (21 forward, 21 reverse), which are automatically assigned when racing on them.

Title	Composer	Original game	Course
DISC 1: Red Disc
Highride	SamplingMasters MEGA	Ridge Racers	Greenpeak Highlands R
Warp Trooper	SamplingMasters AYA	Ridge Racers	Midtown Expressway R
Bassrider	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racers	Union Hill District R
Pulse Phaze	U	Ridge Racers	Sunset Drive R
Chrome Drive	sanodg	Ridge Racers	Lakeside Parkway R
Synthetic Life	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racers	Downtown Rave City R
DISC 2: Blue Disc
Disco Ball	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racers	Seaside Route 765
Night Stream	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racers	Crimsonrock Pass R
Light Groove	Asuka Sakai	Ridge Racers	Ridge City Highway R
Vanishing Horizon	J99	Ridge Racers	Crystal Coast Highway R
Tunnel Visionary	Tetsukazu Nakanishi	Ridge Racers	Diablo Canyon Road R
Tek Trek	Hiroshi Okubo, Koji Nakagawa	Ridge Racers	Silvercreek Dam R
DISC 3: Remix Disc 1
Rotterdam Nation Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA	Ridge Racer, "Rotterdam Nation"	Britenight Cruiseway R
Speedster Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA	Ridge Racer, "Speedster"	Ridge City Highway
Rareheroes	sanodg	Ridge Racer, "Rare Hero"	EX Revolution Road
Drive U 2 Dancing Remix	SamplingMasters AYA	Ridge Racer 2 / Ridge Racer Revolution, "Drive U 2 Dancing"	EX Revolution Road R
Rage Racer Remix	Hiroshi Okubo	Rage Racer, "Rage Racer"	Lakeside Parkway
Motor Species Remix	Tetsukazu Nakanishi	Ridge Racer Type 4, "Motor Species"	Phantom Mile
DISC 4: Remix Disc 2
Blue Topaz Remix	J99	Rave Racer, "Blue Topaz"	Silvercreek Dam
Rotten7 Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA	Rave Racer, "Rotten 7"	Union Hill District
Kamikaze Remix	SamplingMasters AYA	Rave Racer, "Kamikaze"	Downtown Rave City
Heart of Hearts Remix	SamplingMasters AYA	Rave Racer, "Heart of Hearts"	Ocean Bay
Heat Floor Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA	Rave Racer, "Heat Floor"	Midtown Expressway
Paris Remix	sanodg	Ridge Racer V, "Paris"	Crystal Coast Highway
DISC 5: Classic Disc 1
Ridge Racer	SamplingMasters MEGA	Ridge Racer	Seaside Route 765 R
Grip	sanodg	Ridge Racer 2 / Ridge Racer Revolution	Sunset Drive
Silver Stream	Hiroshi Okubo	Rage Racer	Mythical Coast
Pearl Blue Soul	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racer Type 4	Hurricane Skyway
Naked Glow	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racer Type 4	Hurricane Skyway R
Your Vibe	Asuka Sakai	Ridge Racer Type 4	Edgestone Expressway R
DISC 6: Classic Disc 2
Burnin' Rubber	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racer Type 4	Britenight Cruiseway
Quiet Curves	Hiroshi Okubo, Asuka Sakai	Ridge Racer Type 4	Diablo Canyon Road
The Objective	Koji Nakagawa	Ridge Racer Type 4	Edgestone Expressway
Move Me	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racer Type 4	Ocean Bay R
Movin' in Circles	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racer Type 4	Shuttleloop Highway
Eat 'em Up!	Hiroshi Okubo	Ridge Racer Type 4	Phantom Mile R
DISC 7: Classic Disc 3
EXH*NOTES	sanodg	Rave Racer	Greenpeak Highlands
Euphoria	SamplingMasters AYA	Rave Racer	Extreme Oval R
Euphoria	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racer V	Crimsonrock Pass
TsuiTsui	U	Ridge Racer V	Extreme Oval
Samurai Rocket	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racer V	Shuttleloop Highway R
Daredevil	Kohta Takahashi	Ridge Racer V	Mythical Coast R

It is worth noting that most of the BGM assignments pair a BGM track with a course from its corresponding game. It is also of note that the assignments for the Red and Blue Discs' tracks correspond to the Ridge Racers track assignments, albeit for the reverse direction of the courses (with the exception of Disco Ball, which is assigned to Seaside Route 765; Ridge Racer is assigned to Seaside Route 765 R).

