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Review R : Racing Evolution for Gamecube
Last week I gave in to my curiosity and picked up a used copy of R : Racing Evolution for Gamecube. I have throughly enjoyed playing the Ridge Racing games on PS One most notably Ridge Racer R4. I had decent expectations about this game but I saw that they priced it at $20 new. That can be a very bad sign when a new game is priced at a discounted price when it is expected to compete with games that are selling for $40 to $50.
The concept of this game is not bad but the execution really falls through. The cut scenes and story animations were gorgeous but the backgrounds and environments were surpassed by just about every racing game on the market. The Ridge Racer games all had fictitious cars and fake companies so this game was the first to use real licensed cars but it just did not have the variety and realism of Grand Turismo on PS2 and Project Gotham Racing on Xbox. I would honestly prefer to play Auto Modellista than this game. The entire feel of this game is that it was rushed to publication way before it's time. Background look like slight improvement of Playstation 1 era models and the graphics engine has the textures flickering harshly. I know the Gamecube can do so much more when you look at Racing game like Mario Kart and F-Zero on the Gamecube. There was a PS2 version but I am all about the Gamecube. The cars and design are extremely based on Japanese racing. There was cars added to Auto Modellista to appeal to the US market but this just feels very Japanese. I did think the Story Mode was well done and a good idea.
Oh it was pretty cool that the Gamecube version came with a free copy of Pac-Man Vs. I now have two copies so BBQ is going to be getting this one.
Ridge Racer V on PS2 was rushed as well and it is a pretty sad way to end the Ridge Racer games. I just hope that the next generation of videogame systems can make another Ridge Racer game that makes up for this one. I hope that Namco can get their act together and put together a nice Ridge Racer game for the PSP.
Jake at April 28, 2004 
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Comments
The PS2 version has far fewer graphics problems, however it makes up for them by having glitchy audio from time to time. Until Namco gets back to Ridge Racer's arcade roots and away from this whole "let's center everything around Ridge City" (It's in this game too, that's where Rena is an ambulance driver - RC EMS) they'll rapidly continue to lose fans of this franchise. If Namco wants to make dramatic story mode it would be nice if it took longer than one sitting to complete, maybe something more like Pro Race Driver. No Negcon support either!
Posted by: InsaneDavid at April 28, 2004 1:53 AM
I really liked R:RE. It's true, the graphics aren't that good in-game. But R:RE really has a solid physics engine. Once you get over it not being an arcade racer, it grows on you.
And though there aren't an overwhelming amount of tracks, all of them are really well-thought out.
Posted by: cerebrum at April 28, 2004 5:01 AM
I am still the biggest fan of Burnout 2, and I could never get into NFS:Underground, I didn't see why it was popular.
Posted by: Anthony at April 28, 2004 7:36 AM
I second the motion for Burnout 2. Genius.
On the upside of this R:RE business, Pac-Man Vs. is worth that cost alone. At least that's what I told myself about purchasing Pac Man World 2.
Posted by: Trapp at April 28, 2004 8:35 PM
Personally I think RallySport Challenge is the best racing game. Screw normal racing on perfect asphalt, give me dirt, gravel, ice and asphalt and throw some really twisty steep turns in there to boot! It's also pretty too! Leave it to them Swedes...
Posted by: Ian at April 29, 2004 6:25 AM
