History VideoGame / RidgeRacer

* EasyModeMockery: In ''Rage Racer'', new cars from Grade 4 onwards do not have automatic transmission, forcing you to use manual. This does not apply to Grade 4 cars that are upgrades of lower-grade cars.

* FinalBoss: The Soldat Crinale/13th Racing in the original, ''Critical Velocity'', ''7'' and ''Unbounded''; the Kamata Angelus/White Angel in ''Revolution''; the Assoluto Squaldon[[note]]known in Japan as the Assoluto Dragone[[/note]] in ''Rage Racer''; the {{four|Is Death}} hidden cars in ''Type 4'' and ''V''; the [[{{Eagleland}} Screamin' Eagle]] and its hidden counterpart [[CanadaEh Crazy Canuck]] in ''64''; the Monstrous in ''6''; the ''VideoGame/RallyX'' player car in ''[=3D=]''; and again the Kamata Angelus, now known as the Zihua Archangel, in ''Vita''.

** Also, there was a rare version of Rage Racer called "Rage Racer R390 GT1 Special" (which as for now, is still a lost media) where you can drive Nissan a R390 GT1, in the race form as depicted in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1997. [[https://twitter.com/holeecrab/status/1370840135198142465 See here]].
** In "Ridge Racer" (the PS Vita version) a Japanese-exclusive DLC is Kamata SYNCi with NTT Docomo livery.

* ProductPlacement: Good luck playing "Rage Racer" without seeing billboards plastered with Yokohama (a Japanese tire manufacture) or Advan logos. Also, a rare case when a real life brand exists within the Ridge Racer universe.

* Main/Itasha: The aforementioned VideoGame/TheIdolMaster itashas in "Ridge Racer" (PS Vita). Preceding this, a paintjob featuring Neneko from Bandai Namco' anime and game VisualNovel/Yumeria is available for Soldat Raggio in "7".

* Itasha: The aforementioned VideoGame/TheIdolMaster itashas in "Ridge Racer" (PS Vita). Preceding this, a paintjob featuring Neneko from Bandai Namco' anime and game VisualNovel/Yumeria is available for Soldat Raggio in "7".

* ProductPlacement: Good luck playing "Rage Racer" without seeing billboards plastered with Yokohama ( a Japanese tire manufacture) or Advan logos. Also, a rare case when a real life brand exists within the Ridge Racer universe.

*** In "Ridge Racer" (the PS Vita version) a Japanese-exclusive DLC is Kamata SYNCi with NTT DoCoMo livery.

''Ridge Racer'' is a series of racing games created by Namco and initially released in arcades in 1993. They found greater popularity on the [=PlayStation=], where the first ''Ridge Racer'' game was announced as a launch title, owing much of its success to its emphasis on fast-paced racing over super-realism. It's become a tradition for a new [=PlayStation=] console to have a new ''Ridge Racer'' game as a launch title, and the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 3DS]], [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]] and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 were launched with one as well. So far, seven official games have been released, mostly on the [=PlayStation=]. An eighth game, dubbed ''Ridge Racer Unbounded'', was released in 2012 and developed by Creator/BugbearEntertainment (developers of the first two ''VideoGame/FlatOut'' games).

''Ridge Racer'' takes place in its own fictional universe, dubbed "Ridge City", complete with its own fictional line of cars and in-game brands (many of which are named after other Namco games). Even the soundtrack is made in-house, atypically for racing games. Starting with the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable games, ''Ridge Racer'' began to focus on flashy, hyper-unrealistic drifting; braking is made obsolete as the game locks you to the track when drifting. ''Unbounded'' toned down the drifting in favor of large-scale destruction.

* '''''Ridge Racer'' (1993 - worldwide; PS port 1994 - Japan, 1995 - USA/EU)''', for arcades and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation (launch title).

* '''''Ridge Racer V'' (2000)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (launch title).

* '''''R: Racing Evolution'' (2003 - Japan, 2004 USA/EU)''', for [=PlayStation=] 2, UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube and Xbox.

* '''''Ridge Racer[[MarketBasedTitle (s)]]'' (PSP) (2004 - Japan, 2005 - USA/EU)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable; mixed new vehicles with tracks from the previous games.

* '''''Ridge Racer 7'' (2006)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 (launch title) - Allowed complete customization of vehicles from body kits to engine parts and paint jobs. One of the few [=PS3=] games to run at 1080p and 60 FPS[[note]]Even ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}} HD'', which claims it can, cheats by adjusting the resolution when things get too hectic.[[/note]]

* '''''Ridge Racer 3D'' (2011)''', for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS (launch title).
* '''''Ridge Racer'' (2012)''', for UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita (launch title).

** Starting with ''Ridge Racer 64'', the game seems to take place somewhere in [[VideoGame/AceCombat Strangereal]], with Neucom and General Resource's logos dotting the scenery here and there.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Reiko Nagase is often seen barefoot in promotional artwork and intros, even when leaping across tarmac or on a walk after breaking a heel.

* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: According to the intro, ''7'' is set in a fictional nation called Ridge State, in which street racing is oh-so popular.

** ''Ridge Racer 64'' and ''V'' imply that the game takes place somewhere in [[VideoGame/AceCombat Strangereal]], with Neucom and General Resource's logos dotting the scenery here and there.

** ''Ridge Racer 64'' and ''V'' imply that Ridge City is in [[VideoGame/AceCombat Strangereal]], with Neucom and General Resource's logos dotting the scenery here and there.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: It's hard not to expect fantastic cars from a manufacturer named ''Assoluto''. Aside from sounding like "assault", [[BilingualBonus it's also Italian for "absolute"]]. As if they're saying "we produce the ''absolute'' best cars in the world."

* PimpedOutCar: The Extra and Duel cars in ''V,'' the Class 4/5/6 cars in the PSP releases and the Class 3/4 cars in ''6.'' However, in ''7,'' this trope is taken UpToEleven: There are over 375k possible combinations of modifying each of your vehicles visually with front and rear bumpers, hoods, wings, liveries, rims, and much more, and over 2k possible tuning combinations for engines, tires, suspensions and Nitrous. These are numbers that can challenge even games such as ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' and ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}!''

* LastLousyPoint: The 321st car in ''R4'', which is unlocked by collecting ''all 320 other cars in the game''. It's [[spoiler:Pac-Man. Literally Pac-Man on wheels, it has [[JackOfAllStats solid stats all around]], glows in dark areas, and [[BackgroundMusicOverride plays its own theme music, "Eat 'Em Up!", over everything else by default.]]]]

''Ridge Racer'' is a series of racing games created by Namco and initially released in arcades in 1993. They found greater popularity on the [=PlayStation=], where the first ''Ridge Racer'' game was announced as a launch title, owing much of its success to its emphasis on fast-paced racing over super-realism. It's become a tradition for a new [=PlayStation=] console to have a new ''Ridge Racer'' game as a launch title, and the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 3DS]], [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]] and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} were launched with one as well. So far, seven official games have been released, mostly on the [=PlayStation=]. An eighth game, dubbed ''Ridge Racer Unbounded'', was released in 2012 and developed by Creator/BugbearEntertainment (developers of the first two ''VideoGame/FlatOut'' games).

* BrokenBird: Shinji Yazaki in ''Type 4'' acts as a wannabe cool dude who only cares about your results, but slowly mellows over time and finally fesses up about [[spoiler: how he accidentally killed Enki Gilbert's son during a race due to their rivalry]], realizing how [[HistoryRepeats he's setting you up for it to happen again]] with his attitude.

** This only gets worse the further in the series you get; the AI were turned into actual racers you have to directly compete with, but introducing [[NitroBoost Nitrous]] into the later games resulted in AI that can pull out a boost whenever they pleased, regardless of the last time they boosted, and even flagrantly breaking "Reverse Nitro" race rules. And those boss races only became more blatant in how much they cheat, as the games very much push the "you have an inferior car" angle hard after a point.

--> "There are no prizes. Race for your honor!"

** The Vita ''Ridge Racer'' contains [[https://www.destructoid.com/idolmaster-content-busts-its-way-onto-ridge-racer-vita-223719.phtml several]] VideoGame/TheIdolmaster themed {{Itasha}} wraps.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Monstrous. Since this machine has no maker stated, it makes this machine even more mysterious. Racers have to wonder if where did this machine come from. [[spoiler: Even Kamata Angelus and Soldat Crinale users don't know about it.]]

** Sophie is a SpoiledBrat [[spoiler: (though her ArrangedMarriage that she doesn't want is mostly to blame for that)]], Shinji an all round {{Jerkass}}, Enki to his credit takes the DareToBeBadass approach to get you to try to improve. Robert averts this, though DRT's owner plays it straight.

** Played straight in ''R: Racing Evolution'' as the main story conflict being

*** Also, Rena Hayami from ''R: Racing Evolution'' bears a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute suspicious resemblance]] to Reiko.

* ThrowingTheFight: In Type 4; you periodically get car upgrades throughout the season, the quality of which depends on how well you're doing, so in order to complete the garage, particularly for MMM (basically, easy mode) you'll need to get the cars that necessitate driving well below the abilities of even a journeyman player, often resulting in having to stop yourself overtaking much slower cars just so you can finish in the position you need to unlock the car you want. And you need to unlock all of them for the final car unlock and the bonus BGM track.

* '''''Ridge Racer 64'' (2000)''', for Nintendo 64; features tracks from ''Ridge Racer'' and ''Ridge Racer 2'' and its very own set of desert tracks exclusive to the N64. Unlike the other entries, it was developed by a Nintendo studio in America and never officially released in Japan.