Ridge Racers 2 Direct Audio

An album featuring the 12 additional BGM tracks from the game was released in 2006. Also included in the album are the music from the intro sequence (Scream), select screen (Departure Lounge 2), and ending sequence (Mellow Curves).

No.	Title	Composer
1	Scream	Hiroshi Okubo
2	Departure Lounge 2	Hiroshi Okubo
3	Rage Racer Remix	Hiroshi Okubo
4	Rotten7 Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA
5	Kamikaze Remix	SamplingMasters AYA
6	Heart of Hearts Remix	SamplingMasters AYA
7	Heat Floor Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA
8	Paris Remix	sanodg
9	Pearl Blue Soul	Hiroshi Okubo
10	Burnin' Rubber	Hiroshi Okubo
11	Quiet Curves	Hiroshi Okubo, Asuka Sakai
12	The Objective	Koji Nakagawa
13	EXH*NOTES	sanodg
14	Euphoria	Kohta Takahashi
15	Mellow Curves	Junichi Nakatsuru

On 1 March 2024, these songs, including the music from Ridge Racers, were made available for purchase and streaming worldwide.

Ridge Racers 2 Special Megamix

A special 34-minute nonstop megamix by Hiroshi Okubo was also released in 2006, which features 17 songs from the game's soundtrack.

No.	Title	Composer
1	Departure Lounge	Hiroshi Okubo
2	Disco Ball	Hiroshi Okubo
3	Tunnel Visionary	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
4	Synthetic Life	Kohta Takahashi
5	Motor Species Remix	Tetsukazu Nakanishi
6	Chrome Drive	sanodg
7	Euphoria	Kohta Takahashi
8	The Objective	Koji Nakagawa
9	Tek Trek	Hiroshi Okubo, Koji Nakagawa
10	Grip	sanodg
11	Vanishing Horizon	J99
12	Blue Topaz Remix	J99
13	Speedster Remix	SamplingMasters MEGA
14	Drive U 2 Dancing Remix	SamplingMasters AYA
15	Rage Racer Remix	Hiroshi Okubo
16	Highride	SamplingMasters MEGA
17	Warp Trooper	SamplingMasters AYA

On 11 October 2024, this megamix was made available for purchase and streaming worldwide. It appears both as its constituent songs labeled individually as well as a single long-form track.

Availability

On 21 December 2022, Ridge Racers 2 was rereleased on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and can be purchased either on its own for $9.99 or as part of a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription. This marks the first Ridge Racer release for these consoles, which would then be followed by the release of Ridge Racer Type 4 in a similar fashion the following year. It also makes it the second title in the series after Ridge Racer 6 to be playable on eighth and ninth generations of consoles.

Most features work as they do in the original PSP release, with the exception of the Wireless Battle mode.

Trivia

• The Japanese cover artwork of the game, as well as the game's intro movie depicts the Soldat Raggio racing against the newer Assoluto Bisonte seen in Ridge Racer 6 and Ridge Racer 7. Despite this, said Bisonte is not playable in the game.
• Ridge Racers 2 features the second largest collection of courses across the Ridge Racer series, with 21 unique courses available in the game. It is beat only by Ridge Racer 7, which features 22.
• The inclusion of courses from different games across the Ridge Racer franchise may imply that the locations depicted in these games are all situated in one larger location, possibly Ridge State (although Ridge State is only referred to by name in Ridge Racer 7). The only exception to this may be the courses from Ridge Racer Type 4, as these have explicitly been mentioned to be located in real-life locations.
• As with Ridge Racers, two cheats are available outside of World Tours mode:
  • Mirrored course: Press SELECT before choosing a course.
  • Unlimited nitrous: Press SELECT before selecting "OK" on the race confirmation screen.
  • Note that the use of these cheats will not allow for ghost data to be saved, and any new lap time records will not be set.